There are so many things you can do on social media to stick out from the crowd, but there are definitely a few things you should follow if you are just starting out with a small business account.
When choosing a media channel, you need to first figure out who your #targetaudience is. A target audience is a demographic of people who your product directly relates to and fills their needs. If you make skateboards, your main target audience would most likely be boys from ages 12-23, who live near skateparks or places to ride. Then, once you make your social media content, you know who you are talking to, and you can create the content to speak to them accordingly. Now there will be others who may not fit the exact category but also are interested into your product. There are people who are helping your business grow your target audience. If you get a large interest from girls from the same age group, your target market just shifted to include girls.
Choosing a Media Channel
Not everyone's business is perfect for all channels. Pick ones that help grow your business with the right reach.
There are so many social media channels out there, but make sure you are choosing the right ones to reach your specific audience. If you are trying to reach people of all ages, and have supporting friends who will share and like your posts, go with a #Facebook Business Page. You will find tons of ways to control your content with paid posts and organic posts. You can track all your ad campaigns right there in the Business Manager and figure out who you are reaching and where they are.
If you are looking to show off your products and reach a wide range of people, a lot of them you may not know, then you should use #Instagram. There are so many great ways to use this channel as a business, and the reach is incredible. When posting from a business page, there is a way to tag your products with a link that will bring people right to where they can buy it. That is extremely helpful to get traffic to your site! Instagram is also owned by Facebook, so when you post a paid ad on Facebook, you'll also have it on the Instagram platform as well. There is a backend on Instagram for you to be able to see the statistics for your posts and your page. This is helpful when you want to know what content reaches the most people.
When it comes to business, the greatest platform you can use is #LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a site where people post professional updates, such as getting a new job, networking with other professionals in their field, etc. When using a Company Page on LinkedIn, you have a way to reach your professional business audience. When reaching out, you'll be able to see who likes and comments on your post, you will have access to statistics of how your posts do, and there is an extensive backend that allows you to look at when you have a lot of traffic and not enough going to your page or clicking on your links.
Create Content and a Following
When it comes to the #content you'll be posting, you should be thinking ahead to what you will be posting for the next week. If you can, plan as many posts as you can ahead of time to be able to just post quickly and efficiently, even when you are on-the-go. One thing to remember is that when you are first starting out, you need to gain #followers to actually see your content. Please do not buy followers because this will only hurt your chances of gaining real accounts. Instagram has an algorithm that blocks your posts from user's feeds because you bought followers and it makes it look like a spam account. The content you should be posting should consist of getting people to stay following you, and to purchase your product or service. When creating your posts, keep in mind that users like to be interactive. The more stories you post with interactive gifs and stickers, the more you will get people to stick around your page. When posting to your feed, remember to throw in some giveaways, contests, tagging opportunities on your comments and make sure your posts propose a reason for people to comment and share.
Everything on social media makes life look perfect, but we all know it isn't.
Tips & Tricks
• Profile photo should be your logo on all platforms
• Keep your profile photo the same, that way people can find you easier and remember it through repetition
• Cover photo should be updated when there is a major event or something like a rebrand or a significant anniversary happens
• When to post: at first, pick the times you think most people in your target audience has time to scroll through social media, this could be lunch time, weekends, after work, etc., and do a post every week and figure out your most popular times and days. These may change or you may see a dip in your engagement so therefore you need to switch up your routine
With the algorithm of Facebook and Instagram always changing, there is not set time or day that will get the same high-volume engagement each week
• to keep your feed relevant, you should be posting 2-3 times a week. As a newer company trying to gain followers, you should post once a day until you have enough people to scale back on posting but still be gaining followers
• If there isn't something post-worthy but you still want to your users to see you online, post it on your story. When doing this, you are keeping yourself relevant and on user's story feeds. Since it only lasts 24 hrs, you're still gaining exposure but you are not exhausting your presence online
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? Please feel free to contact me at srpoirier@yahoo.com or bucketmouthdesigns@gmail.com