Social media marketing for your business has changed the scope of the way we do business and the way we engage with our buyers. The way a business owner chooses to embrace their social media marketing presence can really affect their overall success in business. 

Social media gives businesses a real way to engage with their clients or potential buyers. It also gives real time feedback on what the business is selling or service they are providing. Social media also offers business owners a tangible way to express the brand’s personality and create raving fans. 

So, how does a business owner navigate the social media landscape?

CONTENT IS KING and QUEEN! Educate your consumers. Give them value. Give them something to learn or something that excites them visually. People love beautiful images and captivating words. If you have trouble creating content, outsource your marketing. It is well worth your money to hire someone to create beautiful, strategic content for you. There are multiple ways to find people who do this. Study what your competitors are doing and not doing to find your advantage; and study what draws you to pages and people you love. 

Maximize your post exposure. Timing is key. Use scheduling software like Hootsuite and Buffer if you are crazed during the day. Note though that Facebook may not give you as much exposure when using these platforms. Facebook also has an internal scheduler that you can use as well. I have found 8-10 am EST, 12 pm EST, 2 pm EST, and 8 pm EST have given me good results. Sometimes you need to test. Avoid late night though. If you wait until you get home to post past 10 pm EST, you are killing your content before it lands.

Social media likes engagement so respond to all your comments. The algorithm also likes four-plus word comments and responses. I make a point to comment to other pages with four-plus words and when I respond as well to help push the post. 

Share your business post to your personal page. This will give more organic exposure and it helps your friends keep in the loop of what you are up to. These should be your natural referral partners. You may feel weird promoting yourself a few times a day, but here is the thing, just because you post doesn’t mean everyone is seeing it. Also, don’t be afraid to recycle content a bit. Your 8 am audience is probably different from your 8 pm audience. 

Vary the amount of copy in your posts. Most people have a short attention span so keep it to the point. If you know you write great copy, play around with longer posts. People love vulnerability and story telling. If you can bring your audience into an AHA-moment or a powerful revelation, they will be drawn in and engaged. Ask a question at the end of a post to inspire sharing and comments. The more comments the more social media “values” that post and will keep it pushed.

Did you post some great content only to hear crickets? This is probably a timing issue. Go back to the post and tag someone in the comments or make a long comment yourself. That will help push your post back to the top. Ever notice that when someone comments on an old post of yours you suddenly get more likes or comments on it? This is why. Facebook revalues the post and pushes it back up. You can go back through your Instagram and do the same thing as well to push a post back up. 

Keep posts and engagement positive. Strive to educate and give value. Keep your buyer persona in mind when creating your posts. When you know whom your target audience is, you will find your posts much easier to create. Keep their needs, values and problems at the forefront of your content. When you tap into pain points in an organic manner you automatically tap into your buyer’s motivation. When they feel comfortable with you they are more likely to trust you with their dollars.

Spend some time on your cover photo. Make it eye catching. Check how your cover photo looks over different devices. What looks great on your PC may look crazy on your phone. Make adjustments accordingly. Keep your Facebook clean and attractive. We are in an era where people may look you up on Facebook before they look up your website. First impressions are everything!