Social Media: Hints, Tips and Ideas…
SOCIAL MEDIA: TIPS, HINTS & IDEAS…
You may be reluctant, you may find it irritating…but – feelings aside – social media is a valuable marketing tool.
So, in this month’s blog, we’re sharing some of our tips, hints and ideas to make managing your social media accounts less of a chore and more of a score for your business!
Here goes…
1.Social Media Management Software
There are several social media management solutions, but our favourite is Buffer (be careful to hit the right keys when typing that)!
Buffer is online software that enables you to manage your accounts in one place, schedule regular posts, and track performance.
Keeping your accounts in one place makes life a lot easier. Buffer allows you to plan and write a post which can then be shared to multiple social media platforms with just one click (and one login).
Scheduling posts is also a simple way to keep on top of your social media. It’s much more manageable to set aside a slot of time once a week, rather than trying to remember to post every day.
Buffer has a free version for individuals but – for the functionality required by most small businesses – we recommend the ‘Awesome’ package for $10 per month.
To sum up…Buffer is your friend!
2.Finding Inspiration
We know it can be tricky to think of original/funny/useful things to post on your social media. So, here are a few ideas for creating content:
Sharing
Sharing posts from other accounts (with credit – i.e. not someone else’s content passed off as your own) benefits everyone. It keeps your account live and up to date…and encourages interaction with other social media users.
Linking
Posting links to your own blogs, guest blogs or other pages on your website is a great way to keep your social media active whilst also encouraging website visitors.
Imagery
Pictures are a quick and easy way to create good social media content. Post a picture of something that’s going on in your area, a new staff member, an event that you’re attending, or the beautiful sunrise that you woke up to this morning (things that aren’t too business-related are best)! Pictures will quickly grab attention and are more likely to encourage interaction than a plain-text post.
Questions or polls
By asking questions or posting polls, you are inviting interaction with other users. Keep your questions simple and relevant (but not necessarily too business-oriented).
3.Building Your Audience
Most businesses that use social media are using it as a tool to reach people…but how do you find the people to reach out to?! Our top 3 tips:
Follow others
Following other users will help to get you noticed. When you follow or like an account, they’re likely to follow or like you right back!
Engage with others
Similarly, engaging with other users will encourage engagement with your own posts. Like, share and comment on other users’ content and they will often return the favour (therefore expanding your reach).
Consistently good content
Interesting content, posted regularly will keep people interested and will encourage sharing.
Use hashtags
Hashtags can be a bit of a minefield but using them will help your potential customers to find you. Think of them as keywords for your products or services. They’re important and shouldn’t be ignored!
We hope you’ve found our social media hints useful…but please get in touch for a chat if you still can’t bear the thought of all the liking, sharing, following, tweeting and hash-tagging!
Till next time…