Social Media
Not long ago social media meant Facebook and Twitter. Business Professionals populated Linkedin. Pinterest was for hobbies. YouTube was your video source. Instagram became the picture media platform and now TikTok is all the rage. Social media is a marketing force, but can be handled in many different ways.
What makes me Social?
"Facebook is all I need"
That could be the case. Facebook has been around for so long people felt obligated to get a Facebook page so they could stay connected with family and friends.
It's by far the most common social media platform and easy to set up an account for free.
Issues that are common is some don't even bother to add a header picture or profile picture. Not inviting.
Some use their personal Facebook page as their business FB page. That's not the way to market your business.
Done right, Facebook is a good base to start your social media marketing.
"Posting content leads to connecting"
Hard to believe, some people don't post things for weeks and months. Why ask people to follow you when you have nothing to say?
If people want to follow you they are interested in your business, products, services or organization.
Posting content should not be a tedious job. You should have information and news you want to tell people about. It could be a special promotion, a discount, updated store hours, new product lines, new staff members, etc.
Don't hesitate from asking questions to your followers. An engaged follower is a loyal one. It builds a social connection that is valuable to your business.
"Hard to keep up with what the hot social media is"
Choosing or adding social media platforms shouldn't be based on just what the "hot" one is this week.
We will help doing the homework on the social media platforms that meet your needs and customer base.
There are software options that allows you to create content and post it on a variety of your social media platforms at the same time. You can even schedule out posts in advance.
We've seen that posting something on your social media platforms just 3 times a week is considered being active. Stay away from overloading posts daily or multiple times per day as your follower will get tired of all your postings.
"Promote your Social Media pages"
Just like your web site, consistently promote your social media platforms.
Make your social media icons visible on your web site with direct links to your pages.
Always invite customers in your store to go on your social media pages and follow/like the page.
Your print advertising should always include the icons just to show the reader which social media platforms you are on.
Offer specials directly to the people following your social media pages. Have it linked directly to the web page so they can take advantage of the special right away.
Paws to remember this...
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Social media platforms can be a great addition to your digital marketing efforts. Make sure in most cases you can cross promote your web site on your social media posts.
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When offering specials on social media, make sure that the follower can hit a link that goes directly to your online store for the discount or access to the promo code for the discount. Don't just tell them about it or send them to your home page of the web site. Give them the direct link to act on the special when they are ready.
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If you don't have the time to be consistent with posts on your social media platforms, drop the platforms that are not increasing business. Better to be good at 1 or 2, than bad at multiple pages. Followers will drop you, lose interest if you are not active. That may also lead to them forgetting your business completely.
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Keep your personal social media posts off your business posts. It's trouble waiting to happen. Personal attitudes cannot be part of your business look. Social media can hurt your business just as fast as helping it when you mix personal posts with business posts.