Social media is not an option for big or even small business anymore – however, unlike the former small business has to pull in favours from across the board at work to keep it functioning. Simply, social media is important, but so are the other areas of business – this said, many businesses don’t go about social media in the correct way and simply waste time.
Right Media
You wouldn’t use a cannon to kill a fly and you shouldn’t use inapt forms of social media to send out the wrong message. Know your message and choose the correct medium. This saves a lot of the time many small businesses waste on trying to be too ambitious. It’s quality over quantity with social media. Also ensure people know where they stand in social media in small companies. Delegate responsibilities and make sure everyone knows what they’re doing.
Engagement
This quality over quantity approach also is apt for engagement. If someone walked into your shop and asked you for a product, you would most certainly help. If someone writes on your social media page – at the very least respond and reach out. Furthermore make them interactive by adding contests, posting questions and asking for relevant photos and utilise that like button.
However, always be aware that you should aim to engage the people that matter. By offering giveaways you can often find you initially gain a lot of followers but depending on your business may not receive a lot of engagement from these people.
For example businesses who are hyper local will often end up with a lot of unengaged users from this strategy. This often ends up in the business having a large following, a small percentage in engagement and high costs for third party apps and promoted posts that charge per fan. Though it is not a waste of time, it is however a waste of fans.
Worth is Important
Not wasting fans time is a sure fire way to increase the engagement that actually makes Facebook and social media worthwhile. If you post nothing but self-promotion strong posts, people will soon get sick of you. If you post statuses and links to interesting things that customers will like you engage them. For example a yoga class posting solely about special offers will never be as well thought of as one that posts news and views on dietary help and meditation. Simply, if you waste people’s time with empty promotions they’ll waste your time by not engaging or following through.
Integration
Social media is about integration and if you don’t integrate social media into everything you do then you are wasting time and energy with it. Make sure there is a social media option at the top of every blog post, email you send and newsletter you distribute – even on your business cards. There’s no point spending your time trying to friend strangers only through social media, when you ignore all those people you contact daily through other mediums out of it. Encourage them to join your campaigns by integrating social media.
Do this and social media is time well spent and offers you hige potential.
My Social Agency is a modern digital marketing agency with teams in Leeds & London. Get in touch today to learn more about our social media marketing services.
Mark is the Social Media Director for MySocialAgency, a big traveller, major geek and massive music head. Mark likes to blog about social media strategy, SEO process and life-hacking.
FOLLOW US