As many of you may know by now, social media is here to stay. In part two of this three part series, we tell you why businesses love the benefits that social media has provided for them.
Essentially, small businesses love social media because they can connect with customers, contacts and fans to deepen relationships by answering questions quickly, reach highly targeted prospects, be in front of followers and customers frequently, get feedback and learn what’s on your customers’ minds fast and ultimately, create new business opportunities. However, getting started is difficult without knowing some of the industry’s best practices.
We have provided 7 new tips that will help you and your business dive into social media with ease this summer:
1) Build relationships with influencers in your industry.
- Every industry consists of folks that have been deemed influencers. These individuals typically have large followings whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Build relationships with them, they have authority and credibility in the eyes of consumers.
2) Get your employees involved.
- Whether you have a team of twelve or you are a company of one, everyone should participate in promoting your brand via their own social media accounts. This way, your brand will exponentially expand its outreach.
3) Reply to both positive and negative comments.
Positive Feedback:
- Thank your audience for positive comments (retweet? quote retweet?)
- If a user is actively sharing your content on his/her own, don’t hesitate to re-post or retweet that user’s post and share it on your network.
Negative Feedback:
- Address the situation quickly, as social media users expect a rapid response.
- Delete crude and illicit comments. They have no place on your social media page. Once comments are deleted, block the user to prevent future incidences.
- Do not delete critical comments. Users might see your brand as indifferent to their concerns. Address the critical comment in an open and honest fashion. Also, deleted tweets or posts can most often be re-posted by others elsewhere. Remember, nothing shared on social media can ever truly be erased.
4) Follow your followers.
- By following your followers on Twitter and Instagram you will grow your overall audience and in turn gain greater exposure for your brand. Users will be excited and appreciative that you have acknowledged them. In turn, they will be more apt to promote your brand.
5) Give the option to share content.
- One of the most beneficial aspects of social media is the ability for content to spread like wildfire. Make it easy for users to share your content across a variety of social media networks. Even if 5 people with 2,000 followers retweet a post you have made, that is an overall increase of 10,000 potential impressions.
6) Don’t forget about the weekends.
- Although you might work a regular 9 to 5 workweek, there are no days off for social media. Remember that your community is global. Regularly posting during nights and weekends enables your content to stand out when other brands may not be as active. Also, take advantage of after-hours posts because many users are less distracted and have longer attention spans at these times.
7) Keep mobile devices in mind.
- Increasingly over the last decade, mobile devices have dominated the way in which people access content. As a result, make sure to build your social content with mobile devices in mind. Also, remember that a user’s attention span is short. Therefore, the fewer steps a user has to take to view your social content, the more likely they are to remain engaged.
Here at Pinnacle Capital Partners, we believe that every business deserves to succeed, whether you’re starting your business or hoping to grow. We are here to help lead the way.