Are you getting the right message out?
Social media represents a growing, evolving, and increasingly powerful marketing tool which is transforming the way business is carried out. For small businesses, knowing how to capitalise on this is crucial. But success doesn’t simply follow on from just having a presence on social media, it’s about knowing what to DO with it…and trying to get your presence right can feel confusing and overwhelming.
I’ve recently delivered presentations on how to get your social media profile right. Following on from positive feedback and high levels of interest in these workshops, I decided to share the information in this post, which aims to be a straightforward, simple and practical guide.
Branding
As an essential part of your marketing strategy, your branding should be a fundamental aspect of the way that you engage with social media, and, if it isn’t, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. Your aim should be to convey your company’s unique voice and message wherever and whenever you are on social media by:
- Keeping your brand uniform across all profiles
- Having similar but different business portraits on each platform if you have more than one
- Making sure your business name is correct on profiles: is your business Limited or Ltd? Make sure it’s correct; it makes a difference to search functions.
Make sure your logo size is optimised and not distorted
Show your personality
Whilst your first instinct might be to tell everyone about how fabulous your brand is, one-way messaging from businesses on social media is one of the most common mistakes brands make. Just posting promotional messages won’t engage customers or drive more followers to your site. Be authentic; ask questions and reply promptly to responses. A perpetual flow of genuine, honest communication between brand and user will lead to a prosperous social presence.
- Don’t be too ‘salesy’
- People want to see you are human and that you are passionate about your business & your life
- Interact and have conversations with people
Know who to target and when
For SME owners in particular, it’s essential that you focus on your target market: think about who your customers are, think about everything you know about them, where they live, what their lifestyles are, what their interests are, business-wise and personal, and then answer the following key questions:
- WHEN are they likely to be online? If they are busy executives, would they be online early in the morning or on the train/tram home from work? If they are housewives/house-husbands will they be offline during school collections/drop offs?
- WHERE are your target customers likely to be online? If your content is aimed at professional readers and businesses, you might have more potential traffic from LinkedIn and Google+. If your target reader is more visual, it might make sense to focus on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Of course the overall aim for any business using social media is to grow your business, and this is a very real possibility if you establish the right presence and consistently provide helpful, engaging, relevant and up-to-date-content. I like to conclude my social media workshops with an acronym – perhaps a fitting way to condense my teachings given the proliferation of OMGs and LOLs all over social media!
Social media is all about AID:
A – Assist: publish helpful content and answer questions
I – Interact: have conversations with your audience/followers. Schedule time to do this, for me first thing in the morning often works well
D – Direct: include calls-to-action which will send people over to your website, blog, Facebook Page, offers, sign-up etc….but don’t make this the focus of all your posts.
There’s no doubt that social media can work for your business: if you operate along the principles of AIDing your audience, they will, in turn, aid your business, helping you to grow online!
To find out how our Social Media Management Services could increase the success of your business, contact Joanne here
