Smart Social Media Presence

When developing an online social media presence for your business, bigger is not always better. Here is how to work smarter to develop an online presence on social media that is relevant, and interactive.

Take Time to Plan

The old adage “look before you leap” holds true for activity on social media. Take the time to plan out a strategy for your involvement, realizing that you do not have to have an account on all of the major social media sites. Instead, devote some of your planning time to investigate where the demographic for your brand hangs out online.

If you run an interior design business, perhaps you would like to start with Pinterest or Instagram. These two sites are dominated with visuals that can pull interest your way. Build your online presence organically, starting with one site and building out from there. Forbes Magazine encourages researching how other businesses in your industry engage with social media when building a social media strategy.

Organize Your Activity

Once you have decided on one or two sites to start with, make sure you take the time to read some information on how to use the site. The time spent will pay off later when you are posting. Make it easy for potential customers to find out more information about you by always posting a link to more information about your business with every post.

Make a plan about how often you will post and stick with it. Do not over-commit at first, but gradually work up to a level that makes sense for you and your business. Use your posting schedule to plan out content ideas ahead of time, optimally correlating with any promotional or event activity that you are having at your business.

Use Proven Business Strategies

Successful strategies for growing your business can translate beautifully to social media engagement. If you do not have a business degree, perhaps now is the time to pursue one. Learn how you can obtain an online mba from Washington State while continuing to be a busy professional.

Plan to Interact

Social media may feel like advertising, but it is a two-way street. Plan on reading posts from your customers and responding to them. Also, pick a posting schedule that works for you and does not blast followers with several emails per day. Followers want to stay connected but do not respond well to extensive posting.

Interconnect Your Content

Resist the temptation to post the same piece of content on multiple platforms. Instead, interconnect your content. It will integrate your social media accounts yet provide a piece of unique content on every platform. For example, you can publish a blog post on your website, publicize your new blog post on Facebook or Twitter, and post a picture related to the blog topic on Instagram. On every site, include a link to the original content on your blog.

Keep Learning

Continue to learn more about your customers in the process of managing social media accounts. In addition, keep learning more about your business in general. Northeastern states that education programs that offer flexibility in scheduling give you the advantage of using your learning right away in the workplace. Remember that social media is not a chore, but is a direct channel into the lives of your customers.