Don't Sweat Your Social

Social Media for your Business - Where to Begin

You may be launching a new business, or overhauling the marketing within your existing company. Whatever the case may be, you've decided that you want to incorporate a digital marketing strategy with social media into your overall marketing efforts. But where, how, and to what extent?

All too often, companies (be it a small business or a large-scale corporation) try to do too much too soon. Unless a comprehensive marketing and communications department has been built, all marketing efforts (both digital and traditional) may fall on the desk of one or two individuals. This post is written for them.

Who are your Clients? Your demographic is something only you know, and you may need to do some digging to find out where they spend most of their digital time. Alternatively, you can reverse engineer your research. Learn a bit about each social platform, and find out which user base is closely related to your potential clients. According to Sprout Social and the Pew Research Center, the majority of Pinterest users are women ages 18-49. While Pinterest is known as a DIY mecca (which may appeal to a lower-income demographic) new data indicates that users are more likely to have a higher disposable income with 35% of adults making $75,000+ now using the site.

Twitter users are often college-educated, and users are split evenly among men and women. This platform is about having conversations, and often in real-time. Twitter can be an excellent option for any customer-service-based organization, with unhappy customers reaching out frequently to large corporations to voice their issues. Important: If you choose to establish yourself on Twitter and you run a customer-service-based business, it’s crucial that someone is available to engage and support customers. If your business is 24/7, your digital support should be also. 80% of Instagram users reside outside of the United States, and there are over 600 million 'Instagrammers', with 400 million active every day. What was once a simple photo-sharing app, Instagram now enables its users to make purchasing decisions. Everything from holiday destinations to fashion choices and even home decor may be influenced by this relatively new app, launched in 2012. According to Wordstream.com, in March 2017 over 120 million 'Instagrammers' visited a website, got directions, called, emailed, or direct messaged to learn about a business based on an Instagram ad. What Now? By now you have probably figured out where your clientele hangs out in the digital world. (If you're still not clear where your clients are hiding out feel free to contact me and we can figure it out together.) This next step is crucial, so listen up: Don't bite off more than you can chew It's better to select one social platform and execute it well than to launch a handful of social networks and fall flat. I get it, in this day and age certain social networks are pretty much a necessity. Even if most of your clients spend the bulk of their time on Twitter, it's still important to have a Facebook page. Overwhelmed? Don't be. Schedule, prioritize, and outsource. Taking a few hours each week (or more, if you can spare it) to plan and schedule your Facebook posts means that your content is shared consistently, and can be optimized for time frames when your Facebook community is most active. Scheduling in advance also allows for some spare time each day (even if it's 10 minutes, twice a day) to engage with your Facebook community. Prioritize your time for the platform where your demographic is most active, and engage with them! Social media isn't simply posting photos and links to whatever you're selling. It's building community, connecting with people, inspiring, and building loyalty. Lastly, know when to outsource. Know what your time is worth, and consider retaining a social media specialist for a monthly fee. Having someone whose job it is to manage your social networks exclusively means an increase in time and attention is devoted to your brand in the digital space. It also means less time Googling social media tips and tricks, and more time managing all of your new clients coming in, courtesy of your stunning new digital presence.