Social media cheat sheet for beginners

Social media may seem intimidating at first but once you understand how it works, posting content will become second nature to you. However, simple as it is, social media has the power to help your business to grow.

With the trend in customers using the internet to search for products and content, it may be hard to figure out what the best way is to market your business on social media. For example, how frequently should you be posting? How long does it take until you see results? What’s the right focus or type of content to post to reflect your business? Should you be active in selling your products and services on social media? All these factors come into play when you decide to head into the social media world.

Social media allows you to see how your posts affect your clients and prospects in real-time, where a ‘like’ or a ‘follow’ can give valuable clues as to whether a user enjoys your content or not. The following points gives you some quick tips on successful social media marketing for businesses.

Frequency

Brands that publish an average of 1.5 to 2 posts per day engage twice as many users as brands that post only once or twice a week. But be careful, as posting too frequently can leave users overwhelmed and ultimately unfollow your company.

Establishing your identity

Influential social media users create and share good content. Select some leaders in your industry and try to get on their radar to increase your reputation and the influence of your business. As well as this, being selective in your choice of social media is important. Start with only one or two social networks that your customers actually use.

Identify where people connect in your industry and research your competitor’s sites and profiles to find out where their customers spend their time. Social media networks are huge but most of them contain smaller communities. Connect and share ideas with like-minded people by joining and participating in groups that are relevant to your business.

Establishing your brand

Keeping your profile up to date is important and can improve your business reputation. Making sure your posts are properly structured and interesting for the audience is also important to gain followers and potential customers.

• Create attractive headers – If your social media supports headers, make sure you upload a high resolution image or logo that represents your brand or mission. Beware: Always obey the rules. E.g. Facebook’s cover image area has a lot of terms and conditions as to what you can add in that area. If you’re caught out doing the wrong thing it can result in the page being taken down completely, making all your hard work go to waste.
• Upload a nice photo – Get a high quality image for your profile. Avoid using group shots, holiday photos, or other casual images that may clash with your brand image.
• Comment – Social media revolves around comments. Don’t be negative or mean; a little constructive commentary shows you’re appreciative, interested, and engaged.
• Interesting profiles – Completely fill out your profile and use relevant keywords. Remember to be professional, confident, and interactive. Include links to your website and other social media or services.
• Promote your social media presence – It is important to include links and accounts to any social media you use on your business’ website, online listings, email signatures, newsletters, business cards, and ads.
• Share – Don’t forget to share your content and posts for others to enjoy! This is the best way to build relationships and reputation. Put some thought in writing something personal to go with your posts.

Did you know?

• 61% of US adults on more than one social network have “unliked” or “unfollowed” brands on social media.
• 82% of consumers trust a company more if they are involved with a social media channel.
• 79% of Twitter users who see Tweets from both a brand and users tweeting about a brand take action, online and offline.

Interacting with social media

You might be very eager to instantly start posting all your products and services in one go but that isn’t always the best way to go about setting up your business’ online presence on social media. Here are some tips to properly interact with users on social networks.

• Don’t pitch products – Try not to focus your posts on selling something as it turns people off. If you want to use social media to sell consider buying ads on your networks instead.
• Friend or follow – Connect with everyone you know. Look into the suggested user lists and do keyword searches to find more people to connect with. Most people will follow you back. Just remember to be friendly, not pushy.
• Observe – Look at how others present themselves and interact on your chosen social networks. You can pick up insights on user behaviour.
• Endorse – Be generous with your likes, +1s and any other endorsements. Just be careful not to like everything: only endorse when you really mean it.
• Be Consistent – If you are a regular contributor to your social network, you will be taken more seriously.
• Familiarity – Every social network is different so make sure you fully understand what each network does. Asking friends and colleagues, reading articles and guides, and subscribing to useful blogs are definitely good places to conduct research into social networks.

Social media can be a powerful tool to engage your audience and create a positive business impression. Dedicate time and effort to building a genuine online presence through social media and you will see results across other areas of your business.

For expert advice and assistance for anything social media related, please give the Fireworks team a call on 1300 660 160.