Here’s what every business owner needs to know about social media

In this digital age, businesses are not only expected to be online but they’re expected to have good social media presence while they’re at it. Simply because as a channel, social media allows businesses to create a two-way dialogue between themselves and their customers. It also allows them to market themselves directly to potential consumers by showcasing their products or services, humanising their business and creating a specific tone of voice for their brand. It’s highly likely that customers will check your Facebook page or Instagram profile before they decide to make a purchase or use your services.

That being said, social media does have some pitfalls all business owners should be aware of.

Our tips on what you should know:

Post consistently 

If your business has a page on social media, it is critical to keep updating it regularly. Having an outdated social media feed shows that it is poorly managed and is probably worse than not having a feed at all. Posting interesting content continuously will build up a strong online presence and will increase your brand awareness.

Plan and schedule

Since we already mentioned that your feed must have new content flowing steadily, we should probably mention that there are easy ways to do it. Countless online tools allow you to schedule posts to go live at specific times. This will give you time to plan what you want people to see. Scheduling posts will give you the luxury of having fresh content anytime throughout the whole year so that your business would stay relevant even when you are asleep or taking some time off!

Create conversations

One of social media’s greatest advantages is being able to directly engage with your customers and attract new ones. You can easily find out what the public are saying about your business, what they like and how could you possibly improve. By posting on your social channels you would gain insights about your followers and how they’re interacting with your product or service. Knowing what kind of content works for the business is key to building engagement and good relationships with your consumer base. So, make the most out of your feed and post engaging content that asks your audience questions to keep them interested and create videos about the people behind your brand or even repost what happy clients are saying about you to stand out from your competitors.

Listen attentively

Unlike your business that operates from 9-5 on weekdays, your social media pages are open for business 24 hours a day, every day and it’s fair to say that you will be receiving comments now and then, if not every time you post something. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, it offers you an opportunity to show how attentive you are when it comes to listening to your audience. When you respond to positive feedback, customers feel special and taken care of, which creates brand loyalty in the long-term. Meanwhile, other customers will be encouraged to share their positive thoughts as well because they want to be recognised too. As a result, you will make happy customers happier, market yourself at no extra cost and inspire other people to try your business.

On the other hand, negative comments could deduct points from your profile as a business but only if you ignored it. Handling complains and negative feedback shows your customers that you’re listening to what they’re saying and that you care about them not only about selling. Handling negative feedback poorly could go viral and companies lose more than customers in such incidents, they lose people’s trust and respect.

So, make sure you address criticism kindly and respond quickly.

Use #hashtags

In the world of social media, hashtags are the way topics are categorised. It’s the label that links businesses to the areas and people they want to be affiliated with it. They give you the power to reach specific audiences who are all interested in knowing more about a certain topic. You can create a conversation and invite other people to join in just by adding an appropriate hashtag to your post. You can easily find trending hashtags to increase your chances of reaching more people or you can invent some unique ones with your business name or a specific campaign you want to promote.

By doing that, you increase your engagement rates and encourage your customers to share their stories and relate them to your business to generate even more buzz around your business activities!

Sell on social

As a business owner, you would want to maximise all your assets to reach as many people as you can, which is something that you can easily do if you build an engaging social media profile. Businesses with strong social media presence can easily turn leads into sales, especially with features like Facebook’s ‘Marketplace’ and Instagram’s ‘Shop Now’ feature.

Explore which platforms work best for your business and understand which channels are your customers most engaged with to utilise your social media sales efforts.

Social media can do wonders for your business. It can be overwhelming at first but don’t be deterred and keep pushing to learn more about it because the reward is well worth the effort and time you invest. Did you know that a franchise business can take the stress out of updating your own social pages? Get in contact with me today to find out how!