When using social media for business purposes, it can often feel overwhelming. When business people start using social media to attract clients/customers or sales, we may take a scattergun approach. Let’s use all the social media we can and hopefully attract the right customers/clients or sales. The problem with this is that it takes up a lot of time and because of this the business person may not do it well.
What does this achieve?
- You start to feel rubbish, to feel a failure that your social media is not working well.
- You don’t have enough time to do all the social media you planned to, so it often gets left.
- It can be bad for business. If someone starts to follow you, then you don’t post for days or weeks, they may become
a. Bored
b. Disinterested
c. Think you’ve gone out of business.
So how can you make social media work for you?
- There are a lot of social media platforms. They all have a different user base, so the first step is to find out the demographics of their users. If you want to sell retirement holidays, it is no good focussing on social media aimed at teenagers. So find the right social media for you.
- Using the demographics information, decide on two or three platforms that work best for you. This may not seem like many, but it is better to focus on suitable platforms and ensure you are not stretching yourself too thin.
- Be consistent. Think how much time you have available. If you think you can do social media posts three times a day, great. If you think you can do it once a day, great. You may only be able to post once a week. Whatever you have time for, be consistent with that. Pick specific dates and times when you will post on social media.
For example, if you want to post youtube videos and can only post once a week, always post it at the same time, for example, every Saturday morning. If you are going to post three times a week, pick the same days and times. Clients/customers will come to recognise and expect your routine if they follow you. If the day or time you have chosen doesn’t seem to be working after a few weeks, then change it. But don’t change it straight away, building a following takes time.
Social media can be a very effective tool. Whatever you do, be consistent. Don’t give up if it doesn’t work immediately. Social media requires work and input in the long term.
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