1)If you are in business you must have a LinkedIn profile. If you currently do not have one, then register your business name today and complete the online profile. If you have an existing profile then make sure it is updated and check out any new potential contacts that you can make. A good way to ramp up your social media status is to get past clients to write some testimonials for you and post them on your profile.
2) Get a Google+ page and add your photo ASAP. We do this with our website and each time our URL comes up on the search engines Google, my photo appears along side this. It is a great way to highlight your website, attract visitors and improve sales. Ask your web developer about this awesome technique. As a social media platform, Google+ is also a great way to engage with people and let them know about your business. Unlike Facebook this platform lets you segment friends, businesses contacts and relatives into separate groups; which is great for targeted marketing
3) Facebook is without doubt the biggest social media goliath. An absolute must is to register your Facebook page and make regular postings about your business. The aim here is to attract followers who are interested in your offerings and continually feed them with news, updates, specials, basically anything to do with your business. You might even think about buying some ad space on Facebook and specifically target consumers in your area and demographic.
4) Invest in a blog on your website and start blogging right away. Writing about relevant news or issues in your particular industry is another powerful social media strategy and should be undertaken on a regular basis. If you are stuck for content, speak with a web copywriting company, who will be able to write articles for you every month. A good idea is to try to publish one to two articles per week. A content strategy for your blog is a must and should be on your marketing agenda asap.
5) Delete stale, old and out dated connections you may have. There is nothing worse than marketing to people that have no interest in your business anymore. Have a browse around LinkedIn and look for industry related connections. Finding new people to engage with online is a great path to take if you are looking for fresh new contacts.
6) Be careful about your social media channels. You don’t have to be on every platform online. Be discerning and picky about where you want to go and who you want to engage with. Examine the time and effort needed to maintain each platform and pick the ones that will yield the maximum reach and user engagement.
7) Be proactive about making new contacts. You may be surprised who is online and just a little effort can go a long way. If you are able to make a contact, try to email them personally, but never spam them.
8) Measure results and be sure to find out where your customers came from. Google analytics can be coded into your website and will provide you with the information you need to monitor your social media effectiveness.
9) Run a competition and see how many people actually fill out a form or apply. If it doesn’t give you the results you were looking for, dont be negative. Look at what went wrong and try again.
10) Watch out for negative comments on all social media platforms and mitigate these immediately if you find any. It is easy to write off a person or business on any of these platforms, so being vigilant about comments or feedback is a positive thing to do for your social media.
11) Don’t rely entirely on friends or family to ‘like’ your website, blog or profile. Be realistic about your target audience and put together a social media marketing campaign that will encourage fresh, new users. This is not as easy as it looks, but if you are unclear about where to begin, contact companies in this industry who will be able to offer some marketing advice. The investment now will pay huge dividends in the future if you are committed to improving your brand online.
12) Lastly, don’t bury your head in the sand thinking this will go away. Social media is growing in popularity and as part of the business community, you need to be involved. Take very small steps to start with and over time you should get the hang of it. There is no point being afraid of social media just because you don’t understand it. These platforms are here to assist and promote your business. By carefully looking at this from a marketing perspective you will soon see how easy all this can be. Social media is designed for everyone and if you feel that your business has been excluded then the the process to turn matters around is simple.