Social media for business owners can be an extremely daunting and overwhelming task. You already serve the role of accountant, payroll specialist, human resources, business development, and now social media manager. For many business owners’ social media can often be the task that is left behind in the day-to-day operations, but it shouldn’t be. Social media can have amazing effects on your business if done properly and consistently.
Social media takes strategy, consistency and time. This is not a marketing tool where you can randomly post and get followers which convert into sales. Social media needs to be well thought out and executed in order to reap the benefits.
Here are 4 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business
- Invest in content
A common question is what do I even post? How do I know if I am posting the right thing on each platform? Let’s take a step back. Remember, people want to buy but they do not want to be sold to. When deciding what to post, there are three questions to ask yourself. What’s new at your business? What did you do recently to help a customer? What advice have people been asking you for?
I recommend using the 50-30-20 rule to help you decide what to post and when. 50% of your content can be to get likes, shares, and comments. Ask people questions, invite conversation, share images and video. 30% should be useful and informative information. Find an article that your followers would benefit from? Share it! 20% should be about your business. Create strong call to actions instead of constantly posting “buy this” or “buy that!”
- Work smarter, not harder
Gone are the days when you have to login to each account to post each and every single post. Look into automated software to make your life easier. There are many great options that include HootSuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social which allow you to plan you week and schedule posts in advance. This also helps you search keywords and develop streams to monitor customer conversations on social media. Another great investment is help with writing quality content. Blogging not your thing? I recommend a great company out of Victoria, BC called Crowd Content where they assign you to expert writers in your area that can help you to write blogs, social posts, and more.
- Optimize your website
What is the point of being active on social media if you’re not driving traffic back to your website? This is a much larger problem than social media itself but at the end of the day, any social media effort should be redirecting your audience back to your website to encourage some sort of sale. Here is a great article on 7 Effective Ways to Increase Your Social Media Traffic and Conversions.
- Pick the right platforms for your business
There is good news! You do not, I repeat do not need to be active on every single platform. In fact, you really shouldn’t be. If you have ever heard the saying if you’re good at everything you’ll be great a nothing, you know what I mean by this. It’s better for you to pick two to three platforms and do them well than it is to spread yourself too thin. As a business owner your time is already limited. Stick to the platforms you know your audience is on. For example, if you have a visual product to sell, Instagram is your friend. If you sell to other businesses, LinkedIn is a great place to get started.
