Promoting your business on the web and new social media platforms can be an overwhelming task.
Things have moved on a long way since a simple advert in the local paper would suffice; the internet has taken over and is the first port of call for millions of people when searching for the products they want. We have put together this list of tips to help you make the most out of social media and how to use a few of the market leading platforms to your advantage.
1) Bridge the gap with your personal profile
Many of us have a Facebook profile for our personal lives. We keep in touch with friends and family and make new connections. It is easy to want to then go on to use this for your business. Links are already established so it seems like a good place to start. However, this is against the rules, if you use a personal account for solely business purposes your account is in danger of being suspended by Facebook. To follow the rules the solution is to set up a Facebook business page, and use your personal account to “Like” posts, share status’s and promote this to your personal friends. You will become abridge between your business and your personal friends, allowing your business’ page posts to reach a larger audience.
2) Grow your potential audience
Setting up a business Facebook page also means you are not limiting yourself to just your current friends. When you submit it as a business, your page will be optimised in Google so that local searches will pick it up and new customers will find you. Your business will gain more likes as an official business page. By setting up a Facebook page you also have the option to grow in the future. You can set up different pages for different sub-brands or product lines that you can manage successfully from one log in.
3) Capitalise on brand exposure
You can still use your personal profile to tag colleagues, team members and events. By “tagging them” in any posts, you will reach a wider audience and of course expose your business to more and more people! Uploading company photos using the business page and then using your personal profile to tag people in the image is another quick and easy way for you to reach more people.
4) Make the most of FREE features
One of the fantastic features on Twitter is “lists”. Here you can organise accounts you follow by simply sorting them into lists. You can then view exactly what you want to see on your new list’s feed. For example, customers, potential customers, trade customers, etc.
5) Engage with your brand
When using a twitter account, you can use your personal account to retweet messages that your business page sends out. Personal profiles crossing over to business accounts are a great way to show the faces behind the business. We know that small businesses benefit greatly when your potential customers can see that you engage with your business account. This is something that huge corporations just cannot match.
6) Join in – it could be fun!
Use the tools of Twitter to your benefit. Look out for local hashtags and use them at the end of your tweets. Engage with “local hour” for your area, and using the hashtags like “throw back Thursdays” where you could use images of an old company photo, an early version of your product design, your first company van, is a fantastic way to include those people that may remember your business and remind them that you are still going strong. Your customers want to feel like they are part of the brand, not just spending money on it.
7) Create a buzz
Twitter is a fantastic tool to help you gain momentum for any events that your business may be involved with. Trade shows, Christmas fairs, if you have sponsored a charity event. You can direct your tweet to the event organisers and reach out to their followers.
Summary
Hopefully these this tips will help you grow your followers and your business on social media, however we know how time consuming it can be and sometimes a little daunting too. If you would like more information on our social media marketing packages, where we work to promote your business on social media, click the link or give us a call today to speak to one of the team.