No matter what stage you are at with your business, you should always stay on top of your social media channels.
Even if you only post on your company Facebook page once or twice a week, it will make your business look more legit and it could open yourself up to a whole new audience. On social media, you just never know who will see your content.
If you’re just too busy to manage your social media, I recommend looking into a student wanting to complete a digital marketing apprenticeship in order to get real work experience.
To this day, if I am thinking about buying a product online or am looking into purchasing a service to use for my business, I check out their social media pages. If they don’t have one, I start to think about how I could contact this company and see user reviews. If they have social media pages that haven’t been touched in a year or more, I start to think that maybe business isn’t good and they’ve gone out of business.
On the other hand, if I go to a business's social media channel and they are posting creative content regularly, I am instantly impressed because they see the importance of presenting themselves as professionals.
What to think about when planning your company’s social media
Profile Images
The pictures on your profile should be crisp, clear and catchy. There’s nothing wrong with using your company logo as your display picture. For your cover photo on Twitter and Facebook, you can be a little more creative.
Think of it as an advertisement. Show off your company’s biggest draw and catch someone’s eye when they click to your profile.
Contact Info
After you set up your company profile and have it looking good, make sure to fill out everything that’s asked of you. Phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses should be current so anybody can reach you.
Why not open up your profile so you can receive inquiries through messages right on the platform. You’ll be surprised how many people will reach out with questions through Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram.
Just the other day, I messaged two bakeries on Facebook inquiring about a certain product. One company got back to me quickly so I went there and gave them my business. A few hours later I got a message from the other bakery saying they also had the bakery. They just weren’t quick enough!
Content
Obviously, the content is the real question surrounding your company’s social media profiles. Here are a few things to really dig into and think about as you get started. These things may change and alter as you get started.
- Timing
Once you get some followers, when you post content will be important. If you post something at 8 am on a Tuesday and get 50 likes, and then post something similar at 8 pm on a Saturday and get 5 likes, you’ll have a better idea about when you should be posting.
After running some experiences, you’ll know more about when your audience is engaging with posts.
- Editorial
I highly recommend creating an editorial calendar. It can be very simple as you rotate through the three categories of posts:
33% - Promotional: strictly about your company and what you do. In these posts, you can promote a sale you have going on or a new service you are offering. These posts will almost appear like an advertisement.
Ie: if you’re a company that sells hiking gear, share images of your products and link directly to your website where these products can be bought.
33% - Curated: here’s where you should be sharing content related to your business that can offer informative information to your readers. Make this content the most interesting and engaging - most curated content will be content from third-party sites.
Ie: For a hiking gear company, sharing a list of the best hiking trails in the world would be interesting. Or maybe just sharing phenomenal images from a famous hiking trail.
33% - Personal: this is where you can have some fun. These posts could be pictures of your employees or a video of yourself around the office. Share positive reviews you’ve received or an image of the new sign outside your store location.
Show your followers that there is a human behind your social accounts and, most importantly, the company.
Ie: you went hiking with your partner this past weekend? Share an image with a note about beating your own personal record. Ask your followers to share images of the last time they went hiking.
Have your own voice!
The biggest thing I recommend when you’re working on your social channels for your business is to create your own voice.
Do your thing, adopt a style and run with it. Social media posts can hang around for a while, so don’t think you’re wasting your time. Maybe a piece of content you create will go viral and completely change your life forever.