If you are asking yourself, “should my company use social media?” the answer is definitely YES! The growth of social media in recent years has been truly explosive. There are now more than two billion people worldwide who are active on one or more social media platforms. Facebook alone has more than one billion users. Meanwhile, more recent entries into the market, such as Instagram and Snapchat, are quickly making inroads. Let’s look at some of the ways you can benefit from this phenomenon.
Starting Out With Social Media
If you are just starting out with social media, the whole process can seem a bit overwhelming. It’s best to begin by targeting a few sites. You don’t have to be active on every single site; choose the ones that will work best for your business. For example, if you sell physical products where images are useful, you can benefit from sites such as Pinterest and Instagram. If you do B2B marketing, you should definitely be active on LinkedIn, but you probably don’t need Snapchat. On the other hand, just about every type of business should have at least a Facebook page and Twitter account.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when utilizing social media is that you want to brand yourself on each site. Make sure you use your own logo, along with images and content that clearly marks the page as your own. Every site gives you the ability to do your own branding. Your Twitter profile and Facebook page, for example, can be customized to reflect your unique identity.
Set Goals For Your Social Media Pages
Once you answer the question, “should my company use social media?” you need to take it a step further and ask yourself, “what do I want to accomplish with social media?” There are a number of things you can achieve, including:
- – Branding. Social media helps you get publicity for your business.
- – Leads. You can create social media landing pages to build your mailing list.
- – Selling. You can sell directly from certain social sites. For example, you can now integrate online stores with Facebook and Pinterest.
- – Customer support. You should not use social media as a replacement for more traditional types of support, but it can be used as an enhancement. Customers should still be able to call or email you, but they might also ask questions on Twitter or Facebook.
In addition to identifying your main goals, it’s a good idea to set weekly goals for posting to your accounts. It’s important to be consistent about posting and monitoring your pages. You don’t have to go crazy and post all day long. You do, however, have to maintain a consistent presence. It’s fine to start off slowly, posting perhaps two or three times per week. It’s also important to respond to any comments or feedback.
As more and more people use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and others, it becomes ever more important for businesses to be active on these sites. There’s no question that your company can benefit from social media. Once you get started, you’ll find that these sites provide a great opportunity for you to build your brand and grow your business.
Learn more about Social Media Marketing and contact Moxie Digital for any other questions!
