By now, you’ve probably heard a million times how important social media is for your business. Well, there’s definitely no doubting that social media can make a huge difference for your company. If you ignore it, your competitors can use it to bury you – and you can’t, or shouldn’t, let that happen. So if you haven’t been giving social media the credit it deserves, the following tips are worth considering.
Be Personable
Unless you own a Fortune 500 company, one of your biggest marketing advantages is that you can show customers the “real you.” Larger companies usually can’t get away with this tactic. It comes off as false or insincere. Owning a small- or medium-sized business doesn’t involve this challenge, though. Social media is also the perfect tool for doing this.
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For the most part, every now and then, it won’t be inappropriate to post something non-business related. Show your Twitter followers what your office looks like or introduce them to someone they may talk to a lot on the phone. Help customers feel like they are truly connected to you and they’ll pay you back.
Stick to One Platform (at First)
It’s never a good idea to spread yourself too thin. Most business owners know that doing so can produce extremely detrimental effects. Yet, when it comes to social media, many seem all too happy to do so.
At the beginning, pick just one platform and learn to master it. Preferably, you want to choose Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn (maybe even Pinterest best for some). Then spend time really getting comfortable with it. Read books on your platform of choice or watch YouTube videos about it. Nothing is worse than a business owner who clearly doesn’t understand the intricacies of the platforms they are posting on.
Don’t Forget About YouTube
That being said, don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform, too. It’s also owned by Google, which means that YouTube content is always good for SEO.
Once you’ve mastered one of the platforms we mentioned above, start involving YouTube. This video channel isn’t just great for SEO; it’s also amazing for building engaging content your customers can consume quickly.
Use Social Media to Draw Your Leads
You shouldn’t think of your social media content as a one-way street. Yes, you want eyes on your content, but why stop there? As a business owner, you should constantly be trying to draw leads whenever you can. What better time than when someone is already reading a post or watching a video?
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Don’t go overboard though. You don’t want your customers to get used to the idea that you’ll only give them something they want if they give you an email address or phone number first. Show them that your content is worth their time and, every now and then, move to generate leads.
Social media is far too powerful a tool to be ignored. If you’re a business owner who hasn’t been actively using it on a regular basis, then take the advice above and begin today.