The internet can seem like a very scary place and small business owners often feel out of their depth, overwhelmed and downright terrified when thinking of how to get started in the enormous and rapidly growing world of social media.
It’s tempting to bury your head in the sand, telling yourself that social media won’t work for YOUR business, or that you just don’t have the time. Well, the good news is that social media CAN work for your business, whatever it is…but the bad news is that the longer you put it off, the more your business will suffer!
Let’s be clear here: social media offers YOU the opportunity to spread the word about YOUR business online. You can build your reputation, develop relationships and increase sales. The biggest mistake you can make is to do nothing!
So, don’t allow your fear to stand in the way of your businesses growth online; we’ve put together a 3 part guide to help you get started with social media. It’s really not as scary as it seems. So let’s get going!
1. Set your goals
The first thing to do is to as yourself: “What do I want to achieve?” You may be knee-jerking your way towards an ineffective effort at social media if you have no clearer reason for doing it that “because everyone else is”. Think hard about what you want to get out of social media. For example, do you want to:
- Generate brand awareness?
- Generate new business?
- Find colleagues to collaborate with?
- Improve search rankings?
- Develop loyal fans?
All of these things are possible to achieve, but posting and tweeting willy-nilly in hopes that someone – anyone! — will find it useful enough to share is a waste of time. Be clear about what you want to achieve from the outset. Setting clear goals will keep you focused, consistent and keep you on the right track.
Action Step: write down what you want to use social media FOR!
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2. Promise to stick with it
Once you’ve decided to get on board with social media, and set out the things you hope to achieve from it, it’s important to make a commitment to the journey. Think of it as starting a new fitness regime, and give it time to show results. You wouldn’t quit exercising after two weeks because your body hasn’t transformed into the toned, honed physique of the gym instructor, and establishing a healthy social media presence can be a very slow process. You can’t expect your list of fans, followers or subscribers to grow overnight. It can take a year to really start kicking in…so stick with it!
Action step: Make a promise to yourself that you will be patient and keep working for results.
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3. Outline Your Approach
There are hundreds of different ways to use social media sites for business, and one way is not necessarily better than another. The key is knowing what your intended approach is before you start. Will you be a communicator, an industry expert, an inspirational motivator? Will you keep it purely professional or present a mix of business and personal information? Outline your intended approach and work it into your goals as you get started.
Action step: think about the best way to communicate your brand’s identity via social media. Look at others in your industry and competitors to see what’s working for them.
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So, these are the foundations of a successful social media campaign. They should be addressed thoroughly and laid out clearly from the outset. In our next blog we’ll be looking at choosing platforms and setting up profiles…properly!
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Thanks Naomi – I needed this article to help me re-focus my online presence, I’ve been guilty of drifting for the last few months!
Rachel
Thanks Rachel. Glad it helped. I will be sharing part two at the beginning of August so gives you a few weeks to work through part one!