Social networks are websites dedicated to socialising! They are entirely dedicated to encouraging interactions between people (even if they sometimes seem antisocial)! It’s just that all that interacting is 100% online.
The big ones are, of course, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Google Plus. However there are lots more. Some are specialised like YouTube which focuses on videos or Instagram that focuses on photos. Some small social networks are about niche topics but this can be good if that is your target audience, so don’t overlook them.
There are three main subgroups of Social Network:
Personal – focused on family and friends
Content Sharing – content creation and sharing
Proffessional – proffessional networking and job offers
You should try to post appropriate content in the right place – if you get it right you will get lots more positive resposes!
Social Media Plan
In order to make your Social Media actually acieve your business goals you should make a plan. What do you want to get out of Social Media in the first place? What are your goals? Make a list of topics that you will post on. What are your customers interested in? When will you post? What are the important seasons for your business? Christmas fro example. Do you have sales? Where should you post? What social networks are your customers using? If it turns out they are using something small and niche that’s probably where you want to be!
I know it’s a lot to think about but sit down and plan as much of it as you can on a calender. It’ll become a lot clearer once you write it down.
Create a Social Media Profile
Well you may need to be on more than one network, but they all need the same information: Name of your business, Address, telephone number and a description.
For ‘usernames’ try to keep them the same or close to the name of your business. For profile pictures I would recommend a company logo or professional photo of you (if your represent the business). Keep it consistend across all your profiles if you can.
Social Media Management
Finally, there are a lot of free social media management tools you can use to schedule your posts. You can do this across all your social networks and schedule your posts for 6 months (or even a year if you’re up for it) in a day! Then just sit back and relax.
Well… I say relax. Hopefully your posts should get some good responses! Don’t forget to chat to your followers/customers. They want to know that you are there, listening and want to help – not just making a sales pitch!
Not sure how to make a post that isn’t ‘boring’? Some of them can even help by suggesting content for you to share!
Here’s a list of good services:
Buffer
Hootsuite
Socialoomph
Mavsocial
Likablehub
Tweetdeck
SocialPilot
ManageFlitter
Most of these have a ‘free’ version but include perks like analytics that tell you have well you are doing if you pay them a subscription.