We periodically invite guest bloggers to contribute to the Acquirent blog and we’re excited to feature Edward Beebe this week. Beebe is a digital media marketing consultant in Chicago and offers smart social media marketing solutions for small business owners. If you’ve got an expertise to share with the Acquirent readers, email your blog idea to marketing[at]acquirent.com.
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Having social media for your business can be a very daunting task with little return on investment when it is not done properly. I see a lot of small businesses that struggle with the concept of being on social media through a lack of posting, unfinished profile information, or inconsistencies between each of their social media accounts.
As the business owner, people keep saying that you have to be on social but no one really tells you how. There may be a lot of reasons why your social media isn’t the best; not enough resources available, a lack of social media marketing experience among employees, etc.
That’s ok! I will show you 5 tips that will simplify, organize, and prioritize your social media marketing so that you can eliminate all those excuses.
#1 You don’t need to be on every channel
The majority of small business websites I see have icons or buttons to social media profiles that doesn’t seem to fit their audience. Do you know anyone that uses Google+? If not, then why promote it on your website? Trying to get a person to follow you on a social media channel that they are not a part of is like giving a dog a bath, there’s a lot of resistance.
Social media marketing isn’t about being on all social media channels, it’s about being on the right one(s).
Before you put up another social media icon on your website or create another social media account, do some research. Where does your audience spend most of their time online? Compare the demographics of your audience to the demographics of each social media channel to see where you should be.
#2 Stop selling, start talking
As salesmen and women, it’s hard for us to not pitch our new products or services to people. We spend 8+ hours a day trying to convince people why they should buy from us. So what better place to do that then social media, right? Wrong.
People use social media to be…social. They do not want to be sold to by brands or companies; they want to socialize with them. Begin to have a conversation with your followers by asking questions, sharing photos, and being transparent.
A good rule for posting content on social media is the 80/20 rule.
- 80% of your content should be information based on topics in a specific industry that doesn’t involve selling your product or service.
- 20% of your content should be providing information about your product or service.
#3 Consistency wins the race
The most common problem among small businesses is not being consistent on scheduling posts or not showing brand consistency among multiple social media accounts. I often see Facebook pages with the most recent post being 2 months ago. I also commonly see Youtube channels with only 1 video uploaded and using a different account name than their Facebook or Twitter accounts.
#4 Messaging has to be consistent across the board to be seen as a credible business.
- Twitter handles, Facebook page names, and Youtube channels should all contain similar profile pictures (your logo) and similar cover photos.
- The about us sections should all be filled out with similar information.
- Contact information and the link to your website should be provided exactly the same on all accounts.
When it comes to posting consistently, it is recommended that you post once a day. If you have a Youtube account, then posting videos doesn’t need to be as often, but still as often as you can. The bottom line is, if you don’t post regularly it could come across to potential customers as, not caring.
#5 Integrate, Integrate, Integrate!
Promote your social media profiles like you do with your products. Put your social media icons, hashtags, twitter handles, account names in places where people can easily find them. This means other places then your website like, business cards, TV promotions, magazine ads, product packaging, etc. Show people that you are actively online and willing to engage.
Also, take a look at your website or blog to see where you can make your content shareable. Whether it’s a photo, a message, or an entire page, allowing your content to be shared by people is like free advertising. Many social media networks give you the opportunity to create this share ability, so why not take advantage of it?
Sounds like a lot of work?
There are free social media scheduling tools that you can use such as, hootesuite.com or tweetdeck.com, where you can schedule posts across multiple social media accounts. These tools will decrease the amount of time spent on posting to only a couple of hours a week.
Social Media Marketing doesn’t have to be hard. It’s simply putting in the time needed to make sure your brand/company is engaging your audience. Now that you have the basics of how to create awesome social media marketing, it’s time for you to start getting creative.[/fusion_text][imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”dropshadow” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”center” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/imageframe][separator style_type=”none” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”30″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]For 6 years, Edward Beebe has excelled in the digital marketing industry. After receiving a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications, he began managing the digital marketing campaigns for some of the largest companies in America. After years of providing marketing consultations to Chicago businesses in his spare time, he made the decision to begin consulting full-time. To contact Edward about improving your digital marketing, email him at contact@edwardbeebe.com
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