Utilizing social media for business growth is crucial to the success of your brand. In this day and age, there’s no way around this fact. If you don’t know why proper social media management is so important for your business, I highly recommend you follow the hyperlink (don’t worry, it opens in a new window) before going any further.
Here’s the secret: the entrepreneurs that drown in the age of technology almost always ignore
the use of social media for business purposes. Don’t worry, all hope is not lost. We’ve put together a concise guide to help you whip your business into shape online.
Step One: The Fundamentals
- Get as many accounts as you can handle, and that are relevant to your business.
- Make sure there is continuity; basic information should be readily available and updated across all of your platforms.
- Commit to long-term and consistent use of every single profile.
I cannot stress enough to my clients that every social media platform you don’t use is wasted money. While sponsored advertising is another story entirely (and we will get there), using social media for business marketing is free and incredibly easy to get started. 
You see, social networking changed the way we act as consumers. Marketing, in essence, has always been about creating a need and building value. When the age of social media arose, this alone was no longer enough. Customers and clients want more than just a solid product now. They can likely do a Google search and find dozens of other businesses similar to yours. Your strategy must adapt to this reality.
If your market is looking for you on social media, you need to actually be there. More importantly, you need to have what they’re looking for when they find you.
Step Two: Content
Great, you’ve got your pages and pertinent information updated. It’s time to start posting (or at least start posting correctly). Using social media for business is not solely (or even mostly) about promoting. Your content needs to vary in both form and purpose.
You cannot achieve success with statuses alone. Your followers engage with photos, videos, informational articles, and more every single day. When they know they can get all of this and more on your pages, they’re going to visit and engage often. Try different types of media and see what gets the most engagement from your audience.
These things in mind, we can focus on purpose. You can share a million different forms of media and still bore your audience to death. You need to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes when using social media for business purposes. Try brainstorming with these prompts:
- What does my target market find humorous?
- What problems do they have that are related to my product or services? How do they want to solve these problems?
- What can I offer to my audience that they want or need?
- How can I provoke discussion on my pages within these audiences?
If you see a relevant meme that your followers would find funny, share it. If there’s a current event that affects your industry, talk about it. Share the news piece and ask for their thoughts. If you have a cache of knowledge about a subject, post tips and tricks that will give your audience an ‘aha’ feeling.
Step Three: Continue to Use Social Media for Business Growth
There are a myriad of ways to approach growth once you’ve started properly using social media for business. You’ve got the basics down and you’re gaining some traction with your networks, so now what?
Sponsored advertising is a great way to get followers or likes very quickly, but it can get costly and frustrating. Facebook does not automatically serve up your posts to everyone who’s liked you. In fact you probably won’t show up on the news feed of half of your followers. Backing up important or popular posts with a paid promotion is easy, but giving shareable content that circulates fast is easier. 
For a more in depth look at sponsored advertising, Social Times has a great post about it here (let them know we sent you).
Add some incentive for people to circulate your content and increase that organic reach with a call to action or reward. If your content is good enough, even a few shares from your personal page and immediate friend circle can start a viral wildfire.
I’m Not Sure If I Can Handle This/I’m Still Having Trouble
This is a lot of information to take in and sadly, we’d need a whole e-book to cover everything there is to learn about social media for business. All hope is not lost though. I have 2 recommendations if one of the above applies to you.
1. Be Patient
2. Hire a Professional
It is more than possible to go DIY on your social marketing strategy, but it’s hard at first. If you don’t have the skill set or the patience to go at it alone, hiring a reputable firm to manage your social media for you is your best bet.
If you’re interested in learning about how our firm can help you implement some of what I’ve outlined, check out our social media management services or drop us a line by clicking here.
Your brand has potential. Your brand has marketability. Put it to work. Stick with the fundamentals and you can use social media for business success.