Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus… it’s hard to go online nowadays and not trip over one or more social media sites. For business owners, that’s a good thing. If you have a social media presence, you have one or more ways to get in touch with your intended audience.
Of course, if you don’t yet have a presence on at least one of the main social media sites, you’re missing a trick – probably several. It can be hard to know where to start though, and you must be sure you’re doing it right to get the best results. Our top tip is to pick the site your audience is most likely to engage with, and start there. You can always add other social media channels later. Getting one right is more important than picking several to start with and not achieving your aims with any of them.
Don’t miss out on Facebook
With well over a billion members, getting your business seen on Facebook makes good sense. You must ensure you have a Facebook Page though, rather than a personal profile. This presents a professional image people will be looking for. And as with all social media sites, a regular presence will ensure you gain followers and establish your business in less time.
Go visual on Instagram
While all social media posts featuring images tend to do better than those without, Instagram is built on images. If that suits your business, Instagram could be the ideal first foray into social media marketing for you. It is also very mobile-friendly, although these days that could be said of most if not all social media sites.
Time to get tweeting on Twitter
If short and sweet suits you better than trying to create longer posts, Twitter is a good place to begin. The classic 140-character limit forces you to be creative and brief – and of course, you can also add a photo or image to it to make your posts more visible and shareable. They’re experimenting with doubling the limit to 280 characters at present – more news on whether that catches on as we have it.
Getting established on Google Plus
For a while, it looked as though this social network was going to sink without trace. Not so. Going up against the likes of Facebook was always going to be a challenge, even when said site is run by Google. The main reason for being here (other than getting access to hundreds of millions of active users) is that being active on Google Plus can make a positive difference to your search results.
Evaluate your options and commit to your first social media account
While it may seem like a good idea to be seen everywhere, you won’t be able to keep up unless you have a dedicated social media team to do it for you. Choose one site and establish yourself there before going elsewhere. Do that, and you may well find some of your followers will follow you elsewhere as well.