Social media is one of the most important aspects of any business, whether you’re a startup or an established company. It allows you to reach new customers, build relationships with them and keep them engaged with your brand. But if you don’t know how to use it properly, social media can also be a waste of time and resources that distracts from other important aspects of your business. It’s not enough just to set up a Facebook page or Instagram account; you have to make sure that they are actually working for you. In this article, we’ll go over some basic tips on how to use social media effectively in order to help your business grow faster than ever before!
Social media is a business tool
It’s not just for fun, it’s not just for friends, and it’s not just for posting pictures of your cat (though those are all okay). Social media is an incredible tool that can help you drive sales to your business.
People use social media for two main reasons: entertainment and information. If you don’t make sure that people get both when they visit your page or follow your profile on any platform, then their experience will fall flat – and they’ll go somewhere else the next time they want something interesting to do online. By focusing on the right things when creating content (content with real value), making sure everything on each page is working properly (elements like copywriting) and using analytics data effectively so we don’t repeat mistakes (or learn from them), we can maximise the impact our efforts have in reaching customers through these channels
Not all followers on social media are created equal
So you have a social media presence and you’re growing it. But, how do you know if your followers are worth anything? If someone follows me on Twitter, does that make them a “true” fan? Or is it just someone who wants to see what I’m doing on vacation or where I had dinner last night?
The answer lies in the quality of your audience. You may be getting thousands of followers, but if they’re not engaging with your content then they’re pretty worthless to your business. There are some easy ways to find out who’s interested in what you have to offer:
- Check the percentage of active accounts vs inactive ones (those that haven’t logged into their account in over 30 days). The higher this number, the more likely it’s fake accounts or people no longer interested in following anymore.
- Look at the follower-to-following ratio (how many people they follow compared to how many they have following them). This should be close to or equal to 100%. If someone has 500 followers but only 50 people following them back—that’s a red flag!
Be present and consistent in your content publishing
Consistency is key. If you’re not a consistent content publisher, then people will stop trusting your brand and sales will plummet.
- Be present on the social media platforms where your target market is most active. This allows for easier sharing of posts and allows more opportunities for engagement with others within the community.
- Post regularly but not too often (no more than once per day). It’s best to spread out posts over multiple days so that each post has time to be shared before another one comes out.
- Post at times when your audience is most active; this usually means posting later in the evening during normal business hours as well as on weekends during non-work hours like evenings or weekends when people aren’t working/doing other things besides scrolling through their phone screens.
Don’t just sell all the time!
You need to interact with your audience in order to build relationships. Share what you think about current events or hot topics that are relevant to your business and industry (eg if you own a wine shop, offer your opinion on what wines should be served at Christmas dinner). Give advice and share experiences from inside your company (eg if you run an accounting firm, write about how to choose an accountant). Listen to your audience; they will tell you what they want from you over time as they follow along in their social media feeds.
Make your content mobile-friendly
You must make sure that your content is prepared for viewing on a small screen given the increase in mobile devices. Use a video hosting solution that is mobile-friendly to accomplish this. Depending on the platform you choose, it’s vital to take your video’s dimensions into account.
Additionally, you should utilise video compressors on huge files to preserve quality while making them brief enough to be easily seen on mobile devices or other streaming services like Vimeo and Youtube. Video compressors can be used on a variety of video file types, including the MOV, MKV, and AVI formats. Other file formats, such as WMV and MP4, may also be supported by video compressors.
Manage how your employees use social media
As a general rule, you, as an employer, will be liable for what your employees do on social media in connection with their employment. This includes employees using your social media in any way that could cause a legal problem, including:
- posting defamatory content
- posting discriminatory content
- breaching copyright or confidentiality
It is important that you control which employees have access to and can post on your social media accounts. Make sure to train and guide your employees on their use of social media including the media uses that are problematic and may lead to disciplinary action.
To help you manage your employees’ use of social media, especially when they’re running a social media account on your behalf, make a Social media policy. For more information, read Employees and social media.
Final thoughts
Social media is more than just a hobby. It is a tool to help you build your business and connect with your customers! You can use it to promote events, share photos, videos, articles and more. And most importantly: have fun doing it! But remember that social media is not just about posting content online all the time – it’s also about interacting with people who are interested in what you do. So go ahead and start building those relationships today!
Ask a lawyer if you have any questions about using social media as a business.
- Social media is a business tool, not a hobby! - 08/12/2022
