As the New Year kicks off, it’s time to start thinking about your social media strategy: where do you begin? What platforms should you be on? Who are you trying to reach? What messages do you want to convey?
For businesses and entrepreneurs who are new to the social media scene, it can be overwhelming. There’s a lot to think about as you begin to build your social media presence. With the right plan and approach, your business will be on its social media A-game in 2018.
Here are five foolproof tips to start building the right plan and presence for your brand:
1. Choose your social media platforms wisely.
You don’t have to be on every single social media platform out there – in fact that can be a mistake. Not every outlet is relevant for every business. Trying to force your presence and message onto a platform that isn’t right for your brand can give the wrong message, or even seem inauthentic.
Pick the most valuable platforms for your business and brand because you will need to be active on each of them. Ask yourself these questions: what platforms will allow me to have relevant conversations with the right people? What ones are most valuable to my business and brand?
There will always be platforms you can add to your presence, so start small and build from there. Pick one to three platforms and focus on those. This way you can easily create and monitor good, solid content while you connect with the right groups of people.
2. Optimize your social media profiles.
Your followers want to know who you are, what you stand for and how to connect with you. By optimizing your profile, you are increasing your chance of getting followers and boosting your SEO efforts.
- Use a real photo that shows your face or business logo – people want to trust that they are following a real and reputable account.
- Write a good description that tells people who you are, what you do and your expertise. You may even want to write a small blurb about the information you will be sharing.
- Include a link to your website and contact information so people know how to learn more about you or how to get in touch.
- Connect your social media accounts with your website and/or blog. When you connect the two, you increase your SEO efforts. People are more likely to find and follow your media platforms if they are connected to your main web page. Plus, this makes you more reputable.
Let’s get social! Check out the latest posts from mConnexions on social media.
3. Consistency is key.
Once you choose the social media platforms you are going to use, you need to come up with a fool-proof plan for posting content consistently. You must be willing to religiously post on each specific social media platform you choose to use. If you can’t commit to posting content on a religious basis, then you shouldn’t be on that platform. To gain and keep followers, you need to be feeding them engaging content in a consistent matter.
Come up with a plan, like a social media calendar, to plan out your posts. Make sure you are posting at least once a week, if not more. Social media followers depend on fresh content to generate new and engaging conversations.
4. Find and follow the right people.
In order to build your following base, you need to be following the right kinds of people and businesses. When it comes to followers, you want quality over quantity. Follow people and accounts related to your business and the content you will be sharing. This ensures that the right people come across your page and share your content. Connecting with the big players in your industry can really increase your following because you will likely gain followers that also follow their platforms.
5. Engage. Engage. Engage.
You’ve picked your platforms, polished your profiles, made a plan for your content, and started gaining a good base of followers. Up next: Engagement. Don’t just post and follow – engage with people on every platform. Make sure you respond to comments and messages and become part of conversations. This gives your business more transparency and gets you involved in the social media world.
