If you have a business, it must have a presence on social media. That’s probably stating the obvious.
But when you’re a small business owner, especially as you’re just starting out, the thought of maintaining a social media presence can feel pretty overwhelming.
If you study other businesses and follow their social media, it’s easy to see how just keeping up with the social media side of your business could become a full time job.
Don’t give up or feel overwhelmed. You don’t have to slave through the night tending to all of your social media accounts to be successful.
Remember, it will get easier as you get more experienced at it. And as always, don’t compare yourself to other people who may be a step or two ahead of you.
Follow these seven strategies and you’ll be a pro in no time.
1. Share your personal stories
One of the big things businesses struggle with on social media is what to post.
No one will follow or connect with you if all you’re constantly doing is trying to sell to them.
Of course you’ll want to post information about your products and services, notifications about sales and even special deals only for those who connect with you on social media.
But you’ll also want to get a little personal.
How personal is up to you. Some people go way deep, others keep it pretty surface.
You can gauge how your audience is reacting to you and what they like to hear about, and share accordingly.
But remember, people want to know you. They probably have a lot of choices out there and it’s as true as it’s always been, if not more so today, that people buy from those they know, like, and trust.
And there’s no better way for them to get to know you than through hearing your stories.
Don’t be afraid to share some of the bad or difficult times too. Everyone struggles, and people can relate to you if your life isn’t perfect because thiers isn’t either.
You can probably think of at least one person on social media who you just “hate” because they’re always posting about how life is 100% sunshine and unicorns for them. Don’t be that person.
2. Focus on two platforms
Another thing that can be tough when you’re starting out is the number of social media platforms you feel like you need to be on.
There’s Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn . . . and new ones claiming to be the next great platform seem to be popping up every week.
How can you possibly find time to post on all of them?
Initially anyway, you can’t.
So how do you choose?
Two things, pick the platforms your target audience is on, and the platforms you enjoy being on.
Start out with two platforms. But don’t use any of the automation tools available to autopost from one to the other.
For example, there are tools that can automatically post all of your tweets on Facebook. Don’t do that. It’s lazy, people recognize it as lazy, and you won’t get good interaction doing it.
And, although you can use the same content for both platforms you choose, it usually needs to be presented in a slightly different format to match the feel of each platform.
3. Interact
Be sure to respond and react to people who comment on your posts.
If you notice someone consistently liking your posts, make sure you’re connected to their social media and are interacting with what they post too.
The task of creating content can seem so time consuming that there’s no time left to hang around and engage with people too.
That’s one of the big reasons you’ll want to start with just two platforms.
Responding to comments and interacting with those who react to your posts doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but you’re wasting your time posting if you don’t interact because people won’t keep connecting with you if the conversation is one-sided.
4. Be Consistent
Posting once a week or whenever you can fit it into your schedule is not going to cut it.
You need to post daily to grow an audience and to allow people to get to know you.
It doesn’t have to be a big, fancy, epic post every day.
But it should be something relevant and personal. Copying and pasting quotes from famous dead people into your status updates every day isn’t going to get you very far.
Depending on your schedule, you can create a week’s worth of content in a day if you need to. Then you just spend five minutes on the busy days posting your readymade content.
5. Give it Time
Don’t expect a crowd of people to flood in and like and comment on your posts. Don’t buy followers to try to make yourself look or feel better.
At first you may have posts that bring in zero likes or comments. Don’t give up.
Remember that with most of the social network’s platforms, it can be a challenge to even get people to see your posts.
But if you are consistent, they will be seen more and more, and people will begin to comment more as they start to develop a relationship with you.
Social media can be discouraging at first. If you’ll stick with it, it can give you a big advantage over those who rarely post because they aren’t seeing the engagement they want.
6. Provide Customer Service
Customers are going to reach out to you through social media, it’s how things are done these days.
This is especially true of the dissatisfied customer, unfortunately.
And no matter how good you are, someone at sometime is going to pop up as dissatisfied.
Do not ignore people who reach out to you for customer service through your social media channels.
Politely invite them to connect with you through direct message or email and assure them that you’ll take care of any issue they have.
If someone starts to troll you and won’t respond to your requests to contact you privately, don’t hesitate to delete their messages and block them.
Every business owner eventually has to deal with a troll, and others who read your social media will be understanding of your predicament here and not hold it against you.
7. Build a List
Finally, social media is great, but your email list is even greater.
You don’t own or control any of the social media platforms you’re on, which means they could disappear tomorrow, you could be unfairly blocked or banned tomorrow, or the platform could delete anything you or your followers post whenever they choose.
And, despite some people claiming email is dead because people get so much of it and open rates for businesses are so low, when it comes to selling to your audience, email is always far more effective.
On any social media platform where you have a presence, make sure you have a link that takes your followers to a place where they can opt-in to your email list.
Offer a free ebook, guide, checklist, video, audio, or anything that would appeal to your audience in exchange for them giving you their email address.
You’ll find that those who are also connected with you by email become your best customers.
Connect With Kids Party Characters
At KidsPartyCharacters.com we love to stay connected with people through our Facebook page. There you’ll get daily updates as well as ideas and inspiration for your child’s next party.
KidsPartyCharacters.com owner Cheryl Jacobs is a pro at using social media to engage with people and to grow her business.
Cheryl recognizes how hard things can seem when you’re first starting out in business, and has a passion for mentoring others.
One of the things she’s done to help stay at home moms who are interested in starting a business, or entrepreneurs who are looking for another income stream, is to offer a limited number of memberships to KidsPartyCharacters.com.
With membership you’ll get an exclusive area in which to book parties, the right to use our 200 plus costumes, access to our casting director and acting coach, and business training and support from Cheryl and the team at KidsPartyCharacters.com.
If this sounds like an opportunity that may be the perfect fit for your life, book a friendly, no-pressure chat with Cheryl at KidsPartyCharacters.com and she’ll fill you in on all the details and get all of your questions answered.
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