Whether you are an Etsy artist, using Instagram to promote your makeup line or running a brick and mortar store, I consider you a small business. Like it or not, we all know we have to be in the social media game. Small business social media is both an art and a science and can easily become overwhelming or just plain time-sucking. Having a strategy is key, as well as focusing on engagement instead of just numbers. Rather than giving up or paying someone to run it for you, I’d like to offer some ideas for
how YOU can be ruthless with your social media accounts!
1. Ask yourself what information you will be providing and which platform it’s best suited for.
If you want to post pictures, answer questions and have true conversation with your friends and followers, Facebook is a great fit.
To share quick snippets or links, Twitter is a good option.
For anything visual or design-related, Pinterest and Instagram are best. Instagram is also now treated like a secondary blogging platform for many writers, too.
If you want to connect with other professionals, head over to LinkedIn.
Keep in mind, the younger generations have all but abandoned Facebook and the older generations are finally embracing Facebook! Knowing your target demographic is important.
ALL of the above are superb places for you to link to your website or blog, by the way, to keep people moving through your content.
2. Ask yourself where your people hang out and go hang out with them.
My writing cohorts are Twitter fans whereas the women who follow me are on Instagram as well as Facebook and Pinterest. I don’t want to ask them to move–I want to go where they are!
Also take time to think about WHERE your people go to absorb YOUR content. If it’s educational, it might be LinkedIn. If it’s family related, it might be Facebook. If it’s home, health or beauty, it might be Instagram.
Pinterest, by the way, is more of a long game IF you have a lot of content to share.
3. Ask yourself what platform you are most comfortable with and maximize it.
ANY engagement is better than zero engagement so rather than trying to learn the new platform that everyone is talking about (which will probably end up sitting dormant, anyway), spend your time maximizing the one you are already comfortable with. Encourage your followers to find you there and focus your time and attention on increasing engagement there instead of hopping around from site to site.
Do you need to get ruthless with your social media accounts? Let me know if you need a strategy session!
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