Ways Small Businesses Can Improve Their Social Media Presence
With the growth of more and more social platforms, it is a reminder to many small business owners that they need to be part of the social media evolution. But which network? Snapchat? Facebook? Instagram? All the above?
At Lucé Media, we recommend that you opt for a mix of social platforms as each channel could and should be used in different ways. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all.
For instance, if you are looking for young users – say 25 and below – you will find many of them on Snapchat and Instagram. Women can be found on Pinterest and Facebook. Businesswomen and men alike are on LinkedIn. With that said, the 800 lb. Gorilla is Facebook, and we would encourage every small business owner to begin there.
Facebook is the most widely used social media service, with a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center finding that nearly 80 percent of adults who use the internet are on Facebook. Thirty-two percent use Instagram, 31 percent are Pinterest users, 29 percent are on LinkedIn, and 24 percent use Twitter.
The reality is each business should not settle on just one platform – but have a digital and social media plan that is effectively used across several platforms. Each forum should have a goal attached to it. For instance, a small business owner needs to think about where their audiences are located, what they are watching or listening to, what they are reading and doing.
Creating the right post is another area that requires some planning. Content is king on social media – but there is so much content available – you must find a way to break through that clutter. There is much trial and error that can go on. Hiring a social media firm that uses the right tools to measure how your efforts on social are performing is key to success. These companies work with various clients in various industries, so they often have an excellent idea of what works.
Today, creating an engaging social media post often requires several different elements. Video leads our list of must-haves – not in every post – but certainly, you do at a minimum in at least 35% of the posts. No video – then a compelling picture or pictures would be advisable. And there are other elements to consider, such as using hashtags that help your content be more easily discovered, pursuing influencers with your content to get wider distribution and awareness, and so on.
Posting frequency is the next element to think about and plan. Social media can be a real challenge. Posting only once or twice a day will get you little if any business. At Lucé Media, we believe that companies should be posting 2-4 times a day on Facebook, at least a couple of times a day on Instagram, 4-5 times a day on Twitter, etc. Early on, you may not have the content needed to accomplish it – but committing to get it done will serve you better in the long run.
Once you have created content and have started to post, it is essential to know that social media is an open-ended platform for communication. So, you are likely to get comments, questions, and, yes, criticism on various social platforms. It is important to listen -watch for these comments and then RESPOND to them quickly. This not helps you understand what your customers want – but provides a 2-way channel of communication that can quickly build loyalty amongst your customer base.
In today’s social media world, the best thing a small business owner can do to get real results from their social efforts is to automate as many tasks as possible. As we said earlier – this starts with having a good amount of content to pick and choose from. And adding to that pool of content several times a week will also help. The point is this: manually posting to multiple social media platforms is a difficult task for anyone to accomplish. So, using scheduling and automation tools will help you succeed.
At Lucé Media, we have discovered several “secrets.” First, it’s not much of a secret, but hiring a company to handle most of your social media efforts will likely give you a far greater ROI on your social media efforts than doing it yourself. A firm like ours has created hundreds of marketing and social media plans that consistently prove successful. And we have the tools to create, schedule, and automate posting at peak times for the best performance. Second, many social media companies or “agencies” will come at you with their own plan – a kind of one size fits all approach. Be wary of these companies. One thing that sets us apart is our use of and deep understanding of social media metrics. When Lucé Media comes calling – you can expect us to have relevant data, research, and years of experience in interpreting that data. So, you will have the facts on how your efforts are performing before – we – together create the plan on how to grow and succeed in this space.
It costs nothing to talk with us. Let’s schedule a time on the phone or in person and let us show you some of the data on your own efforts and how we can best help you.
You can always send us a quick note by clicking here or feel free to call us at (469) 907-1057.
