As a business owner, you know that you should be on social media. But what does being “on” social media mean? Or rather, what should it mean for your business? If thinking all of that makes you dizzy and a little angry, that’s because it really depends on a lot of factors. Let’s explore, shall we?
If you, whoever you are, should wander into GOW and ask us “Oh, wonderful protectors of the mysteries of marketing magic (that’s what we like to be called sometimes), what would a good social media program look like for my business?” We would respond by demanding our offering of plants and chocolate. Then we would all sit down together and have a chat about your business, your capacity, your products, and your overall comfort level with social media. After we got all of that out of the way, we would make some recommendations. Sometimes these recommendations look a lot like a social media calendar and post batching and sometimes those recommendations are to stop worrying about social media yourself and hire someone else. It really depends! But if you are interested in dipping a toe in the mystical, swirling tidal wave that is social media, start by answering these questions to get a feel for what social strategies would benefit you the most.
- If you don’t know anything about social media: The best place to start if you don’t know anything about social media is to make a list of your competitors’ social channels and decide what they are doing that you like and what you don’t like. Make a list, make a book, write it on a chalkboard. Map it out. Every day, for a few weeks, stalk them relentlessly and get a feel for what they post, how they respond to comments, and if they post the same content across all channels. Once you really absorb what others are doing, you will feel more confident to dive in and make a social media mark for yourself.
- If you are making posts, but aren’t getting any engagement: If the biggest problem on your social media journey is that your posts seem to be missing their mark, the problem may be that you need to reevaluate what your audience is really into. This is an awesome worksheet for working through who your audience is and what they are into. After you run through that super-fun homework assignment, you’ll want to run through your competitor’s social media channels and make a plan to share their posts and tag them in your re-shares. Any time you can get in from of a similar audience, take the opportunity.
- If your social posts aren’t turning into sales: One of the biggest draws to the energy and money that social media require is the possibility of a return on your investment… but what do you do if you don’t get anything back? This issue could actually be one of a few things. First, make sure your posts are linking back to your website like they should and that the links are relevant to the posts. Don’t link everything to your homepage, in other words. Second, make sure you have Google Analytics and Google Search Console set up on your website so you can see where your website traffic is coming from. If you would like to push sales on social media, you can also set up a Facebook or Instagram store to sell your products directly.
- If you are having trouble posting regularly: Posting regularly and on a schedule can seem impossible. Marketing your own business so often gets pushed deep down past the actual work that keeps your business running. The GOW prescription for this situation is a combination of an editorial calendar and scheduling software. An editorial calendar for your social media posts is always the best idea – even if you don’t currently have timing issues. At GOW, we use this basic calendar template to keep our thoughts in line. We recommend running through and slapping in any holidays or special events you’d like to commemorate first and then add in your post outlines. After you have your posts planned, use a scheduling tool to make sure your posts go out without a hitch. Check out this tool from Later.com.
If you have other questions that weren’t covered by this list, feel free to give us a call and we would be more than happy to have a chat with you one-on-one.
