3 tips for using social media for your business

You know by now that producing valuable content – blogs, e-books, case studies - is a key piece of your content marketing program. You are not alone. According to WordPress, their users alone produce almost 50 million posts new each month. That’s a lot of competition for your reader’s attention. So, how will your potential customers find your blog or e-book in that sea of content?

Using social media for your business is one of the easiest (and most inexpensive) ways to promote the valuable content you have to share. And the more people who see your stuff, the more potential visits to your website, potential leads and conversions to customers.

If you are just starting out, don’t be overwhelmed. Start small and then expand your activity.

Tip #1 - Share your content on social media

Here are some simple steps to begin building your social media promotion.

• Find out which social media channels your customers are using and focus your efforts there. In our market, LinkedIn and Twitter tend to generate the most attention for businesses. Google + is also important to improve your search results.
• When you create a new piece of content – such as a blog, e-book or case study – post a link to it on your business’s social media accounts.
• Give context to your readers. Make sure to answer these questions right away: “Why should I care about this?” and “How will this help me run my business or do my job better?” Your newsfeed should be more than just a news wire.
• Include an image. Social media posts with images are more likely to be opened, resulting in a visit to your website.

Tip #2 – Build your social media reach

Reach is a simple way of describing how many people have seen your content. Your total social media reach is the sum of people who follow your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

Some businesses question whether Facebook is a good fit – especially for business-to-business marketing. Facebook can help increase your reach if you use it strategically. Go ahead and post your blog about a new software development on your Facebook page. Your timeline will begin to serve as a library where people can read about your business.

But Facebook’s real strength is people. Posting photos of employee events, milestones or funny stories will increase the number of people who see your content. Why? Because you can then tag people – and people love to see their friends and family on Facebook! Likes and shares always increase.

In addition to sharing the content you produce and people stories, take some time each day to share an article, infographic or image from an industry publication or well-known business source such as Forbes. Again, make sure that what you are sharing will be meaningful to your customers and give them context with an introductory note or question. Having a good mix of your own content and shared is important. If you only talk about yourself, people may lose interest.

Using Twitter hashtags will make your content searchable, so people who don’t know your company can find your content more easily.  

Tip #3 – Start conversations with your followers

Engaging followers in meaningful conversations is ultimate the goal of using social media for business. People are more likely to purchase from you once they begin to know you.

Social media accounts are great platforms to field questions – or even to deal with negative comments . They way you respond (and in most cases you should respond!), will go a long way to help you retain your current customers and demonstrate to people checking you out just how you feel about your customers.

LinkedIn groups are especially useful for engaging your followers. Find the groups that are relevant to your industry and post your content there with an engaging teaser or question.

No magic formula can tell you exactly what social media channels to use, what to post, how many times to post, when to post, etc. Social media is organic and constantly changing. Try different things and see resonates most with your audience.

Roberta Gardner handles client service and project management for OSD’s social media and content marketing clients. She also enjoys volunteering for organizations including Mephibosheth Ministries.