While you may have come to the realization that social media is vital for your business, you still may not like it. Social media is over-whelming at times, and starting to employ it in your business can be cumbersome and confusing.
However, by following a few guidelines, the process of incorporating social media can be a bit simpler and less stressful.
Embrace the industry
You’ve already decided you need social media—now embrace the industry. Treat social media as you would treat any other project and immerse yourself in research. Frequent sites like Mashable, Forbes: Technology, Fast Company and Business 2 Community which regularly feature articles specifically on social media in the business world. Check out your competitors and observe other businesses in your same industry. How are they employing social media? What lessons can you learn from their successes or failures?
Tackle One Platform At a Time
Don’t try to become a social media expert in one day. Learning how each individual platform works takes time, and you should set achievable goals for each week. If you try to tackle Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest all in one day, your efforts could be spread too thin and it will be obvious in the quality of your messages. Although some say that quantity over quality is best in the social media world, posts, tweets, and links should still be researched and written carefully. Interesting, engaging posts will get you noticed. Bombarding your followers with useless or trivial information is a good way to lose an audience.
Come Up With a Long-Term Strategy
Once your business has started using social media, it’s time to sit down and come up with a long-term strategy. Begin by identifying the social media platforms that are the most relevant for your business. Would making a Pinterest account help generate interest and followers? If the answer is no, then don’t bother creating an account. Sometimes businesses do best only using Twitter and Facebook, and they have a huge, engaged following from both these sources. If you decide to use many different social media platforms, or start to garner a huge following, it may be time to start using a social media management system (such as HootSuite) and/or hire a social media expert.
Social media is becoming vital to a business’ success. Following a few basic steps can simplify the process into a manageable work plan. Curious what WordWrite can do to develop and maximize your company’s social media presence? Check out our proven plan and techniques, including an annual social media calendar and suggested post ideas.
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Caia Caldwell is an intern at WordWrite Communications. You can find her on Twitter at @CaiaMaria
