Sometimes it’s hard to not get distracted when it comes to social media and completely forget some basic things you need to remember. Friday 13th is considered an unlucky day and date dating back before the 19th Century. As the number 13 was considered unlucky along with the day Friday, this has now become a world wide superstition that most of us are very aware of. For Friday 13th I thought I would lighten the mood and share 13 Social Media tips to help you market your business online.
1. Social Media Presence
By this I mean just having a Facebook Fan Page is no longer enough to keep fans interested. Your target market may enjoy Twitter or Pinterest more than Facebook so how are you going to cater to that? You need to have a social media presence across all platforms.
2. Analyse Posts
There will come a time when you are finding your social media posts not having as much success as you would like so you will need to analyse these. How many people are they reaching? How many of your fans/followers are clicking on the links you share? These are the kinds of things you will need to know if you want to utilise Social Media in the best possible way.
3. Show Consistency in Your Field
Posting once a week on Facebook and only once every two days on Twitter is inconsistent. To be a respected social media user, you need to keep to a strategy where you are posting information related to your sector on a constant basis. Without consistency your followers will lose interest.
4. Reuse Existing Content
People would frown upon this but it is not always a bad thing. Sharing a blog from two months ago may be relevant to someone on this present day. I’m not saying to ONLY reuse existing content because that wouldn’t work, I’m just saying to consider posting something more than once to get the best possible exposure.
5. Understand the Difference Between Each Network
Posting on Twitter like you would on Facebook or Google+ will not work. Why? Because they are completely different networks. Just the fact that Twitter has a very strict character limit should make you approach posting on that network differently to how you would post on any other social network.
6. Set Realistic Goals
Social Media is measurable and to make sure you are getting the most out of the time you are spending on social networks, set yourself realistic goals. Whether it is to pick up more Twitter followers or expand your Facebook reach, make it not only reachable but achievable.
7. Sharable Content
The content you share on social networks needs to be universal in the sense that your followers will want to share it with their community and so forth. Social media works in a snowball in the sense that once one person shares it, the exposure size increases so make sure your content is not only easy to share, but worth sharing.
8. Don’t Just Post… Connect
I see a lot of businesses JUST posting information about their business on their Facebook pages which isn’t the best way to engage. Yes, people want to know about your business but think of other ways of connecting, like asking questions and sharing information that may help their businesses grow.
9. Respond to Comments
Social media is now more than ever, a customer service tool. If someone sends you a public message on any social network, make sure YOU respond to it in a timely manner. The last thing you want to do is upset any current customers you have.
10. Create an Alter Ego
If you feel uncomfortable with how you are posting on social networks, create an alter ego. This allows you to differentiate between what you would post personally and how to post from a business perspective.
11. Facebook Custom Tabs
Specific to Facebook is their Custom Tabs. This allows you to share more information with those who are connected to your fan page. Give them the option to find out more information about your business through using Facebook’s tab functionality.
12. Different Content for Each Platform
Similar to point 5 where you need to understand the difference between each network, you also need to make sure you are posting different content. The last thing you want to do is upset your followers who are connected with you on all your different networks and keep reading the same information
13. Think Before You Post
Don’t just post for the sake of posting. Make sure you put some effort into finding the right kind of articles or images to share with your social networking community that will help them achieve their goals.
Don’t let Friday 13th scare you! Embrace it and make sure you using social media the right way.