Social Media: Is your small business there yet?
3 main steps to increase your social media presence
Are you wondering if you and your small business should be more present on social media? Do you feel overwhelmed with everything that it entails? We were at first, but once we focused on these three main steps, we now have a steady stream of social posts on a weekly basis.
Here are three main steps in beefing up your social media presence:
1. Your social media profiles are your "Outposts".
Before your produce social media content, make sure your social media profiles are optimized to convert qualified visitors into engaged prospects. There is no need to create content if you don’t greet visitors with a value-added gift and a clear call to action (CTA) to start that engagement.
In short, you need to create a 40-50 word bio worded for your ideal prospects. Include with it some link to a downloadable gift. You could use a report or cheat sheet that you have produced in the past as an example. It could also be a free analysis or estimate in your service industry. Make sure to include in your bio the link to something that will trigger your best prospects to act.
Also, make sure you have a professional picture and your organization's header image with your evocative tagline. That way, when you post anything worthy of a click, the visitor will be exposed to your story within seconds. Then if he/she reads your bio, the next step might be to click on that irresistible offer.
Make sure to synchronize these across all your media "outposts" as these will become your funnel in leading potential prospects to you.
"If you feel you and your organization should be more present on social media, there is a realistic way of getting there."
2. Create your content with intent
Put on your editor’s hat and brainstorm what topics are most relevant to your prospects. What are they looking for online right now? What are trending topics? What blogs, media outlets, websites are most relevant to them? You want to publish relevant content about the industry but also about your organization. So, make sure you include updates on your end, such as new clients coming on board, awards you have won, etc.
Ask your team to come up with topics and even articles that are relevant. For example, our advisors are in charge of writing a short "Welcome Client" for each new client. It now takes them only a few minutes to write, and our stream is populated weekly just with that content. We make sure to highlight what features attracted them to us so that we repeat the message of our value-added offer.
3. Schedule your content in batches
Do you find it difficult to be consistent with social media posts with the busy life you lead? That's perfectly normal. It just doesn't come naturally to be posting so consistently throughout the day and week.
That’s why you want to use a tool that helps you batch these and schedule them over time. Maybe plan an hour a week to schedule posts that then get published throughout the week. The idea is to have a minimum of 5-7 relevant posts or shares (someone else's content) per week and ideally double that. It will be a mix of planned items and spur of the moment shares and posts so you need a tool that will fit both needs.
I would recommend Buffer to start out. A free plan exists, and you can set up your social media profiles in one place, decide on a set number of time slots and schedule posts days, weeks and months in advance. Install the browser and the mobile app, and you can also publish the spur of the moment shares.
In conclusion
If you feel you and your organization should be more present on social media, there is a realistic way of getting there by making sure to follow these three main steps:
(1) Fine tune your social media to synchronize them and integrate a value-added download + CTA.
(2) Decide on the content type you will want to share, comment or write yourself. Ask the team for help.
(3) Schedule and plan in batches with some easy and ubiquitous tool like Buffer.
How can your small business start increasing its social presence today with those simple steps?
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If you liked this article, maybe you will like Sherpa's Small Business Method we use at Solpak to stay organized in our efforts. Download it here for free.
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