So how do you utilise SOCIAL MEDIA to promote your business? Here are our top ten tips to maximise your valuable time and ensure you get the most from the benefits of social media:
1. PLANNING MUST COME FIRST: Find out where your customers are. Sounds simple but checking first where existing customers and prospects are will save time later and make social media far more effective for your business. Google alerts will help you track traffic sources to your site.
2. DON’T DIVE STRAIGHT IN: It could be a clever use of your time to start by looking at what others are doing first. Listening to what everyone else is doing will help you to steer clear of the pitfalls and ensure that when you start posting people will actually take notice.
3. DO ONE THING WELL: It is much better to be effective using one social media tool than to use five of them poorly. Remember your plan to target your potential customers and ensure you allocate time for the chosen platform.
4. SOCIAL IS LIKE A MULTI VITIMIN: Like a vitamin pill social media only works if you apply a consistent approach every single week. Don’t fall in to the trap of spending 5 hours one day and then 30 minutes the next week. Use planning tools like Hootsuite that will help you schedule messages.
5. PUT YOUR BRAND VOICE FRONT AND CENTRE: It’s important that your output on any platform should reflect who you are.
6. YOUR TIME IS PRECIOUS: Every marketing activity you do should have a time limit. Social Media can easily start to take over other marketing activities and you can begin to drift. Stick to your PLAN and stop when you should!
7. ARE YOU GETTING DISTRACTED: Ensure you don’t get interrupted by social engagement notifications. Whilst people engaging with you may need a response don’t let it rule your working day. Social media is often mentioned as the biggest disruptor of productivity in a business.
8. EVERY MESSAGE SHOULD HAVE AN OUTCOME: Schedule content for times when your customers are “listening”. Ensure you send them to the right landing page or web content.
9. MEASURE WHAT YOU DO: You already know every marketing activity needs to have a result. You can utilise Google Analytics to measure traffic to web pages, content etc. Social media is certainly no different. Ensure you have set this up before you start. It is free after all.
10. SOMETHING FOR FREE: Firstly you must set an expected return on your investment of time. What is it you are expecting to gain? Equally your audience will only engage with you if they feel they are not being “SOLD” to. The secret is giving something for FREE but what you give must have a positive outcome for YOU.
