As our society has shifted from face to face time to FaceTime, understanding online communications is a must-have in your business tool kit! The easiest and most accessible way to communicate online is through social media. These vast, powerful and free tools are a direct avenue to your target market when used effectively. If you’re just joining us, last month we talked about the importance of taking advantage of an online presence in which we mentioned social media. However, this month we’d like to take you inside the different channels.

According to the Pew Research Center, the social media stats from 2016 prove just how active people are daily on social media. In fact, roughly eight-in-ten online adult Americans (79%) use Facebook, roughly six-in-ten online young adults (59%) use Instagram and roughly a quarter of online adults (24%) use Twitter. With these staggering numbers in mind the first thing to do is determine who you are trying to reach- that should help guide you to which outlet to focus most of your efforts on at the beginning.

Before you jump into posting without a plan, it’s important that your brand, voice and reason of using social media is in line and understood by all within the company, especially if multiple people will be posting on the account(s). Furthermore, quality content is also a must. Beautiful imagery is one thing you need across the board, so curation of images prior to posting will help you start off on the right foot.

 

With all of this in mind, you’re ready to get social! Set up an account on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the same name, as close to your business name as possible, if not identical. Fill out each profile in full and use consistent photos and/or logo throughout. Once you have your social media ducks in a row, here are some tips and tricks for utilizing each outlet:

  • Facebook- A strategic approach on this outlet is to share, share and share some more! We are not talking about sharing about your business (which, yes, of course you should do that too!) but rather use the “share” capability to build community on your new page. Do you love a local coffee shop that you frequent while working? Share one of their posts and mention how it’s your go-to spot to get work done from your page. The ability to cross-promote, shout out and spread inspiration and influence across this channel is unmatched on the other outlets. Plus, other local businesses, brands and beyond will appreciate the mention on your page as it introduces them to a whole new virtual group of people and potential customers.
  • Instagram– This outlet is highly visual so beautiful imagery and a curated feed are a must. With your messaging in mind, brainstorm how to tell your story visually. This can be a challenging feat but when done correctly your profile will show a different side of your business that your customers can’t see on any other outlet. The profile view allows potential customer to grab a sense of your brand, business and what you offer based on the squares they see/scroll through, sometimes never even clicking to read the captions.  Another important aspect of Instagram lies within the newest feature of Instagram stories. This tool can be used to show a Behind The Scenes (BTS) look at your workday or daily snippets of your business- people love this new “unfiltered” feature to get to know who’s behind the business. Finally, hashtags are a key component in finding success on Instagram and they work best here and on Twitter. Research applicable hashtags to your brand and utilize them in each post. This will help your profile to be discoverable in the Instagram realm.
  • Twitter– Twitter’s bread and butter is in the fact that it’s fast! Most use it to gather news or brief tidbits about something that’s going on. From a business standpoint, Twitter is mostly utilized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and for the ability to join conversations that pertain to your business and brand. Is there a trending hashtag that can help elevate your business? Join in and consistently tweet about the topic for a set amount of time, respond to those that join in and build comradery around a shared cause!

We hope these general tips into the three big players of social media are helpful to you and your business. These complex but powerful tools are not a question when operating a business. As the world advances technologically every day, a presence on social media is essential to sustain success.

If you still have questions, eliminate the guess work and allow the Proffitt PR team to take the reins for your business. The social media realm can be compared to speaking a second language if you’re unfamiliar with it. Hire a team that speaks the language and see your business blossom!