Last week I talked about how to use social media to increase your sales. The first step was to identify your goals. Another way to think about that is ask yourself this question…
At the end of six months, what kind of results do I want to see from my social media?
Once you figure out what you want from your social media you can create a plan to ensure you reach your goals.
Next Steps
1..Plan Your Content
In order to have an effective social media program you MUST deliver content that is compelling and valuable to your audience. If posting to your social media is just something you need to cross off your “To Do” list, then you’re approaching this the wrong way. If you want to create content that people will respond to, you need to put time and effort into it. Set aside a couple of hours a month to write your posts and find photos. By doing this in advance your content will be more thoughtful and compelling.
2..Be Consistent
In order to build a following on social media, people need to know you’re going to be there, which means you need to show up on a regular basis. ( You can’t just post when you have time.) Figure out a posting schedule that works and stick to it. Most businesses can get away with posting 2-3 times a week. If you can handle more then by all means, go for it!
3..Schedule Your Content in Advance
Posting is time consuming so you might want consider scheduling your posts in advance. You can actually sit down and schedule all of your posts for a week, two weeks or a month in advance. This is will make your life super easy! Facebook and Instagram allow you to schedule your posts directly in their platform, however some of the other platforms don’t offer that feature. At Brand Accelerator we use socialpilot https://www.
They are inexpensive, and allows us to post in advance on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google My Business. This is a great resource for small companies.
4..Analyze Your Results
If you’re going to invest your time in social media, then you need to know if it’s working. All of the social media platforms offer some sort of “insights” or “analytics.” Those tools will show you how many people have seen your posts, how many “liked” them, how many shared them, etc. It takes time to grow an engaged following so if your results aren’t great after the first month or two, don’t give up. If you’re doing it right, your engagement will grow.
Next week we’ll talk about ideas for creating great content.
Until then have a great week!
About the Author: Meg Huwar is a small business marketing expert and Principal of Brand Accelerator. She and her team work with companies who want to market their business but don’t have the time, experience or staff to do it themselves. Meg can be reached at mhuwar@thebrandaccelerator.com or 412-848-8822.