Are you struggling or confused with what you want to, need to or should be saying on your social media sites?
Me too sometimes!
Social Media is such a consuming yet integral and inspiring part of our daily world. We use it for getting real time news and alerts, finding information on a particular topic, finding communities of niche interests, or staying in touch with family and friends.In fact, we turn to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, blogs and several other platforms for just about anything we need.
How we maintain relationships and communicate with each other both personally and professionally will never be the same because social media has made it all so much more accessible, effective and fun.
Consider this sampling of impressive social media data:
- 49% of small businesses found social media marketing effective for their business
- 80% of small businesses prefer to connect themselves to brands through Facebook
- 58% spent 10 minutes on social media daily
- 46% of online users count on social media before making a purchase
With regard to social media, there is a right way and a not so right way to use these tools. And making the right choice can get you impressive results like this too.
Get more serious and focused, have a better plan and strategy and follow these rules of engagement to get better results from social media.
Be Committed
If you are doing “it” because you think you have to, you will fizz out and people will too. Post less but make what you post about more meaningful and purposeful not only to others but to you too.
Be Consistent
The more you suit up and show up on social media and bring some value to people’s day, the more loyalty you will build. Think about people you actively follow and understand what they are doing that makes you look forward to engaging with them.
Focus Your Content
Stick to what you know, what you want to be known for and what you want to be associated with. Pick two or three areas of expertise and stick to them no matter what they are. There is an audience and niche for everything. Simplifying your social content makes it easier for people to remember you.
Customize Your Content
Customize your social content for each of the social media channels that you use. They all have a best practice and application with regard to content and strategy. Observe people that get a lot of engagement and action. Watch what they do and say and emulate their approach.
Use the Best Social Media for You
One of the smartest things you can do is figure out what social media channels are best for you and your customers and community. Using the pillars — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google + — is usually the best. But there are other niche platforms including Vine, Instagram and Pinterest that can be very effective.
Don’t spread yourself too thin on too many platforms. Less but consistent and focused content on a few of these channels is the better way to go.
Be Strategic
This is where who you are, what you do and how you can help comes in. Post social content that is thoughtful and shows you can be trusted, are knowledgeable, authentic and results oriented.
Educate, Inspire … and Only Then, Sell
It’s the 60-20-20 formula. Use your social content 60% of the time to educate and serve and 20% of the time to inspire. That earns you the opportunity to sell the other 20%. Notice the order this is in.
Show Your Heart
Be real, be kind, be who you say you are as much as you possibly can, but know your personal boundaries when sharing online and always respect others’ boundaries.
#trusthewhy
If we could only stop thinking we have to know the ‘why’ about things before we take action and jump in, instead of trusting more often that we already know the why most of the time, our curiosity and wonder would do the rest. I am so intrigued with this idea that I am writing a book around this topic in early 2014.
Finally, check out these social media highlights of 2013 from the world of social media.
Going forward remember: YOLO, so take a cool SELFIE of you doing things you enjoy and don’t worry. There’s no need to have any FOMO cause whatever you think you are missing is pretty much going to be there 24/7 online somewhere.
Social media photo via Shutterstock
deborah shane
Love to hear abour your best results and tips for using social media for your business. What’s working the best for you?
Mark
Hi Deborah,
The last couple of weeks i have been experimenting with a very small budget of $5.00 a day on Facebook ads. For me in my niche it’s working very well. I am averaging 20 to 30 new likes a day and a 8% conversion on those new likes signing up to my list. Video’s on timeline get’s the most views by far.
Michael Young
Fantastic reminders. I do struggle with the consistency one with way too much space between blog posts. I am only establishing a personal presence at the moment but would but I think all the points apply just the same. Thanks for sharing these pointers and I look forward to applying them more regularly 🙂
Deborah Shane
I find it very helpful to schedule and social media, blogging, E marketing into my schedule -time block. Consistency builds loyalty. Thanks for stopping by
Monica Lammers
Thank you for posting this article. I appreciate the fact that you mentioned there is a right social media network for each business. I think many people think they have to get on all of them and get overwhelmed with maintenance.
Deborah Shane
Monica, we just can’t be everywhere and spread ourselves to thin. Being committed to a few consistently works much better to build our brand and reach. Thanks for stopping by.
ed pierce
Consistency is the key, I have to work hard at it but I try to always post daily and keep the content relevant to my business.
Deborah Shane
Ed, even a moderate amount of consistency focused on what you want people to know about you can work really well. With some of the scheduling tools that are out there they can help pre-schedule posts daily.
This right here – “Think about people you actively follow and understand what they are doing that makes you look forward to engaging with them.” – gave me food for thought.
I follow several people, but there are a few that I visit like clockwork or when I want to be inspired, cheered up or just reminded of who I am.
What is it that they do that makes me go to them? And how can I reflect that in what I do?
Hmm. Thanks.
Deborah Shane
Umm, yes, it’s a question that can uncover some insights and ways to increase your social engagement.
Thanks Ebele.
Tamar
Great post!
I always plan ahead, trying to be consistent and I always make sure that I post every day at a specific time when I have the highest number of viewers on my page.
deborah shane
Tamar, smart discipline and awareness of your site traffic! This can only grow your following and engagement. Thanks and come back.
deborah shane
Thanks to everyone who shared this post and supports us here! We officially hit 1K shares!
Raquel
Wow! You really nailed it Deborah. You’re right with regards to practicing consistency and focus. I always remind clients that this is a process and they should seek a healthy trajectory of continuous improvement that only comes from assessing, tweaking, and retesting. It’s so easy to throw in the towel and say social media doesn’t work for me, but if they committed to the journey they would sing another tune. Again, thank you for your points and insight. Now watch me share this 🙂
Deborah Shane
Raquel, coming from you I take this as a major compliment. Thank you for stopping by and keep up your great work too!
One of the good things you can do is figure out what social media channels are best for you and your customers and community, then post them to create buzz.
Deborah Shane
As I suggested above, this is a good strategy Diana. Determining which social media’s are best for you and your community Can make big difference In engagement and conversations. You congregate where your people are.
SMBIgniter
The biggest thing is value…social media alone will not yield better business results. Results come from creating engaging/valuable/worthwhile things outside of SM and then allowing people to spread those things for you across different SM channels. If you’re not doing something worth sharing you’re wasting your time.
Deborah Shane
I couldn’t agree more. The more value, the more love and loyalty. We are in the service business, aren’t we?
Thanks for your comment.
Given that this is a business forum, what is the experience of other users with Google Plus. I am getting the impression that while Facebook, Twitter etc. are social media tools of choice for private use, Google Plus is the best option for businesses.
It isn’t just the interaction aspect of Google Plus as a social media platform, but also the search advantages of having your business web site attached to a Google preferred and promoted product.
Deborah Shane
G+ has in a short time become a big player, as it would being a Google platform. The benefits are many but, the other social media have theirs too. Learning how to use and apply them for you and your business is important. Which ones work best for you?
As a business the only deals in the B2B category we are trying to establish a G+ presence to inform and guide our customers into our area of business. We see this as the best option for social media for B2B.
It is still very early days but I see it becoming the preferred social media for businesses and the obvious search benefits are defiantly a bonus.
Can anyone tell me how to +1 a page from my business page instead of my personal profile page?
Really useful tips if you’re seriously considering using Social Media for creating brand awareness.
Deborah Shane
Thank you Kelsey,
If small-business is serious about getting results on social media, there is a protocol, strategy best practices. They work if you work them.
Nic
Social media is becoming a huge marketing gold mind. Never before could an idea, product, or some form of content spread to millions within a few hours. As mentioned, it is important to keep in mind what attracts you internet content you follow. The tips offered in this article are a great way to start the ball rolling onto your social media successes.
David Ames
Thanks, the 60% – 20% – 20% rule is golden!
Deborah Shane
Thank you! That Formula works really really good!
Caryl Anne
These are great tips of advice that I’m sure any business could use. I’ve always believed that consistency is key and can definitely help any business grow. Thanks for sharing!
Social is huge! Social is where many of your customers are so that is also where they expect you / your brand to be. Ignore it your own peril.
Amazing post! Thanks for sharing. All the points you discussed in the article are very useful for every social media strategist. Specially the content. I think content play a vital roll in marketing. you should be very clear about your content. If somebody looking for online marketing, then IndiaNIC Infotech is the best option for you. It provides online marketing services at very competitive rates.
i like this blog this is very help full for me
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing. All the points are very useful to me. Especially the content. Content is still king.