It’s this week’s topic on my Signature Color Style Instagram and Facebook pages…tips for social media beginners. This might also be useful if you want to spruce up or refine your social media efforts. If you’re promoting a new service or a book, I’d also suggest following these tips for a while. If we’re doing a social media strategy together, I’ll be pointing you here. It can also be part of your online spring cleaning!
It comes down to YOU adding value and promoting how you make their life better with a focus on Who, What and Where.
- WHO you are serving
- WHAT information they’re looking for from you
- WHERE the best place is to deliver that information
Let’s dive in.
WHAT
Don’t even dabble in social media for business without knowing what YOU uniquely offer to your followers and clients. Maybe you
- empower
- inspire
- educate
- entertain
- connect
- promote
- boost confidence
It could be your customers rely on you for cute clothes along with tips for putting outfits together. Or simple makeup tips for busy moms. Or fabulous, versatile jewelry to liven up their thrifted wardrobe.
Focus on what problem you solve for your clients. “People only care about price in the absence of value” meaning if you’re making their life easier (or addressing their “pain point”) they’ll become an eager customer regardless of price.
WHERE
Tip One:: Choose no more than TWO social media platforms to focus on.
Trying to maintain multiple accounts will be overwhelming and hard to maintain.
These two should be ones that
…you enjoy and are comfortable using
Why? You will not keep it up if you’re not having fun or if you find it frustrating. Plus people can tell if it’s forced or contrived!
…are where your people hang out
Where does the person you’re targeting spend their time online? (check out WHO below)
…are where your people are looking for your information
Certain platforms lend themselves to certain types of information and interaction. For example, Pinterest is not for commenting back and forth like Instagram.
In other words, people are on Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, not to look for insurance help (unless they request a referral). But people on LinkedIn want to make a connection to a great insurance agent! Which leads to…
Tip Two:: Know your platforms.
As mentioned above, people use different platforms for different purposes and each platform encourages certain types of interaction. Here’s how I see them but depending on your following and your business, it could vary.
FACEBOOK: Keeping in touch with family and friends. Referring people to your favorite brands, stores and restaurants. Sharing memes and articles.
- For business pages, people will often visit your business on Facebook before (or instead of) going to your website.
- People want to see what you’re up to and will enjoy seeing posts from your business if they are useful and have an image or video.
- Focus on making content fun, easy to read and shareable.
- I reserve my personal Facebook for real-life friends and family only and direct anyone I meet networking to my business page.
- Share your business posts to your personal page only if it truly applies to most of your real-life friends and family.
- Make use of events to promote yourself.
INSTAGRAM: Behind the scenes of a business, author or blog. Day to day prettiness. Short captions and comments. Easy to cross promote. Interaction with real-life friends and family as well as with strangers and “insta-friends.”
- Instagram only works from the ap (you can’t upload pictures from a desktop computer) so you will be using your phone to post pictures.
- Consider having one account for both business and personal and making it a business account so you can track the analytics.
- Don’t expect people to leave Instagram to visit your website or blog.
- Get use to using Instagram stories. Many people don’t visit accounts and only check stories.
- Focus on useful content, beautiful images and engaging captions. Don’t obsess over curating or branding your feed because it can be too limiting and you can get caught up in being pretty instead of adding value.
- Plan to reply to all comments.
- Hash tags are critical. It helps people explore more of your content and gets you found my the Instagram “feelers.” Have some for your own business and brand and do some checking around for other popular ones you can use. Some of mine are #tabithadumasimageconsultant #phoenixcoloranalysis #dressforjoy
- Make the most of your link in your profile. Here’s where mine goes: Signature Color Style Instagram. Having it as a page on my website means I can track the traffic, and it gives people a chance to visit my home on the web and hopefully explore more content.
- Network by visiting other profiles, liking and commenting. Promote other people, too!
PINTEREST: It’s all about the images! Plus it can drive traffic to your website, blog or online store AND increase your SEO.
- Pins need to be pretty and/or informational to work well.
- Every blog post you publish should have a pinnable image, preferably with your logo or info on it.
- Some pins will be circulated just for the image, not because they ever plan to visit the source. It’s OK to have pretty pins just for the fun of it!
- Title and describe pins thoroughly with as many of your key words as possible so the Google web bots pick it up.
- Follow people your followers will love! Do not exclusively pin your own content.
- Remember your home feed is like the front page of your website. Make sure it looks good and update your bio and profile picture.
New to Pinterest or intimidated by it? I have an entire video series and worksheets for you! And it’s FREE! Online Pinterest workshop
LINKEDIN: This is for professionals, businesses and job seekers. I use it to promote myself as an image consultant and network with other professionals, not so much to sell or to meet clients. Think of it as online networking and a place to post your resume.
- Don’t send spam messages on LinkedIn but DO look for opportunities to connect genuinely with people
- Fully update your information, especially About and Experience. Make sure to have a great profile picture.
- Take time to fill in Skills & Endorsements. According to my connections, my top ones are blogging, social media (yay!) and small business.
- Think of LinkedIn as an online resume.
- Add a CTA (call to action) to your About section like “contact me for a free consultation” or “visit my website to learn more about working together.” People are there to connect and network.
I created a LinkedIn company page here simply because I wanted it to show up as a clickable link in my profile.
WHO
TIP THREE:: Know where your people are.
Do you have a handle on your ideal client, a.k.a. your target market? I can write an entire course on this topic but for now focus on
- Who loves your content?
- Who shops from you?
- Who is in your tribe?
You want to know their
- age range
- socioeconomic status
- hobbies
- family situation (Retired? Single? Married with kids? Empty nesters?)
- favorite stores and brands
- comfort level with technology
Social media beginners, please remember…
the key for social media beginners is to know WHO you’re serving, WHAT information they want and WHERE 1. they want to interact with the info 2. you’re comfortable delivering the info.
Beyond that…
TIP FOUR:: Post consistently
The worst thing you can do is start up an account, link it to your website then go silent. It’s like shutting down your storefront–people will think you are closed! The whole point of social media is for people to get to know you and interact with you.
Even if you post every few days or once a week, keep it simple and consistent. Teach your followers what to expect and deliver valuable content. Focus on quality over quantity.
TIP FIVE:: Keep it social
Personally, I keep my social media posts positive, uplifting and helpful plus I promote my friends and cohorts as often as possible. Unless your brand or business specifically addresses politics and current events, keep your commentary to a minimum. It’s easy to lose your followers when you stray too far from your main value add.
Remember to check your notifications periodically and reply to comments. If people are taking the time to comment, give them the courtesy of responding. BONUS: More interaction means more eyes on your posts!
Consider teaming up with people with businesses or clients similar to yours to cross promote or offer joint giveaways. It’s great to get in front of a new audience!
Be nice. It IS social media after all.
Bonus Tip: Make sure to have a great head shot picture on all of your accounts. Preferably the same one on every account for consistency. Read my tips here.
I hope these tips for social media beginners helps you! Please reach out to me if you have any to add.
Social Media Help (from meeeeee)
You can get one on one tutorials or strategy from me.
More reading from the blog:
Getting ruthless with social media (2014)
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