social media tips

Social Media Tips: How to Make it Work for You

Social Media Tips: How to Make it Work for You 900 600 Sarah Schwitters

Unless you have been living completely off-grid for the last 5-10 years, you undoubtedly are very familiar with Social Media.  In fact, if you are like most people today, you are active on more than one social media platform. A recent article in Kabbage.com noted that the average user is on five social media platforms.  WOW!!  That sounds like a lot to manage especially when you consider that social media is pretty much a daily task and sometimes that task can take a lot of time.  Before we dive into the details of our social media tips, we thought you might be interested to know which social media sites made the top 15.   For the purposes of this blog, however, we’d like to highlight the top five:

Facebook

It’s no surprise that Facebook is #1 with nearly three billion monthly visitors.  Most everyone you know is on Facebook and in fact, it’s rather shocking to run across someone who isn’t.  Facebook is used by private individuals as well as businesses and is one of the best tools for reaching any audience with your message.

Instagram

Now owned by Facebook, this image based social platform has taken the world by storm. Not only is it fun to share pictures of your personal life, but it’s a great way to involve your business with an engaging social community. Building brand awareness, engaging with your customers and sharing company updates are just a few ways to get Instagram working for you.

YouTube

YouTube ranks #2 with an estimated 1 million monthly visitors.  YouTube is a great platform for sharing video content and is also used by businesses, artists, and individuals.

Twitter

As of March 2016, 320 Million people use Twitter each month.   Twitter has experienced phenomenal growth since coming on the scene in July of 2006. Perhaps part of the reason for this is that it provides a great platform to get your message out in 140 characters or less.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform specifically designed for professional networking. With approximately 255,000,000 business and professional people visiting LinkedIn on a monthly basis, this can be a great platform for connecting with others within your industry as well as staying on top of the latest business trends.  There are groups to join on LinkedIn that are tailored to specific businesses and industries.

Pinterest

According to Wikipedia, since its beginning in 2010, Pinterest has been most popular among women. It’s a great avenue for displaying individual creativity as it allows for the user to build a “bulletin board” of sorts and pin a variety of things from recipes, to crafts and everything in between.  However, in recent years, as the platform has grown in popularity, businesses have found it to be a great avenue to promote their business by creating a page that might be compared to an online store-front.

These are the top five social media platforms.  Most likely, you are already on one or more of these but are you making the most of your social media networking?  Well, getting back to the article we mentioned earlier in Kabbage.com, here are some tips that can help you determine how to best manage your social media and get the most out of each platform for your business.

Our Top 4 Social Media Tips

  • Do an analysis

Do an analysis of the sites to gain an understanding of the kind of results they are delivering. If you are getting great results with one site and not-so-great-results with another, it may be time close out that account and focus on the one or ones that are delivering the better results.

  • Know who you are trying to reach

The brief explanation of the top five sites should give you an idea of the audience each one attracts.  Once you know where your target audience is, that should help you determine where to focus your energies.  For example, if your business or industry is a highly creative one, then Pinterest might be a great platform for you. On the other hand, if your business is more of a business to business industry, then LinkedIn might be a better demographic for engaging with your audience.

  • Use the Analytics tools available

Google Analytics, Spout Social and Demographics Pro for Hootsuite are all great tools when it comes to knowing where your audience is spending time online. Additionally, some platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest also offer specific tools that shows your target demographics and when your fans are likely to engage. If you have had a personal account on any of these platforms and converted to a business account, you’ll want to take advantage of the analytic tools they offer.  Using a blend of the social media analytic tools can help you develop a comprehensive picture of your performance and provide a more in-depth picture of your most important networks.

  • Are you achieving your business objective?

What are the goals you are aiming to achieve with your social media?  Are you looking to drive sales or build brand awareness?  Developing specific goals for your social media will help you make the most of your platform.

These social media tips offer a great place to start when it comes to determining which social media platforms are working for you and which are not.  Don’t waste time on social media sites that aren’t working well and not delivering the audience that will engage with your message.  Social Media does play a key role in business today, but being smart about which platforms to use can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Here at lodestar marketing group, we’ve had great success helping our clients develop a targeted social media strategy, that has delivered great results.  Give us a call; we’d love to help you too.