On popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Linkedin; producing, sharing and resharing content is the bulk of what a business should be doing in order to stay relevant. Social media isn’t for everyone and it might not be right for your business – some customers mistrust it, some have a paranoia about using it – but the genius behind it is that it builds trust and relationships when it is used in the right way.
There’s a saying that goes something like ‘people hate to be sold to – but they love to buy’, in the same way, your customers on social media will only buy from you if your content first meets their needs and interests.
To be effective on social media, you first need a routine. The routine that I use isn’t complex, it consists of three basic steps (I write them into my own calendar to remind me of what I should be doing next).
The three steps are:
1. Work out the Frequency of your Posts
The first thing to do is to establish the frequency of your post. How often will you post? What days and how many posts will you make?
This is what my typical day looks like: Goal: To build an audience and establish myself as a source of authority on all things Google+ and web design related work and to drive traffic to my site.
Time spent per day: 2 hours
No. of posts per day: 3-4
No. of comments per day: 5
No. of reshares per day: 3
Links to my website/blog: 1
This is just what I spend my time doing, it’s not the only way but it works for me.
2. Establish the Best Days, and the Time of Day to Post
A good way to start is to look at a few social profiles with a sizable following and ask yourself: “How often and when do they post?” There’s no exact science, it will take some trial and error to adapt it to your own routine. Just use what works for you.
3. Engage your Audience
You can engage people in your community on a (more or less) consistent basis by reading their posts, liking, resharing or commenting. I do this because it builds trust and engagement. You may not be able to engage everyone in your group, but by trying to be helpful and keeping up with new posts, you will gradually build authentic connections.
When I started out, I joined communities that I was interested in. It taught me valuable things about how to engage with people. I still like to engage with people on a community level because it is both a source of new ideas as well as a place to connect to my passions and interest.
The secret to building your business on social media isn’t hard, and it’s not about the technology itself. Using Facebook, Google+ or Twitter just takes practice, routine, sharing and commenting to see what works best for you.
