Facebook has over 1 billion users and Twitter has over 300 million. With so many users it’s impossible to ignore social media and any business should strive to utilize social media as effectively as possible. Here are some ideas to keep in mind.
Set goals.
Start with the purpose of the company and develop social media goals from there. Do you want to engage customers more? Do you want to expand online sales? Do you want to develop or correct the image of your company? Having goals gives your social media activity a sense of direction.
Research
First find what works for businesses and what doesn’t. You don’t have to be on every platform, some companies don’t belong on Tumblr or Pinterest just refer to your goals and do some research about each one. Keep up on what each platform is doing like the addition of reactions on Facebook or Microsoft acquiring LinkedIn. Research also involves doing so keep track of which posts generate traffic or user interaction.
Be patient.
Some businesses have unrealistic expectations about their social media strategies, gaining followers does not happen overnight and it takes plenty of time. It’s important to be patient when you want to increase traffic or web presence. Creating content also takes time, there should be a purpose behind what you are posting so take your time and think about what kind of message you are projecting.
Be active.
Successful social media strategies are constantly active. Whether you are retweeting, uploading pictures, or updating your profile stick to your goals and create schedule. Social media trends are constantly changing and some only last a few days, not everything you post has to be evergreen. Take some time each day to work on your account and remember to update across all platforms not just your most popular one.
Stand by your statements.
Social media is used to communicate your views. If your business takes a stand on a divisive issue stand by what you say, that doesn’t mean replying to every single negative comment but you shouldn’t back track either. It’s also okay if you decide to stay away from this type of attention. Standing by your statements also means owning up to mistakes, accidents happen and owning up to a bad repost or tweet is better than pretending like it didn’t happen. Apologize and move on.
Be creative.
With so many accounts for business it’s easy to get lost among them, being creative with your posts makes you stand out. You can be funny, being professional doesn’t mean devoid of humor. Even newspapers make puns and publish a funny story now and then. No one can tell you how to be creative so just have fun and see what works.
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