Whether you are just starting out with your small business venture, or you’ve been established for years, there is a LOT of administration to be done. In a bid to lighten the load, you might have found yourself wondering what you can chop off that never-ending To-Do list… Accounts? Probably not…Staff training? Definitely not. Ooh, I know – what about social media? Do people even use Facebook anymore?
With the hours and hours you spend sourcing content, writing engaging posts, ‘hashtagging’ (what? It can be a verb) and finding and editing eye-catching images; it can be tempting to trade social media for more ‘important’ jobs. But we’re here to say, Halt! Don’t! Whoa, Nelly! And Hold your horses! When used correctly, social media IS worth it! Let us explain:
Return on Investment Social media is a powerful tool you can use to grow your business when used correctly. You need to see a return on your time investment, and also a return on any paid advertising that you are running. This return doesn’t have to mean dollars in the bank though. Social media has many other benefits for your business.
Gets You In Front of Your Target Market The average person checks their mobile device at least once every hour. Chances are, they are checking social media several times a day. That leaves you with a great chance of getting your content in front of your ideal customer.
Allows You To Build a Relationship With Potential Clients
Every relevant post on social media is an opportunity to build trust and credibility for your business. Providing useful information will draw potential clients to you, and specific call to actions will get them to engage with your business.
Generates Leads
By posting your Lead Magnet, or a sign-up link, you can get your readers to join your mailing list. This gives you the opportunity to send them follow up emails and information that will hopefully lead to sales.
Increases Traffic To Your Website By sharing your blogs, services and promotions on your social media pages, your readers will be directed back to your website to find out more information.
Customer Care Social media provides an easy way for your existing clients to contact you with questions. You can also add value to the relationship by continuing to provide them with relevant and useful content.
Things to remember: Try your best not to get distracted. We know social media can be a black hole filled with amusing cat videos and before you know it, it’s midnight and you haven’t even had lunch yet…You can easily lose minutes or hours of your day checking irrelevant things on your social media platforms (and it can be a bit addictive to see all the likes, shares and comments rolling in when you’ve made a killer post that’s getting some action!)
Post relevant content that your readers are going to engage with on a regular basis – To know what to post, think about what YOU click on. What gets your attention? Depending on the platform, research shows that it’s important to find a balance between spamming your followers and growing cobwebs on your profile picture. For platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, two times a week is sufficient. For picture based social sites like Instagram you could try up to four times per week, and with Twitter, well… the sky is the limit! Tweet away little bird!
Don’t be too salesy – your readers will soon lose interest if you try to sell to them all the time.
On the flipside, don’t miss an opportunity to make some sales. Advertise your services from time to time, and make it easy for your readers to buy from you by linking to your website.
Engage with your followers! Respond to the comments you receive on your content and have fun with it.
The analysis functions on social media are great! Be sure to check your analytics weekly to see when your readers are most engaged, and then tweak your post times so you are delivering content when your readers are most active/ likely to buy.
Although the exact return on your investment can be quite hard to measure, the truth of the matter is, if you are not using social media, you are missing an opportunity to grow your business. Is social media worth it? You better believe it is!
Remember – If you are feeling really overwhelmed by your social media, or find that you are struggling to create engaging content for it, please call us. Virtual Assistants can manage all your social media pages and get them buzzing so that you can reap the benefits and get back to focusing on the rest of your business.