7 Basic Steps of Starting or Stepping Up Your Social Media Game

Marketing over social media can seem like a whole other world when compared to print or other digital forms. There are various platforms, mediums, campaign types, and even hashtags to consider– and that’s just scratching the surface. So, how can a business owner be expected to focus on what’s important?

If you want to start on social media, but you’re too taken back by all that needs to be done, or if you have a strategy started, but you’re not sure that it’s solid, then let us help! Here are our basic steps to social media success, outlined in crucial points to help drive you forward.

1- Figure out your target demographic. What group of people are you trying to target? This can be as basic as age and location, or even as complex as they just bought a new home or they decided to work with your competitors. You can start narrowing this down by looking at your current client base and deciding from there what you’d like more of your potential clients to be like. Once this step is done, you not only know what audiences to direct your marketing to, but you can decide which platforms to start using.

2 – Make your business some social media pages. Start with some of the giants, like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. This is part of how picking your audience becomes useful– pick which platforms they’re more likely to use! Professionals and local businesses may be more likely to see your LinkedIn posts, but the younger crowds and a wider range of businesses may better react to Tweets. Consider which platforms will appeal to your target audience, and which already do! Try starting by asking your customers which social media platforms they’re most active on for some ideas.

3 – Make personal social media pages to get a sense of how to best use them for your business. If you don’t already have accounts, make accounts for yourself for the services you want to use for your business. What better way to see what’s interesting and what makes sense on platforms than by becoming a user yourself? This will also help you with understanding how other businesses and ads are behaving on social media, as well as improving your general usage.

4 – Time your posts appropriately! There are certain times across various platforms that are better to post– you can find them with a quick Google search! More or less, Mondays are usually slow, but the middle of the week typically picks up across platforms. Both lunch and dinner timing is usually the busiest, but it’ll depend on other factors as well. Try to keep your posts going at the busiest times for maximum views and engagement!

5 – Try to keep your post topics relevant and trendy. If you can try to appeal to your audience with timely information and news, you’re more likely to get their attention. However, it’s important to not cross the lines into political or other sensitive areas, as it can easily isolate you from your customers and potential clients. Instead, thread news and other popular media into your posts when relevant, only to tie them into what’s important for your business. For example, a florist could incorporate some recent news that a new species has been found to mention the wide variety that can be found in their selection!

6 – Incorporate videos, images, and other media to drive a more interactive online presence. Customers are shown to take more interest when media is involved with posts, breaking up what can be walls of text on a business’ page with something fun and interactive. Images are a great boost to this, but so are videos! Videos are actually rising in popularity across platforms, especially on Facebook and Instagram. You can even take advantage of the live video options available to showcase your office, products, your work, or other interesting parts of your business. Videos often equal drastically increased engagement, which means they could be crucial to achieving your social media goals!

7 – Get in touch with i3. No matter your current marketing strategy or individual needs, we’ve got a variety of solutions available to you not only when it comes to social media, but also in other forms of digital marketing. We believe in full client disclosure and education, meaning we can show you what we can help you with realistically and track progress for you along the way. Digital marketing is our expertise– let us handle it while you run your business. Give i3 a call to learn more!