Social media has with reason become the buzz for many growing and start-up businesses because of several key aspects.
Its size, reach, and the instant ability for your business to have a voice online are just a few.
When used with careful consideration, social media will help to drive quality well-sourced visitors through your websites front doors. However, when used recklessly it can cause massive damage to your business and brand.
I have compiled ten business tips for social media growth that can make a difference in your results and help drive return on investment.
Article Contents
Ten Business Tips For Social Media
1 — DO NOT TRY TO BE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT
Do not fall into the trap of copying similar businesses or individuals online. They may well be competitors, but their business is different from yours, and your social media presence needs to reflect this.
If you can portray what sets your business apart from your competitors, you are winning.
2 — KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE
Do not just create a Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok and blog without having a clear objective of why you are doing it.
Brainstorm what you want and hope to achieve by using social media and break down those points to match the network’s audience.
Don’t fall into the trap of doing it just because your competition is doing it either.
Social Media Tip: Twitter is not the best way to get quality traffic to your website, it is, however, a great way to build long-term connections and enhance your brand’s digital footprint.
3 — ASK, RESPOND & INTERACT
The most important tip I can give is not to become a self-broadcaster and just tweet or post for the sack of doing so. Ensure you can provide your customers and connections with opportunities for them to give feedback and interact with your posts. You can do this by asking questions, running competitions and not just posting links to your website.
Always respond to any comments or questions you receive online and as quickly as possible. If the comment is negative and potentially brand-damaging, meet with decisive action and take on board the customer feedback.
DO NOT delete the comment or post; it will come back with a vengeance and do a lot more damage long term.
4 — SPREAD YOURSELF EVENLY
Nobody likes to be overwhelmed with flyers, leaflets and pushy telesales people, the same goes for social media. Do not post ten updates per hour and then nothing for six hours, spread your updates out carefully and throughout the day if needed. Remember social media platforms are not 9–5.
Understanding when your audience is online and active will also improve engagement for you.
5 — JOIN IN AND BE HELPFUL
Use the improved search functionality on Twitter to find people tweeting about similar topics and information as you and join in with them.
Run a Q and A Twitter chat. Answering potential questions they have posted or by merely suggesting a fix for a problem can have a hugely positive impact on your business.
6 — LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS FEEDBACK
If you get answers to questions, you have asked, or a customer has suggested to you, take it on board and investigate it further.
Customers are an excellent source of feedback and very good at pointing out issues and problems you may or may not be aware of, use a tracking system such as Google Analytics to investigate the potential issues on your website and always feedback back to the customer.
7 — KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO
A question you should ask yourself before jumping into social media with both feet is — Who is your target market and do they use social media? If the answer is no, consider using the budget allocated for social media on other avenues such as search engine optimisation or paid advertising campaigns.
The answer is more than likely to be YES and if so you need to find these people via searches and begin to engage with them slowly, building over time a vast network of business leads and connections.
8 — KNOW THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS
Decide which social media platforms are best for your business, the more popular and heavily used sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may not be the best fit for you, so be sure to look into Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok and industry-specific networks that may exist.
9 — BE VISUAL
Posts with images outperform any other post type.
Adding visual elements to your content can seriously grow the reach of your business.
Try utilising video and imagery in your content publishing, and you will notice a more significant, better-engaged response.
10 — SHOW YOUR FACE
The goal here is to build your businesses presence and brand online, so do away with those headshots and non-branded images on your business profiles.
Add personality by signing off comments with the individual’s name or initials still allows that personal touch which will leave your customers feeling satisfied and more likely to engage.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you have found my ten business tips for social media growth practical in some way and can take away some snippets of the information above to begin implementing in your day to day social media marketing.
