The excitement, and terror, are palpable. And to add to the mix, you’re told you have to create a social media presence for your new venture. As if you didn’t have enough to worry about, right?
If you’ve never used social media as a business tool before, it’s not as scary as it sounds. All it takes is some time, some dedication and, most of all, a plan.
Almost everyone uses social media these days, which makes it an excellent marketing tool. The top three social networking sites – Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – have more than 2.3 billion users combined, which translates into huge potential for reaching new customers and retaining existing ones. Think of social media as free advertising for your company, and a way to increase customer interaction.
But just as you need a strong business plan and a strong communications plan, you need a strong social media plan if you want your business to thrive in the digital age. If you approach it as an afterthought, you’re going to get disappointing results – worse still, you will be wasting valuable time.
Here are some tips to help you take a focused approach to social media instead of taking shots in the dark:
• Focus on one or two social media sites instead of trying to get on as many as possible. By doing so, you will be able to post strong content on a regular basis rather than weak content on an irregular basis, and it will be easier to manage.
• Determine your target demographic. If your intended customers skew older, use Facebook. If they skew younger, consider Instagram. If you’re trying to reach white-collar professionals, LinkedIn may be the way to go. Approach your social media presence as you would any marketing campaign.
• Develop a social media strategy that gives you and your employees a clear direction as to what’s expected in terms of job performance. For starters, your strategy should identify which social media platforms to use and who posts to them, what type of content to post, when to post and how often, and who monitors the posts.
• Develop a social media policy. A social media policy is different from a social media strategy. A policy is your social media ethics guide for employees, and reaffirms your commitment to upholding your company’s image.
• Interact with your social media followers. Reply to comments, answer messages in a timely manner, and monitor outside posts for derogatory and/or offensive material. Remember: You’re not just advertising a product; you’re building relationships with your customers.
• Treat social media like any other medium in which your company is represented. Unfortunately, the immediacy that social media provides often results in people posting content or messages without thinking first. A few hasty words on Twitter or Facebook can quickly snowball into a PR nightmare.
• Track how your posts perform, and adjust your social media strategy as needed. Social media is an ever-changing beast, so your strategy needs to be flexible enough to change as well.
• Remember that while it is free to open a social media account, time is not. Whether you take on the task of managing content yourself or delegating it to an employee, you should build the time necessary to do so into the daily schedule. Never make it a last-minute, I’ll-do-this-when-I-have time approach.
If used wisely and efficiently, social media can do wonders for building your business. You may even make some new business contacts and friends along the way.
— Rod Harmon is the managing editor of the Journal Tribune and a trained social media strategist. Send your business news to rharmon@journaltribune.com.
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