What should I do when starting my small business's social media accounts? What social media tips should I use when starting my business's social media accounts? What tools can I use to help manage my small business's social media accounts?
Many layers involve working with social media. Sometimes, it can get overwhelming with the amount of content that is shared daily. As a society, we have access to just about any type of information on social media. It can be difficult to set your business apart as this is a very competitive space... but it's doable! When you establish a well thought out process for your social media accounts, it will be less intimidating to start. Below are some tips to get your small business up and running for building social media accounts.
Create a Plan
First, decide which platforms will work best for you. For each account, you decide to create, set up a photo and bio. Always include the link to your website and start following accounts you find inspiring. Depending on the type of business you have not every social media platform will be effective.
If you plan on selling products through social media, Instagram is a great start to do so. For example, you can post a picture of the product you are trying to sell on your story and add a link to your site. Alternatively, you can create a post about the product with your own unique hashtag and include creative content that describes the product in detail. Make sure your images are clear and have good lighting. This goes for every post regardless of what platform you are using. Think about how many images we scroll through and most of the time we are scrolling so quickly it's important to post an image that will capture people's attention. Finding the right lighting and investing in a professional camera will be worth your time.
Think about whether you are going to make your profile public or private. If your business is fairly new, it may be a good idea to keep it private until you have more followers and tweak your page to how you want it. This might take you some time to gain followers and post consistent content so be patient. Instagram business profiles will provide you with insights that will show your performance and help you decipher what is working on what is not. It provides you with demographics of your followers, ages, locations by cities and countries where they are most active. Keep in mind, if you don't have a business profile you won't be able to advertise on Instagram and make promoted posts.
You can connect your business profile with your Facebook account and gain more traffic that way. Also, you can pay for ads on Facebook and make use of Facebook Messenger to keep in contact with your consumers. Instagram and Facebook are great tools to interact with other businesses and could potentially lead to collaboration and new business deals.
Another social media account you can start is Twitter. It's a great tool to boost your website SEO, drive website traffic, and receive instant feedback about your products and services. You can promote your blog content and it's easy to keep up with the latest trends in your industry. When you post information on a product you are selling, you can connect directly to your consumers. If you are attending an event try live-tweeting which will keep your followers engaged and help you boost credibility. After the event, it might be a good idea to post photos and share across all accounts you have created. If you have a booth set up at an event or just simply attending for networking purposes this is another way to gain visibility. Tagging the event title and location of the event will help you connect to other businesses at the event.
Create a Social Media Calendar
Creating a social media calendar for your business will save you time and stress. You'll be able to plan and help avoid multitasking and missed posts. You never want to repeat similar content, so being able to track what you are posting is important. It takes time to create compelling content on your social media and a well thought out plan will only benefit you in the long run. Your calendar helps post consistently, which will increase your awareness and allow your business to make meaningful connections if you are engaging every day. Since your calendar will reduce stress and time, it will also reduce the number of mistakes and typos you potentially can make. Proofreading all of your content ahead of time, fact-checking, and editing the photo saves you embarrassment - you don't want to be stuck reposting content that your audience has already consumed. You'll have the opportunity to track what works and what doesn't once you find the right process and the best time to post.
Build Relationships
Social media is constantly changing with how businesses interact with their customers and other businesses. You have to stay aware of the changes that are happening and how to best incorporate them into your plan. There are countless opportunities for new business, so maintaining good customer relationships is important for you to thrive in this space. Your brand will see major benefits when you are engaging with your customers because of your transparency. You need to continue to educate your audience by informing them instead of focusing on sales. We all use social media to learn and we want to be inspired. If your product will help a specific group of people, make sure you highlight this. Try your best to target those people and help them see your product in the best light possible. Never shy away from answering questions, going live on all channels, and finding others to collaborate with. There might be a similar business posting content that you've been wanting to work on. If you have the same followers, that audience will enjoy seeing two businesses come together to create a bigger platform.
Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are just three of the platforms you can utilize for your business. Don't be timid to branch out and find other platforms, because others may work better for your business. These three platforms are generally the most popular right now and businesses continue to succeed while using them. Remember to create clear images, and your business's social media calendar will help you avoid errors and embarrassment. Always stay on brand, keep the same profile image, and bio for each channel. Good luck!
Looking to Invest in Your Business?
If you find yourself looking to invest in your business, First Union Lending is here to help.
We have nine different business loan types to choose from. This means that we're uniquely qualified to help you find the perfect loan to open your small business.
Applying for a business loan doesn't affect your credit. Better yet, your business loan may be approved as soon as the same day.
To discuss our business loans with one of our lending experts, click here or call 863-825-5626. We'll talk about our various business loans and help you find the right one for your medical practice.
Get started with the process now by learning more about our business loan types.