Business owners would like to believer that they know everything they need to know about running a successful business. They’re all smiles and full of confidence, but right about the time you ask about their social media strategy, the smiles start to fade and consternation starts to show itself.
The truth is that while most business owners are on top of most things, social media strategy isn’t one of them simply because they don't “get it”.
This isn’t to say that these owners are bereft of common sense or intelligence — it just means they aren’t really sure how to use social media strategy as something that could benefit their business. In fact, take a look around TV commercials, radio spots, and even print ads. Many of them are quick to make social media a “young person’s” arena, one that doesn’t not play well with older folks. Business owners, beware, though. If you want to buy into this asinine mindset, knock yourself out, but you’ll be on the outside looking in.
As a business owner, you owe it to yourself and your employees to be as connected as possible, and having the right social media strategy is vital to meeting this goal. Here are a few things that you need to know:
Understand Why You’re Using Social Media — Do you ever wonder why you’re even on social media? Businesses do actually create social media accounts on various platforms, but that’s as far as they get in the process. If you don’t know why you’re using any of the platforms, you can’t possibly detail a strategy that’ll be effective.
Let ‘You’ Come Through — One thing people often note is that when they try interacting with a business on social media, they can tell when they’re getting a canned response that means nothing. A bit of personality coming through can really show your audience that there’s an actual person behind the business name.
Show Some Love To Others — Follow, like, and subscribe to others. It’s the digital variation of, “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” Social media can be nasty, so why not make it a nice place to be? Everyone can benefit from a conducive social media environment.
Work With Automated/Non-Automated Posting — You can actually set posts to go live at certain times & dates. This helps with maintaining consistent content. It’s also good to balance this automation with someone, hopefully a well-versed advertising agency, with some non-automated posting.
Be Social — Wouldn’t you know it? Interacting with people on social media gets people interested in what you have to say. Take the time to watch videos from various social media stars who’ve decided to help put out advice on how to attract an audience. Connecting with your audience is goal number one.
A strong social media strategy is necessary for any business to be successful. While many will claim that they’ve been fine without it, the fact remains that utilizing one platform or another for connecting with your potential audience just makes good business sense. It’s all in understanding why you’re using social media in the first place and actually being interactive with the platform with which your working. One thing to keep in mind is that the most successful social media strategies adapt & aim maintain focus without exhausting resources.e
