If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably spent some time wondering if social media is worth it.
And it’s understandable; a lot of businesses are reluctant
to take that first step into the social media universe because it is notoriously
difficult to quantify the value. One hour spent posting on Facebook, does not
reliably result in major profit for your business.
But don’t be so quick to dismiss the potential benefits!
One major benefit of engaging in social media is you can
make people more aware of your brand, propelling your business from ‘that's the
local hairdresser’ to ‘that's Sutherlands, they're always sharing awesome
hairstyles on Facebook!’ You’ll gradually increase the number of potential customers who
know about you, and building on this familiarity should eventually turn them
into customers.
But as you can imagine, this is a gradual, hard-to-measure
process. So it can be tough to decide if it’s worth it.
May we offer a suggestion?
Jump in and try it out.
You never know what kind of audience you’ll amass, and you
could end up boosting your business!
Before you put it off, get started with our 4 action points,
and you’ll soon be managing your social media accounts with minimal effort.
1. Decide on social media channels
There's a wide range out there, but the big ones are still
Facebook and Twitter. For the social media novice Facebook is a safe place to
start because it doesn’t have the text restrictions of Twitter. But if you feel
confident enough to try Twitter, you’ll be able to discover a completely
different audience.
If you’ll be sharing a lot of photos (e.g. of hairdressing clients, or meals of the day), we would highly recommend
Pinterest as it's much more visual.
2. Decide on a name
Ideally your name on social media should be the name of your
business to keep it all branded up and recognisable, but if your name is quite
long you might have some trouble fitting it in.
In this situation, we would advise picking the most
unique/recognisable word, and shortening the rest to the first letter if
necessary
E.g. Henderson’s Musical Instruments becomes simply Hendersons.
The name of the owner is the most identifiable thing about this business, so it
makes a more recognisable online name than ‘musical’.
3. Decide on marketing voice and tone
Are you going to make a hard sell with every post?
Are you a friend to your potential customers? Are you a
coach? A teacher?
Think about the relationship you want to foster with your
customers, and aim to keep this in mind with every social post you make. There’s
no point aiming to be their friend 90% of the time, and then turning into an
enraged bully if someone leaves a negative review!
4. Decide on type of posts and frequency
How often can you afford to post? If you want to start off
slow, try 3 posts a week to Facebook and see how you get on. This should be
easily accomplished in under an hour a week, meaning social media isn’t
encroaching on your business activities.
Then decide on the type of posts you will be posting. Categorising
your posts will help you to maintain direction and balance with your social
media presence.
So will you be posting entertaining posts? With quizzes,
jokes and competitions?
You could mix in the odd inspirational/educational post with
some reviews, articles, guides and infographics.
A safe place to start is promoting your business, because
you’ll be very familiar with it. Post about your upcoming sales, new stock,
latest remodel, and when you get a bit more comfortable, branch out and share
things you think your customers will be interested in.
And you’re ready to go!
You’ve decided on the basics, now all that’s left is to give
it a try.
Leave us a comment below to let us know how it’s going for
you, or if you have any questions!
In the mean-time, check out this Inc article for more
details on the benefits of social media: 5 Benefits of Social Media that Business Owners Need to Understand
Easy Tips for Online Businesses
from Vital Hike
Previous Blog:
Online Marketing Jargon: What Are You On About?
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