Are you confused by social media? Not sure where to start? By this point you’ve probably realized the benefits of a social media presence for your organization, but maybe you aren’t sure where to get started. It can definitely seem overwhelming. But guess what? We’re going to share with you our formula for how we get our clients started on social media!
- Plan
You can’t just dive right in, because as it turns out, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to social media. The winning combination of social media platforms and tools will depend on your company, the product or service that you offer and your goals. For example, a trendy clothing company may want to focus its efforts on more visual platforms such as instragram and Pinterest, where it will find many of it’s customers. But a plumbing service would focus more on Facebook Pages, where they can connect more with local customers. So take some time to decide where you want to focus you marketing efforts.
2. Create your profiles.
We like to use common account names for our social media accounts when we’re signing up. That way, if your instagram account has the same username as your Twitter account, it will make it easier for followers to find you. Use common visual branding to design your various pages, so that your company is reflected and visual marketing is consistent. Many social media platforms allow you to design it to visually reflect your brand.
3. Management Tools
Maintaining and tracking various social media accounts can definitely become cumbersome. That’s why we love using social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer and SproutSocial. We’re fond of Hootsuite for many of our accounts, but different tools have different benefits, so make sure to compare and contrast these services. These tools help you do things like send messages out to all different accounts without having to log in and out to different websites and apps. You can also schedule messages, track mentions and see what your audience is up to.
4. Track
We definitely recommend tracking your social media effort and success. This will tell you where your efforts and budget are best spent. You can create reports weekly or monthly to show you how things are coming along. Many social media platforms have their own metrics measuring tools that are simple to use.