I remember discovering Twitter for the first time; I got hooked. I carried my laptop everywhere and constantly searched for new tweets. There were some early influencers who used the channel strategically to promote their brands, but most of us were just participating. Wow, has it ever changed! I quickly learned that I needed to set deadlines for myself, even turning on a timer, to manage how much time I spent on each channel. Otherwise, 10 minutes turned into an hour, and nothing was done!
As social media became more popular and the number of channel users continued to grow, marketers quickly looked for ways to leverage them for greater brand engagement. Social media has gone from being a hobby to a full-time job.
The big misconception is that small businesses have an “easy” way to expand their reach and increase the size of their prospect pool, simply by participating and engaging.
But it is not easy, it is strategic.
Unless they have a dedicated team member managing their social media, small business owners go through engagement cycles. They read a blog or take a class, highlighting the advantages of social media for business, they reenter, excited about a new direction, and quickly realize the work involved to keep the momentum going. Excitement wanes, engagement drops, and the status quo returns. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about social media, it’s that consistent, content-rich engagement brings the most success.
At the risk of sounding too simplistic, it’s about understanding:
who – Who is your target market.
What – What should you post?
Where – On which social media channels should I post.
When – When your target market is online, including when your posts are most likely to be seen. This means you can post less, but at more specific times, when your posts are most likely to be seen.
How – video, text, photos – a mix of all three. Are your posts scheduled or spontaneous, or both?
From here, you can develop an easy-to-follow formula that works with the time you have available. Your message will be well received both in format, time and frequency; maximizing the effectiveness of your messaging with the time you have available to manage it. Tie this strategy into a lead magnet to capture email addresses, and you’re not just building your social media following, but your email list as well.
Are you curious to know more? Go to our website and check out our Social Media Jumpstart Pack. It’s a quick and easy, no-compromise way to get back on track to success on social media.
