Which Social Media Sites Work Best for Your Business?

Are you a small business owner who is trying to understand how and where to promote your business on social media? Is there any way of determining whether your social media activities will yield real results and be worth the time you invest in social networking?

As the saying goes, time is money, so if you are going to invest your valuable time (or an employee’s time) in social media marketing, it’s wise to concentrate on just one or two social networking sites to start. As you gain experience and confidence, you might want to participate in more sites in the future.

Facebook for Business

Facebook is a safe choice for most small businesses. With over 1 billion registered users, many of your ideal customers are likely spending some time on Facebook most days.

The first step you need to take is to create a Facebook business page, independent of your personal Facebook (profile) account. With a Facebook business page, you can publish content as your business, instead of posting as yourself as an individual, and keep your personal photos and comments intended only for friends and family separate from content meant for customers and prospective customers.

A Facebook business page is a great forum for showing off your business to the public. You can share professional tips related to your work, pictures of work you do or products you sell, employee profiles, customer recommendations, upcoming company events and other relevant news with your target audience.

Once your Facebook page is set up, you need to let your customers know it exists. Start by emailing your friends, family and other people you know as well as your customers and inviting them to like your Facebook page. You should also add a Facebook icon with a link to your Facebook business page to your own website. by putting Facebook icons and links to your page on your website, and emailing your customers if possible to invite them to “like” your Facebook page.

Facebook Reviews: Valuable Word of Mouth Advertising

Every business owner loves word of mouth advertising, and your Facebook business page is the perfect place to showcase what your customers are saying about you online.

Any customer with an existing Facebook account can go to your Facebook page and leave a review for your business.Positive Facebook reviews can enhance your business reputation and increase your visibility, as your customers’ Facebook friends will also see their reviews show up in their own Facebook news feeds.

Facebook Advertising: ReachYour Target Demographic Affordably

Another advantage of having a Facebook page is that it is prerequisite to paid Facebook advertising campaigns. You can create lead-generating ads that will be seen by all of your Facebook fans and their friends, or people fitting your ideal customer profile (age, gender, geographic location, and interests.) You can set up ads to display to fans of competing businesses as well. You can even create custom audiences of Facebook users who share characteristics with your existing email database of customers.

Twitter

Twitter is a useful platform for sharing news, tips, and other content with your clients. Twitter etiquette dictates that your content be informative and entertaining, not self-promotional. If you’re being too self-promotional, you will alienate your Twitter followers and damage your online reputation.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the social networking site for professionals. The average household income for LinkedIn members if $100,000 or more. LinkedIn works especially well for white collar professionals such as accountants, bankers, financial advisers, lawyers, physical therapists, health care professionals, marketing professionals, etc.

LinkedIn has thousands of professional groups where people with a common interest can share professional advice and support. Tax experts looking to work with small businesses, financial planners looking to connect with executives, and anyone else looking to network online with other professionals should definitely set up a LinkedIn account and check it daily.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual site focusing on lifestyle, food, interior design, and similar content. It is ideal for fitness experts, real estate agents, chefs, interior designers, architects, graphic designers, or anyone else whose work is visually interesting and engaging. Popular Pinterest content includes pictures of food with accompanying recipes, fashion, beauty, fitness, interior design and home décor

YouTube

YouTube is the second most popular search engine behind Google (which owns YouTube.) YouTube videos are a great tool for sharing information and advice with your target audience and people searching for your expertise. However, most business owners do not know how to create their own videos or upload them to YouTube and optimize those videos for search results. On the other hand, you can find video experts who can turn your photos and voice into a simple video that can effectively promote your business online.

If you can create at least one video a week, you will quickly establish yourself as the local expert in your marketplace, which can lead to more business for you as well.

Instagram

Instagram is an excellent social media platform for showcasing photos of your work. It is ideal for fashion professionals, photographers, and other artists.

Need Professional Help With Social Media Marketing?

Most business owners prefer to delegate their social media marketing tasks to a knowledgeable expert. I can help you evaluate and decide which social media platforms are best for promoting your business, get your social media accounts set up properly and keep them lively with fresh content.

For more information, click here to contact me.