Why Social Media?

Businesses are now turning to social media to promote their products, build their customer base, and inform the public about what they are doing. Social media may come easy to you but when it comes to creating a social media plan for your business, here are 10 things to consider.

1. What is your company trying to achieve with social media? “The first and most important step in creating your plan is to clearly identify your goals,” says CEO for TopRank Online Marketing, Lee Odden. Are you using social media to gain exposure or do you want to directly interact with your customers? Just remember, you want to add value to your customers.
2. Who will manage and maintain the accounts? If you are a small company you may not be able to hiring a social media person or team. Find someone who has a good track record of using social media effectively in their own lives.
3. Do you need to be on all social networks right from the start? Odden advises that you start small with just a blog and maybe one network. Find out which one your customers use the most and start there. Then through time you can build and expand to other networks.
4. What social network works best for a small business? Twitter will work well with a company whether it is big or small. It is easy to use and you have a character limit of 140. Google+ is also essential if you want to boost SEO.
5. How often should you post content? It is suggested that you post between 2-5 times a day because you have users checking it at different times throughout the day. It is important to be consistent though.
6. Do I need to post different content on different social platforms? Facebook. Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram are mostly visual, so using memorable images of your products, events, etc. will work very effectively. Where as Twitter is all about tweeting something catchy and having it retweeted by others.
7. Is social media a good way to provide customer service? Social media is quickly becoming a common way for businesses to interact with their customers. Just remember that things get posted publicly so you must be careful.
8. How do you make your social media fans actual costumers? The trick is keeping your fans engaged in what you are doing. They are more likely to become customers if they constantly follow you on social media. It is also wise to implement cross-platform contests that use multiple channels, like, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
9. How do you measure the success of your social media plan? Some social networks offer their own metrics that allow page administrators to access date such as how many people are interacting with your posts. Google Analytics is also a good way to see how effective your campaign is.
10.  What is the biggest mistake that is made on social media? You must be able to adapt with change. Social media platforms are constantly changing and if your fans notice that you are not up to pace, then they will quit following you.

As you can see, social media is a very powerful tool and many businesses are implementing social media plans. You just need to be aware and be careful so that you don’t disrupt your fan base and you continue to gain followers.