Expert Advice on creating an effective social media strategy to promote your small business.
Our second interview in our social media for small business series features Anise Smith, a marketing professional who runs the marketing company Anise Smith Marketing.
We asked Anise to give us her best tips on using social media to promote a small business.
There are many social media channels available. So, one of the most important things about creating an effective social media strategy is to select the social media channels will work for your company. Facebook has over 500 million users so the first selection should be to create a Facebook Page. A Facebook page is different than a profile. Generally, profiles are for your personal presence, and a page is for your business presence.
It’s not just enough to create a presence on Facebook by creating a page, but you must strategically engage your clients and potential clients. The goal of social media is to be SOCIAL, talk about issues that your page visitors would like to hear, run contests, give advice, and add pictures and video. Also, it is important to add custom tabs to your page so that you can add your own content, promotion or website directly to your Facebook page.
Companies also have to strategically grow the Facebook FANS that LIKE their page. It’s not really about how many FANS that have LIKED your page but more about selecting people that have an interest in your page and your content. This creates a greater opportunity to engage your customers. When customers are engaged, it increases the likelihood that they will share your content and shared content is key for promoting your brand.
Once you have created a Facebook Page start looking for additional social media channels that may work for your company, like YouTube for company videos, Twitter for company updates and Flickr for company pictures. The selection of additional social media channels should be applicable, relevant to your company and bring an added value to promoting your brand effectively. Creation of a company blog is also essential.
Remember, one of the important things with the creation of an effective social media strategy is to select the social media channels that are good for your company, grow your fans/followers strategically and engage your audience.
