Social Media is the easiest and least expensive way for you to market your business. It is free if you do it yourself and only takes time and tactics to execute a sustainable growth strategy that can rival even the biggest competitors. Today we will be giving you insights into effective ways you can manage your own campaigns.

By now there is no denying the power of social media and as business owners, it is paramount to our digital footprint; And while the value of these virtual and viral movements may be subjective, they are no less vital to our success.

Here are 5 basic guidelines to follow when working with your social media.

1. Don’t make it only about you and your business.  

You are building an audience. Your building blocks are the clients of Platform X. If these folks are here to see puppy dogs and kitty cats, that is the game we are playing. Nobody cares about your business as much as you do, perhaps, except for your competition. Posting only projects or promotions about your brand exclusively will not only tip your hand to competitors but will also be bland and boring to more than less of the audience we are borrowing. A good rule of thumb to follow is keeping some daily content universal. We find about 30-50% of regularly scheduled posts should be appealing to a wider audience than just your consumers or prospects. Go To's are TGIF; MONDAYS SUCK, MOTIVATIONAL PHRASES, FAVORITE QUOTES ETC....

2. Stay Consistent

Your digital footprint needs to be part of the culture you are procuring. This is a permanent part of who you are. Not only who you say you are, but also, and sometimes more importantly, what the public says you are. Managing an online reputation for a business is a never-ending process, it takes a team and unfortunately chances are your cousin's nephew's brother may just not have the crisis management skills necessary even as suave as they are growing up with this stuff. You need to have as much perspective here as possible and de-escalate situations with Karens and Kyles.

3. Don’t be controversial.

This is not the place for a hot take. Everything you post on a business page needs to remain professional and as objective as possible. There are plenty of great opportunities to provide personality insights with universal content but being edgy, political, or even religious is not going to serve your purpose. It is important to think before you post. Does this content have value? Does it fit the mission? Am I posting at the right time? Is this the best platform for it?

Try to remain as inclusive as possible on social platforms and you won't go wrong. 

4. Be visual.

A picture is worth a thousand words. We have all heard this before and know it to be true. So don’t sell yourself short. People ignore posts without pictures, period. Video and imagery go viral, texts do not; that is until someone posts a pic of said text. Always be sure you are posting with imagery, even the bots and algorithms are crawling them. 

5. Stay Current and Keep Your Contact Info Updated

Everything we do for ranking in search engines and directories is about relevance. Keeping your i’s dotted and t's crossed will go a long way in keeping you front and center. This can mean anything from addresses and hours of operation to phone numbers and emails. Outdated information will not only make you appear unprofessional to the user but will also impact you negatively online. 

Managing your business' social media is a job within itself at times. You can do this yourself with some guidance. There will come a time when as an owner and manager of a company you must weigh your time versus the cost of hiring someone to manage your social media.

If you are struggling contact us today! We can lead you to the best tools or to packages that make it sensible to pass the social media baton and spend your time doing what you love AND get paid for.