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With social media getting more and more popular over the past few years, its important for any small business to use it properly. Not only can social media be an effective tool for your business by itself, it can also help boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and attract more customers to your website, therefore increasing visitors and sales. The more we use it though, the more bad habits we tend to pick up, so here's a few do's and don'ts to keep your small business on the right track.
1. Choose The Right Social Media For Your Business.
Choosing the right one depends on the type of business you have. Instagram or Pinterest for example whilst great for businesses with good looking products to sell, might not be the best choice if your business sells insurance or you’re an electrician for example. LinkedIn on the other hand might be the preferred choice for office based business owners to grow their list of business contacts. Sticking to just a few and using them well is much better than using all of them badly.
2. Don’t Sell Sell Sell.
People use their social media to be entertained, build their relationships and to learn. So don’t bombard them with your business or you’ll lose them to your competition. Instead try to use the 80/20 rule when it comes to what to post. 80% should be fun, happy and welcoming posts with photos and videos which show what you or your business have been doing and what they’re missing out on by not visiting. The remaining 20% posted every few days should be useful new product information with the occasional sales discount.
3. Be Consistent.
Where possible map out what you’re going to post and when. It takes time and effort to plan a social media strategy but use it to build up to events though out the year when you might be busier such as Valentines, Easter, The Summer Holidays or Christmas.
4. Engage Your Followers.
When someone takes the time to mention you, leave a review or comment on their post. If you don’t respond it says you don’t value them or their opinion. Try to be thankful that they thought of you or mentioned your business and reply back to them. This can help keep the conversation going and attract more followers.
Share your follower's posts if its relevant to your business, or if you think it would be informative to your readers.
5. Keep It Short.
With so many other posts to read, your followers don’t have a long attention span. Keep your posts short and to the point but make them stand out from the others with an eye catching photo or video to attract their attention.
Don't forget to add your business website on all the social media accounts you have to attract your readers to your site. If you need any help with building a new site or updating an old website, please feel free to contact me.
Andrew Limbert
Trebmil Web Design