Every entrepreneur has a unique lifestyle and set of business goals. It is critical to develop social media plans that fit your business. When creating a social media plan, keep in mind that you must establish a system that is easy to follow and achieve.
Unfortunately, many do not know what to do, how to begin, or where to effectively spend their efforts. Here are some of the common problems our clients have encounter:
- Choosing the right social media platforms.
- Not enough time to manage social media.
- Difficulty in creating a social media plan.
- Not knowing how to properly utilize paid social media advertising.
After working with hundreds of busy business owners during the last 10 years, our Shark Jockey team learned many important social media tips for entrepreneurs to follow. Here are some of the tips we have come up that you can use:
1. Create a Social Media SWOT
Think back to the start of your business-building efforts. Remember creating something called the SWOT Analysis? SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis is a tool that you can use to assess internal and external factors that are affecting your business.
At Shark Jockey, we help entrepreneurs from all over the country to learn and address the challenges they are facing on social media. Less than 1% of entrepreneurs prepared a social media SWOT Analysis prior to meeting with us. However, more than 90% of the entrepreneurs who go on to succeed after working with our team were able to create and utilize a social media specific SWOT.
To get started, simply create a typical SWOT grid. Then in each segment, write down a quick bullet point list of items as they relate to your current social media abilities and plan. For example, your strengths might include items like having some photography abilities, being a good writer, or having a deep knowledge of Facebook marketing techniques. Your weaknesses might include items such as not knowing how to create effective video content for Instagram, or having no experience creating lead generation forms.
The creation of your SWOT analysis related to social media is very important because it will help provide direction and set goals. These goals will impact all of the following items on the list below.
2. Identify Your Target Audience Interests
Many times, entrepreneurs who are just beginning their social media plan simply attempt to post about topics that are on their mind or articles that seem useful. These types of posts can still be done on a regular basis, but we recommend you to first identify your target market and second conduct research to find out what your ideal customer’s demographics, interests, and needs are. This can be easily done by conducting personal interviews or giving online surveys.
Rather than targeting everyone, you should focus on finding and getting ideal customers for your business. Ideal customers that will truly use and will be happy with the products and services you offer. Ideal customers will give you a better return for the money and effort you put into them.
3. Treat Different Social Platforms Uniquely
Always remember that every social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) has its own best practices when it comes to producing social media content. Each platform should be treated uniquely. You should be aware of its respective functionalities and features. Come up with creative strategies for each individual platform. Keep in mind of your followers’ demographics and try your best to create content that appeals to most to them,
4. Use High Quality Social Media Content
Many entrepreneurs are baffled when it comes to creating social media content. For starters, they have no idea how to create successful content. Second, entrepreneurs may be able to post some content but they often find it difficult to come up with enough content about their company to cover a whole month, quarter, or year on social media. Finally, business owners are unsure when to publish their material.
Your brand’s voice should be genuine, consistent, and should reflect your business culture. Make sure to only post high-quality social contents that can surely make a good lasting impression to the audience. Your content should be fun, creative, original, and highly relatable.
3. Create Videos
Every major social media platform made huge strides to promote video during the last few years. These efforts are due to the fact that people love watching videos and usually stay engaged longer than when simply reading a post. For this reason, social media platforms like Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok actually reward people who post videos with higher organic reach.
Don’t limit yourself in creating written social contents! You should try to make and post more videos in your social media. This can be a really effective way to engage more audiences and attract potential clients.
4. Maintain a Regular Social Media Post Schedule
Every entrepreneur has a busy schedule. If you want to be an effective entrepreneur, you have to learn how to schedule your social media posts. Social media schedules can help you figure out what kinds of content you’ll need to keep your feed interesting. Planning ahead of time allows you to think about what’s coming up, making it easier to avoid having gaps in your postings.
Consistency in your post frequency can help grow your social media audience. Consistent posting will keep your audience interested and will give them reason to come back for you every week. Regular social media schedule will not only build an audience which will consistently react to your posts but will also improve your social media presence.
5. Collect and Publish Customer Feedback
One thing most entrepreneurs do not think about soon enough in their journey toward better social media content is how to effectively ask for and promote testimonials or reviews.
A recent stats show that nearly 77% of purchasers consider online reviews before making a commitment. Posting good customer reviews can increase trust, customer loyalty, and overall SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value. But make sure to strive to seek out customers who are capable of providing valuable case studies, blogs, and video testimonials. Creating this content can be as simple as sharing satisfied customer’s Facebook or Instagram stories on your social media or transcribing comments made in person into your website’s blog.
Regardless of the format, the key is to share and promote this content on a consistent regular basis. Online reviews can help build trust and authenticity in your brand.
6. Add Complete Product and Service Descriptions
Try your best to always provide in your social media the complete description of your products and services. Make sure to keep the descriptions short and concise but very informative. It should be straight to the point and easy to understand. Make it simple and easy for your audience to understand.
Remember that people only see a few words on your post, so just offer a short sweet snippet and a direct link to your ecommerce store.
7. Use Trending Keywords
Use relevant and trending keywords in your product descriptions. Integrating keywords can be helpful in improving your SEO and can be very effective in helping you reach potential customers.
You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush for keyword selection and customer targeting.
8. Be Thankful
This can be one of the easiest and most effective social media tips for entrepreneurs to follow. Responding to thank you posts and reposting it can be a great way to increase the reach of your social media.
People usually post in their social media whenever they have an amazing and wonderful experience. Customers will post in their social media and will tag your account and thank you whenever they like and love your product. Replying and reposting to these thank you posts will not only increase your social media presence but will also show people that you are grateful to your customers and that you also genuinely care for them.
9. Place Effective Ads
If you have the budget, use online advertising as part of your marketing strategy. Ensure that you choose the right platform on which you can reach your target market.
If you need help to set up your Ads on your social account, you can hire digital marketing companies such as Shark Jockey to help you choose the best social media platform and effectively place ads for you that can surely increase your ROI (Return On Investment).
10. Evaluate and Collaborate
The ROI of any social media campaign should always be carefully considered by new entrepreneurs. Most business owners are eager to see numbers grow in relation to revenue and new customers. However, it is important to remember that the numbers related to time might be even more important. This is especially true for owners who are spread thin while trying to get a business up and running. Spending more time or money on the steps above can provide enormous financial payoffs down the line because:
- An entrepreneur’s time will be freed up to work on other activities once they do not have to worry about recreating the social media wheel every couple of weeks or months.
- The amount of money an entrepreneur will have to spend on searching for and hiring different teams will decrease if they set up everything digital correctly the first time and early on in the life of their company.
- The amount of money an entrepreneur will need to spend on advertising will be much more effective, providing higher engagement and potential new customers.
Improve Your Social Media Now
Regardless of the source, up to date data on social media gives entrepreneurs the tools they need to make smart decisions in the future. Most social media platforms and Google Analytics are now capable of providing some analytics showing the effectiveness of efforts over time. The better the report, the more intelligent decisions can be made by the entrepreneur. But not all analytic tools are created equal. Shark Jockey aims to provide clients with state of the art reporting systems that show multiple platforms, the effectiveness of posts, potential influencers, and suggestions for future content all in one easy to read PDF.
Get the tools you need to start or improve your social media. Contact Shark Jockey today for a free consultation.
Nick is the owner of Shark Jockey Digital and 20 year veteran in the marketing industry. He currently helps clients with development projects, lead generation, website creation, SEO, SEM, PPC, social media marketing, Google reviews, online listing, and campaign management.
