5 Simple Social Media Practices for Business

Social media comes naturally to some, while can be intimidating terrain for others. Small business owners may be highly skilled at the services they provide and the products they create, yet the idea of promoting themselves online and trying to engage followers can be as fear-inducing as public speaking for those who aren’t practised in the art.

 

As a business owner, you may know that having a social media presence is a no-brainer for expanding brand awareness and generating business, and you may feel the pressure to get your social media strategy just right. But just like public speaking, it’s practice that doesn’t make perfect, but makes better – with a little know-how.

 

Forget trying to keep up with the latest social media trends but instead, focus more on strengthening the best practices. If you’re hoping to make your social media game better, here’s the playbook to establishing a social media presence worth following.

 

Know your audience

 

Who are you trying to reach? Having a clear understanding of who your target audience is can provide a clearer direction on how to fine-tune your social media content. Determine the demographics of your ideal audience, such as their age, interests, values, income level, job titles, location, and behaviour. By identifying who your target audience is, this helps create a guidepost for your social media strategy so you’re not wasting time reaching an audience that will not turn into customers.

 

Add real value

 

Your posts should be tailored to the type of content your audience would be interested in, while relating it to what you offer. For example, if you’re an owner of a pet grooming service, your audience may find more value in looking at fun doggy haircuts you provide than, say, photos of you and your pets going on walks. If you’re a B2B business with a project management app, your audience may be more interested in learning about the various tools, functions and integrations – and probably care less about the company’s quarterly report. By creating actionable content of value, brand engagement, recognition and customer loyalty can develop and strengthen.

 

Extra tip: When directly promoting a specific service or product, do so strategically so that your audience isn’t inundated with your advertising efforts. Afterall, no one wants a ton of junk mail – and that includes in their social feed.

 

Keep it human

 

Between DHL and FedEx, which brand sticks out to you more? Chances are, FedEx does. How did this shipping company – a service that is really not all that interesting – become such a global name in our minds? Because in their marketing, they make it human. They focus on the friendliness and service of the delivery drivers, and not the fluorescent-lit warehouse in which tired workers sort out thousands of boxes.

 

Even boring corporate giants understand that keeping it human is essential, like IBM spotlighting one of their neurodivergent employees on LinkedIn or having one of their business managers talk about the benefits of IBM consulting in a video. Because all customers are people and ultimately, people will feel more connected to a face than a product.

 

Extra tip: One essential part of keeping it human is to engage with your audience. This might involve something as simple as acknowledging and replying to their comment on your posts.

 

Make it easy

 

Don’t make your followers jump through hoops to learn more about your product or services. Make it obvious through your social media posts and a succinct bio on your social media pages, including links to your website or relevant products. For example, if posting on Instagram, it may be helpful to include a Linktr.ee link to your bio so that followers can easily click through to whatever you may be promoting at a given time. Your Linktr.ee link may include your website, direct contact, a freebie, blog post, information on a specific service and more. This way the customer isn’t needing to search endlessly for what they are looking for and potentially give up.

 

Post regularly

 

This may be one of the most important tips of all. Having a social media presence doesn’t matter much if you’re only posting once every several months or every year. It’s like a business card sitting on a shelf collecting dust – not much use. You get as much as you put out and in the world of social media algorithms, the more you post, the more likely others will see it.

 

Plus if you don’t post regularly, you’re missing out on potential leads through search. The New York Times declared that TikTok is the new search engine for Gen Z – and while Gen Z may not be your current target audience, the fact remains that social media as a search engine is rapidly increasing.

 

Social media still sound like a lot of effort? It definitely can be a job on its own. But you can offload at least five tasks to your virtual assistant today, or get in touch so we can explore what your specific needs are.