Step 8
Social Media
Social media are places where people connect and share every single day.
Social media is a place to build a fan base, more than a customer base.
- Choose the social networks you want to join based on which ones your customers are using most
- Create your profile, or what usually ends up being your homepage on the platform
While you may be using social media for business gains, it’s a very different medium from your typical marketing channels. Treat each post like a song. The more people like your posts (songs), the stronger your brand will become. Your content should be entertaining. What would your audience find interesting, funny, or valuable?
The right social media sites for you
Categories of social networks
- There are big general purpose social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
- There are smaller niche social networks like TripAdvisor and OpenTable
Also:
- Personal networks – people keep in touch with friends and family, like Facebook
- Professional networks – people keep in touch with business contacts, like LinkedIn
- Content sharing networks
- YouTube
Your social media plan
First ask yourself, what are you hoping to accomplish with social media?
Raising awareness about your business.
You should keep the same business personality across all the social networks you’re on.
A limit of 2 or 3 social media platforms is a good number to participate on.
You can use social media to share your activity, like behind the scenes stuff.
Your profile pages are usually indexed by search engines too, so your social network profiles will appear in Google search.
Also, most social networks offer advertising. Remember though, your social media goals and plans should align with your larger business goals.
Another thing to think about is to try and find businesses in a different niche whose posts you like, and mimic their social media approach.
Click next when you are done…