Today our President and CEO, Aaron Blank, spoke at the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce to a group of city leaders and small to midsize business owners. He specifically discussed how to build and leverage social from a business perspective and provided 10 ways small businesses can improve social presence today. Check out his tips below!
- Know Where Your Customers Are – What networks are your customers most likely to be on? Spend your time on the social networks they are most often on. This increases your engagement while keeping your time put in low.
- Find Your Voice – Does your brand have a voice that you portray on your website or in person? Keep that voice consistent on your social media channels.
- Take the time! – Set aside 30 minutes at the beginning or end of your day to review social media posts since your last review time. Take the time to respond to customers that interact with you, two-way communication is important!
- Use LinkedIn to Build Your Business– LinkedIn is not just a job searching tool, it’s your digital Rolodex and a new business cultivation tool. Send a personalized note to everyone you meet in a professional setting to connect and grow your network.
- Show off Your Expertise on LinkedIn– As your network starts to grow, post interesting articles, comment on posts from others or just like other posts at least ONCE a day. This keeps your name at the top of your connections feed and shows you know your business environment.
- Curate and Share Content More Easily – Buffer is a relatively new tool that can make posting regularly on all of your social networks easier. You link everything to your Buffer account and add a button to your web browser. When you find a page or article you want to share you press the Buffer button. Then at regularly scheduled intervals throughout the day Buffer sends out your messages. Other tools to consider: Hootsuite and TweetDeck
- Help Your Google Search – Set up a Google+ page for your business and claim the name from Google. This way when people search for your business it’s your actual website that comes up. This also helps your search rank in comparison to similar businesses listed on Google who do not have a business page.
- Don’t Just Post About You – Social media is just that, social. Don’t just post about your latest project, promote good things going on in your community or the success of other businesses around you.
- Focused on Your Personal Page? Don’t Be Afraid to Show Personality – If you are using a personal social media page to promote your business, don’t be afraid to show some of your personality. If you are all business all the time, people won’t find it compelling. Show some of your personal side and interests, your customers will love to learn more about you.
- Follow Others In Your Community – Again, don’t just follow your customers or friends, follow others in the community and interact with them. Supporting them makes it much more likely they will support you!