10 social media marketing tips for beginners
How can branching out into social media work for your business? Check out our tips below.
1. Choose one or two social media platforms
As you are just starting out, concentrate on one or two platforms. Trying to master too many different social media profiles at once is a mistake many people make and the result is often ineffective; instead, pick one or two and get to grips with these before exploring additional platforms.
2. Optimise profiles on social media
Once you have made a decision about which platforms to use to engage your audience, remember to ensure your profiles on these are fully optimised. This will boost your visibility and SEO and ultimately get you more followers.
Rules for optimisation include:
– Have your face as your profile picture. People like to feel they are communicating with a real person and this is a good way to help foster trust.
– Make sure your company description is good. What are your strengths and achievements?
– Let people know what you intend to share on your social media.
3. Connect your social media pages to your website
Follow the specific instructions for each social media platform. This is fairly simple and does not take long.
4. Add buttons to your website
Doing so will enable people to share your content quickly and easily.
5. Identify and follow your niche influencers
Follow similar businesses and share relevant and interesting information to gradually build a trusted group of followers. This can take a little time, so be patient!
6. Maintain a balance between followers and those you are following
The best profiles have a similar number of followers to those you are following. If there is an imbalance, it is best to follow less people than are following you, not only in terms of SEO but also to build trust and mark you out as an influencer.
7. Share interesting, timely and relevant content
Content really is all-important. Remember that useful content will be shared and re-shared, entice visitors to click on your website, and will increase customer numbers in the long term. Interesting content can be anything from articles or pages that have a strong connection to your niche; research; videos; images; and statistics pertaining to your market. If appropriate for your line of work, add some amusing content to make people smile.
8. Post several times daily, but do not go overboard.
Posting too many times over the course of a day can have the opposite effect to what you are hoping to achieve. People can switch off and even find notifications annoying. How many times is too many? Good question! It really depends on your industry and the platform you are using, so experiment to work out what works best for your niche.
9. Follow back
If you get followers, it is considered polite to follow them back. Sometimes people will deliberately unfollow or unfriend those who do not follow or like them.
10. Be patient and always follow the rules
Building an engaged and trusting audience takes time and effort. Follow the rules, do not rush, and be patient. In time, you will find your profile becoming something to be proud of.