As the owner of a business it is extremely hard to be able to keep on top of all the changes that happen – tax, employment, law, marketing, accounting. For me I stick to what I understand and call on the help of others who are expert in their field.
Social media is very overwhelming once you start wanting to use it for business and to drive traffic to your website and ultimately sales. Changes happen almost on a daily basis; what worked yesterday to get your post seen – no longer works today.
It is part of my ‘job’ to stay on top of all of these changes – and I find it exciting. I also realise how easy it is to start sinking into the depths of the crazy world that is social media. You think it is complicated so you ignore it. Should you be ignoring a great promotional opportunity for your business?
You can’t ignore it…there is absolutely no denying it that Social Media is here to stay, look at the growth of Facebook and the continual changes it is making to encourage businesses on to the site; Pinterest has just launched business pages; Twitter is launching video; Linked In has recently upgraded the way businesses can interact on the site. Other sites come and go but the strong social media outlets are continuing to evolve and change. This is the future. Businesses need to get on board.
A quick guide to help you not sink
You don’t need to be across all social media – you only need to be present and active on the sites that your target market is on. There are plenty of resources and statistics that will help you to determine which medium will help you reach your target.
Create a schedule for your posts – what will you post and when? If you have it planned you do not need to think about it and it will be heaps easier for you. Include which site you are going to post what message. There is third party programs that can help with this.
Content is king – we have said it before – it is all about quality content – content that is engaging and encourages your likers/followers to like, share and comment.
Create call to actions to have people flow back to your website or onto your newsletter. This way you can actually measure the success of posts and also particular social media. Many sites have terrific insight data that give you a snapshot (and sometimes very detailed) look at your followers and how you are interacting with them. Make sure you review this regularly.
Be regular and consistent – the latest reports are saying that for Facebook you need to be posting at least twice daily and for Twitter the best performing accounts are tweeting up to 30 times a day. Off course it varies for other social media and at the end of the day this could possibly be somewhat extravagant, it depends on your business and the importance you place on being seen on social media. There is nothing worse than not hearing anything from a business for weeks and then suddenly being bombarded before silence again.
If you are really confused learn more – attend workshops, webinars, read blogs. Social media is not going away, can you afford to let the possibility of talking direct to your target market disappear because you feel overwhelmed.
We are continually learning about changes and participating in webinars and workshops also, it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or more experienced with so many changes happening in this space there is always something to learn!
Visit our website: www.visionary-group.com.au
E-mail us: info@visionary-group.com.au
E-mail us: info@visionary-group.com.au