Social Media has grown exponentially in the past few years. People use Social Media every day to stay connected with friends and interact with their favorite brands, companies, products, and events.
This online engagement is a great opportunity for businesses to increase brand awareness, generate leads and expand their customer base. However, many businesses feel overwhelmed by all the options that are out there.
So, how do you get the most out of Social Media? Here are 12 Critical Dos and Don’ts to help you understand what works best for building your business’s online presence:
1. Do dedicate time every day to marketing
The number one mistake I see small businesses making on Social Media is not dedicating enough time to it. Social Media is a long-term strategy, not something you can check off your “to-do” list!
2. Do implement the 80/20 rule
Spend 80% of your time on relationship-building strategies, such as creating content that brings value to your followers and participating in discussions with others in your industry.
Then spend 10% of your time promoting by posting about special promotions or offers, scheduling posts ahead of time that is relevant to current events and news, etc.
Spend the other 10% on troubleshooting issues–keeping track of what’s going well and what needs improvement (this is an important part!).
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
To understand how Social Media works and help your business get the most out of it, you will need an experienced partner who knows Social Media inside and out.
It doesn’t have to be a huge financial investment–ask other local businesses they use for Social Media marketing or look for online resources and experts.
4. Do make sure you are clear about what you want
Don’t expect everything on Social Media to happen magically on its own without some forward-planning from your company. Understand exactly what results you expect and how long it will take in order for those results to show up (and stick around).
Create a budget specifically for your Social Media activities, so there isn’t money being wasted on things that don’t give any ROI (return on investment).
5. Do listen to your followers
Social Media is a two-way street. Not only should you be listening to your followers and (hopefully) providing them with interesting, valuable content and information, but you should also be asking how they can help support your business. This is a great way to build even more interest and engagement!
6. Don’t forget about mobile
People use Social Media on their phones more than they do on their computers these days, so it’s important to pay attention to this and make sure you’ve got your content mobile-optimized.
7. Do make sure you always tag people and brands correctly
This applies to Twitter and Instagram: if you post a photo or video, be sure to hashtag the correct terms (and try not to overuse them!).
If you’re trying to reach your target audience, make sure you’re using the right hashtags so people looking for what you have to offer can find your content.
8. Do make your post titles insightful and interesting
You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention–don’t use words that don’t mean anything or like “check out this.” Make sure it’s compelling enough to get your followers interested in clicking on it!
9. Don’t forget about Twitter!
Twitter may not be as popular as Facebook or Instagram, but plenty of people still love tweeting and interacting with their favorite brands. Plus, Twitter is generally easier for companies to manage themselves than other Social Media networks. Use lists in Tweetdeck (a free program) to follow others you find interesting and share your content so you don’t get overwhelmed by the flood of posts.
10. Do be yourself
It’s important not to try and fake it on Social Media–if you’re not passionate about what you do or if you’re just trying to use Social Media for the sake of using it, people will know! Be authentic and honest with all your followers: they’ll appreciate it more than anything else.
11. Don’t spam
We’ve all seen those annoying Facebook posts that our friends have shared-they creep us out! Not only is this a marketing no-no in general, but it also can hurt your reputation (and status updates) being “hidden” or removed from fans’ newsfeeds. Don’t be a spammer; don’t overdo it with self-promotion.
12. Do enjoy your success!
Social Media is all about engaging with others who share similar interests, so when you’ve got people interested in what you have to say and interacting with you, do enjoy it–and recognize that this level of engagement is something that will take time and effort to build (and maintain).
Phew! That’s a lot of dos and dont’s! Hope they help you out down the road 🙂
