Making social media work for your business isn’t always an easy task. As a matter of fact, it can be downright difficult at times. A lot of business owners think just posting will get attention and the customers will quickly follow. In short, not true. The rules for social media are constantly changing. Further, choosing the right channels and messaging for your business takes some time and research. Next, you have to consider the content and times of your posts. Thankfully for you, the reader, we’ll break this down some.
Rules
Rules. First thing to remember is keeping professionalism on top of mind. If your business floods posts with political opinions or pandemic related health info there are rules now in place that may flag the post. Stick to your subject and do not stray into gray areas. Stay professional and un-opinionated.
However, when discussing “rules” we didn’t mean etiquette. That should go without saying. We meant the ever evolving, constantly changing, eternally revamping, social media landscape. In years past, a business could post on Facebook and it would be seen by hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. But, that is simply not the case any more.
Algorithms and different platform features are always changing. Subsequently, this makes keeping up with it all very very difficult. These continuous alterations are done in hopes of creating a better user experience. For business owners and marketers that’s usually not the case. Making social media work for your business requires staying on top of these changes. Without a doubt, you want to research, research, research to find out all you can about the platform(s) of your choice and any new changes.
The Right Channels
Equally important (and maybe even more important) you need to know your customer. That’s always a first step of marketing. If your business is using Tik Tok or Instagram but the demographic is a little older, you are wasting time and money. This interesting Pew Research study https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/ goes into more depth than we can discuss here.
What’s the age of your client base? Where do they live? Likewise, even knowing their hobbies and interests can be an indicator to which platforms to use. We aren’t big proponents of simply blasting your business info and/or products and services all over the social media world. Take the time to narrow down which platform(s) your customers use. This is a much more effective strategy.
Content and Times
Now that we’ve got to this point and learned a little of the rules, then decided on the right channels, it’s time to turn attention towards what to post and when. Usually this is a hurdle for some companies. Again, not an easy task. What do you say and how do you say it?
For content, the ideas are limitless. One great way to make social media work for business is to be helpful. In short, you want to create resolutions to problems you believe customers are facing. Be aware though, customers can see through a sales pitch versus an authentic post that truly shows empathy for their situation.
Content creation can and should include, emotion, storytelling, great visuals, shared info, and just be generally helpful. In addition to that, make the social pages fun. Offer contests, witty quotes, post in-action videos, or highlight customers. There are endless ideas for content.
So, that leaves us with best post times. The advice for this is all over the place. You’ll need to research your industry and do some trial and error to see what works best. Generally for Facebook, Tues, Wed, and Thurs between 9:00A.M.-12:00P.M. work well. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter vary as well. This is not a set in stone formula though. Monitor your business pages post performances closely to get a better idea what works for you.
Need a hand figuring all of this out? Questions? 77 Design Co is here for you.
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