If your company has forgotten about its social media efforts for a while, there’s no better time than the present to get started again. Remember, as a business owner, you need to be married to your social media efforts! These simple tips will help you to get back into the swing of things and stay committed:
1. Find Some Tried-and-True Resources
It’s important to have some great resources that you can use to supplement your own material when crafting a social media strategy. Finding some reliable industry-specific resources will give you a solid go-to when you don’t have time to write and post your own material.
This isn’t a cop out when it comes to social media either, it’s actually encouraged! Social relevance calculators like Klout and others actually look at whether you are sharing other people’s stuff or just using your own material. What surprises some business owners is that your social media scores will actually be higher if you have a good balance between your own content and other people’s content because that’s really how social media is intended to be used. Social media is supposed to be a conversation, a sharing of ideas and a give and take between individuals and businesses; so companies that just shout their own messages over and over without taking part in the conversation aren’t really doing it right. Finding resources to lean on and use for your social media will make it easier to maintain and more appealing to followers.
2. Don’t Overdo It
Social media can be a bit like exercise sometimes. You decide you want to get in shape, you start working out like crazy and get really into it for a little while and then the enthusiasm wanes and you give up altogether. When you’re first getting back into social media, don’t overdo it. You don’t want to burn through all of your enthusiasm and energy all at once. Pace yourself and you will be far more likely to stick with it. Also, overdoing social media can become a turn off for existing followers and deter your prospective audience from following you. No one likes companies that post incessantly on social media and bombard followers!
3. Stick to a Schedule
Deciding on a reasonable social media schedule is very important. Different companies will have different approaches based on their audiences and their goals, but regardless of how often you decide to post, make sure you stick to it moving forward. If forgetting about your social media efforts is the cardinal sin, picking your social media efforts back up only to drop them again is a double cardinal sin! (Is that a thing? I guess it is now!) This on-again off-again approach can make your company seem flaky and unreliable.
4. Get Help
There’s no shame in asking for help. Whether this means soliciting more contributors for your social media efforts within your company or reaching out to a digital marketing agency, get the help you need to keep your social media running smoothly!
Hopefully these tips will help you to get back on the social media horse! If you need social media advice or assistance, let us know. We’d be happy to help you out!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!