Do I really need social media?
Some of you may have social media accounts set up, but aren’t actively using them and some of you don’t have them at all. But did you know you could be doing yourself a real disservice by not having an online presence? To be frank, you are diminishing your chances of your business being found by new customers! So what do you do?
Set up your social media
For those of you who don’t have social media, the first step it to take the time and set up the platforms you are wanting to use. Facebook is the most obvious, but consider if Instagram or Linked in might be beneficial to your business. If you’re extremely time poor, just concentrate on the one that will benefit you the most.
Be consistent
It’s one thing setting up your social media accounts, but unless you are actively posting, it’s not going to get any traction. In other words – it’s almost as bad as not having an account at all. How are people going to see all the wonderful things you do if you aren’t sharing them? Try to start at a minimum of 3 posts per week. Anything less than this, you aren’t really engaging your customers.
Interesting content
Let’s be honest. If your content is well, boring, then customers won’t engage with you. It can be hard if you’re in an industry that isn’t exactly exciting, but there are other ways to get around this. For example, if you are a solar company, you could post energy saving tips, or behind the scenes footage of the panels being installed. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get engagement straight away – these things take time to develop and understand what your customers want to see.
And then what?
Social Media has definitely changed the way we do business and if used in the right way, it can lead to better opportunities. So how will it benefit you?
Brand Awareness
Social media allows your brand to get in front of more people and connect with them. The way it works, is that people like, comment and share, which then allows other users (who may not be followers of yours) to see your brand. So this is where your content needs to be interesting! It’s really a way of advertising for free! Using promotions or giveaways is another great way to attract new customers you didn’t know existed!
Better Insights
When customers ask questions, you can directly understand what your customer is thinking and what it is they are after and what it is they don’t like. This can allow you to consider a whole new niche or direction for your business.
Website Traffic
It’s very easy to put a link into your posts to take people to a specific page of your website. This not only helps drive more traffic to your website but it also allows you to explain a product or service in more depth.
So the main things you need to remember is consistently & interesting information. I’m not going to lie – it takes time to come up with interesting content at least 3 times a week, so make sure you set some time away to create your content.