Social Media Tips for Businesses

Do you have a business Facebook page? Twitter account? Instagram page? LinkedIn profile? If not, you’re missing out on an excellent opportunity to connect with potential customers and promote your business. Luckily, social media is easy to use once you know the basics. Not sure where to start? Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Plan ahead. Decide what you want to accomplish with social media and create goals accordingly. Do you want to engage with customers? Reach new potential customers? Grow your brand? Use social media as a communication tool for customers and noncustomers? Do you want to grow sales or increase your influence locally? Aligning your social media goals with your business goals will save you time and money.
2. Choose the right platforms for your business. Not all social media platforms are created equal – some work better for certain businesses than others. Facebook is one of the most effective social channels to promote your business and generate quality leads, no matter the type of content. If your business has more visual content, like a retail shop, consider joining Instagram as it’s based entirely on photo and video posts. LinkedIn is the perfect place to post about your professional endeavors and company updates. It’s better used for B2B interactions instead of B2C interactions.
3. Research your company. You should look up your business on all social media accounts to make sure customers haven’t created any pages on your behalf. If they have, you’ll want to review the content they have created. If there is a page that you want to be removed, you can reach out to the social media platform directly to learn the steps that need to be taken.
4. Offer interesting and valuable content that your followers find helpful. Share blog posts, videos, and other content your company creates.
5. Be consistent. Post regularly and stick to a schedule, so your followers know when to expect new content from you. Post during the optimal time for that social media platform to ensure that your content doesn’t get lost in the sea of content. Each platform has detailed data on the “best” days and times to post. In general, you want to plan to post before work, during lunch, and after work since that is when most people are active. Ultimately, your post-performance will depend on your target audience, their demographics, and behavior patterns. Experiment with posting times to see when you get the most traction.
6. Engage with your followers to create strong relationships. Engage by replying promptly to comments and questions and interacting with your audience. If you receive any negative comments, be sure to respond to them so you can build trust and show you’re there to help.
7. Use social media to build brand awareness. People care about who you are and what your business values. Think about this when creating your content and show the world what your brand represents. You can even do social media ads to cast a wider net to reach new followers.
8. Measure the success of your social media campaigns based on your goals. Success can be measured by the number of followers, shares, comments, and post interactions.
9. Have fun and experiment with different strategies and platforms to find what works best for you.

Social media can be a powerful tool for businesses when used correctly. It’s important to find the right tone and voice for your business and make sure all your social media accounts are kept up-to-date with fresh, engaging content. By following these simple tips, you can start using social media to reach more customers and grow your business. Now go forth and prosper on social media!