Whether you’re just getting started with social media or you want to expand your social media presence, these 5 steps and the resources listed here will help you get started!
1. Understand the benefits.
If you’re not convinced you should even have a social media presence for your business, this article from Kristina Cisnero on Hootsuite’s blog may convince you of the benefits.
Having a social media presence will help you better understand and connect with your audience, find new customers, get instant feedback, increase traffic to your website, help your search ranking, and much more!
2. Know your purpose.
“How Business Should Be Using Social Media in 2015” by Sujan Patel on Forbes will help you think about what your purpose on social media accounts should be.
Sujan explains how you should be engaging with your followers on a personal level, focusing your efforts on providing value to your followers and developing a relationship with them based on trust, and soliciting feedback and listening to your followers’ wants and needs.
3. Develop a strategy.
Start off by developing a strategy to follow before your begin setting up any accounts or posting.
What are your goals and how will you assess if you’ve achieved them? Who are the people you want to reach? What is your competition doing? What kind of content should you be posting? Should you be paying to advertise on social networks?
Learn how to answer all these questions and more by reading this article by Houssem Daoud on Social Media Examiner.
4. Choose your networks.
Decide which networks you should be using based on your strategy.
Your business has unique needs and audiences, and every social network has different features and users.
Check out these articles on how to choose the best social networks for your business:
“How to Choose the Right Social Network for Your Business”by Kevan Lee.
The general consensus is that having a Facebook Page and Twitter account for your business is a must, no matter what your business type. Facebook has the most active users of any social network and its users span all demographics. Twitter is great for sharing content that others can easily find and share — and you can easily connect with influencers in your industry as well as potential customers.
Google+, though not used by very many people socially, will positively impact your SEO. This is a network all businesses should have a presence on, but you don’t have to update it as frequently as other networks.
Other networks like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and niche networks like Snapchat and Vine should be considered based on your type of business and your strategy.
5. Connect with your audience.
After you’ve set up your social profiles, putting links to them on your website and encouraging current customers to connect with you may not be enough to build your audience.
If you want to connect with a broader audience, check out these helpful tools you can use in Andrew Hutchinson’s article “How to Locate, Listen in and Connect with Your Audience Online”.
Ready, set, start posting!