The #1 sentence we hear from businesses as a marketing company is: "I'm so behind on social media, I don't even know how to get started." That is a valid question. Social media and the internet is changing constantly. We handle social media and online ads on a regular basis and have to keep up daily with new trends and new policies that social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram change periodically. Memes get old after a few weeks, websites need updated every few months, and Facebook comments on your page need constant supervision. It's pretty easy for all of this as a whole to get very overwhelming. But don't worry! We're here to help you get started! If you can't afford a company like us to do it for you, here are 3 tips so that you can get started on social media without biting off more than you can chew.
#1 Branding
This is arguably one of the most important things you can do for your business. Keep your ideas, themes, tagline, business story, target audience, etc. all consistent with each other. We have a branding checklist for each client that helps create an organized space to easily create your branding strategy. Branding is important when developing a customers trust and loyalty as well as helping to clearly deliver the message. For example, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the brand name "Apple." You imagine the apple logo, right? Apple's brand is clean, modern, and white/neutral colors. The moment you see the Apple logo, you know exactly who it belongs to. The same goes for brands like Coca-Cola, Target, and even John Deere. When you hear those names, the logo will always come to mind as well as possibly the colors of the company. This is what you want to achieve with your brand. What do people see when they hear your company name? If you're not sure, take a moment to sit down with some other members of your company and develop a branding strategy. Follow our branding checklist on our Free Resources page of the website to help you get started. The picture on the above right is an example of a "Brand Board," which is an organized way to keep all of your brand colors, logo variations, fonts, and imagery that you can always go back to when creating your social media pages or websites.
#2 Set a Goal
Setting a social media goal should be:
Specific
Attainable
Measurable
What do you actually want to see achieved through social media? Facebook, Instagram, and all other platforms are constantly changing their rules so grabbing a graphic off the internet and throwing it out to see who engages with it is like throwing a fishing line out without any bait. You might get a bite but chances are, lots of fish will pass by without giving you the time of day. So set goals that are specific, attainable, and measurable. Read our article on Social Media Goal Setting to get into a little more detail about how to achieve this for your own business.
#3 Build a Winning Social Media Strategy
Strategy, Strategy, Strategy!
This is a word we can't say enough at Go Duck Media! In fact, it's a HUGE part of what we do for each business we work for. We strongly believe that if you do not have a specific strategy for social media, you will definitely not see the growth you can achieve with these online platforms. And if you're not seeing any fruits from social media...why even waste your precious time posting? Posts on Facebook just don't organically reach the way they used to. Which means everyone has had to step it up a notch. So what does that mean exactly?
It means quality over quantity. Don’t get me wrong. Posting daily to social media...even multiple times daily...is the best outcome. But if you don't have much time for social media as it is and are posting things on social media without following a branding model or strategy, you're wasting your time. And your analytics will show it. Also, posting blurry photos, quick graphics downloaded from the internet, or posts that don’t really relate to your company are going to do more harm than good. If you’re not sure about social media yet, find one social platform that’s right for you and stick with it. Make it an enjoyable experience for your customers. Businesses who document their strategy are 538% more likely to achieve success. So write down upcoming festivals or holidays to make posts about. Create a color scheme for your posts for the next few months to keep everything unified. Pictures always do better than impersonal graphics so take some high quality photos of what you do or sell. Plan a giveaway that people can share and make more potential customers aware of your business. The possibilities are endless! But a planned strategy will always do better than a random post every few weeks. And if you take the time to create one, you will notice a significant difference in your online presence.
Three steps to success! Take these 3 tips and start there. Take a week to figure out your branding strategy. Then, take a week to set your social media goal. Finally, take a third week to build a winning social media strategy. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with social media. It can be a great tool! All you have to do is allow yourself to learn! But if you don't have the time for it and know it needs done, Go Duck Media is here to do it for you and create a specific pan tailored to your business needs. Book a free consultation today to find out how we can help or check out some of our free resources for more information on how to step up your social media game!
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