Social Media - Do It Yourself v Do It For You
DIY Starter Tips & Tricks for Social Media
When it comes to do it yourself social media, be human. Be personable, likable, sharable, and relevant. Educate, Entertain & Engage with your audience.
A while back I wrote a blog post about content marketing – the use of posting relevant unique and memorable content optimized for search engines and human eyes alike to drive traffic back to your website.
Social media marketing, like website design, is not something you should do on your own. But if your budget says otherwise, here are a few tips and tricks for the do-it-yourselfer…
When to post – Although there are proven times to post on specific social networks, this should be reserved for a professional budget. For the do it yourselfer, simply make it part of the morning routine or evening routine as time allows and simply post whatever is on your mind – so long as it is relevant and memorable in a positive way. The idea is to be likeable.
Start with Facebook. If you haven’t already, make a personal account. Friend everyone you know (school / work (employees & customers) / family / friends / networking groups etc. – anyone you don’t mind knowing what you had for dinner) and build a personal following. Search by name and by email in your address book. Then, make a business page, and invite your personal network to like the page.
Do the same with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. For video, add YouTube. Be sure to like potential referral partner businesses (businesses who target the same customer but for a different product or service) and invite them to like you back for mutual support. You can also follow the sites of your competitors. Keep your friends close, and your competition closer.
Then, for Facebook, post something to your business page. Post about your products / services (sparingly) in terms of how they solve problems. Post something relevant, motivational, educational or entertaining that is relevant. Post testimonials (todays accomplishment). Post about your events, giveaways. Show us examples of your expertise or passion or experience. Post something personal about you (make it positive). You can also run a contest to give something away – like a consultation or gift certificate where the most likes / shares is declared the winner. Tell a relevant short story, make a relevant analogy, have a specific ask: Do you know someone who…? Make it an image or video. Above all, make it something that is sharable and therefore makes YOU PERSONALLY likeable.
Then for Facebook, after posting it to your business page, “share” it to your personal feed and encourage your personal network to do the same. This way both networks within Facebook (business and personal) see the post. For all social networks, don’t forget the #dailyhashtag keywords and @mentions of specific businesses for small business marketing. Engage with those you engage with you. And treat each network as an individual in terms of engagement (what you like, share etc.).
Facebook also has groups that can be invaluable to awareness marketing on social media. Some are industry specific and some are geographically specific to local city communities. Some folks go on these groups to look for “referrals” for a specific industry. This is your opportunity to post “I can do that” or “I know someone who can”. In the Facebook group, post a reciprocal like request: Like my page and I’ll like yours. You can also do this for other social media accounts: Post on Twitter a link to the FB page for example.
These social media posts, especially for longer posts like this one, can be incorporated into a full blog post on your website & SEO (Google loves fresh content), and then add it to an email marketing campaign or even a press release. The idea here is to not just sell and push and spam the internet, but to develop meaningful relationships with your customers or potential customers as well as potential referral partners so that they will essentially become your sales force via referrals. By giving and helping others grow, it comes back to you in return.
For more information on how to maximize & optimize your social media presence, ask your local Chamber of Commerce or BNI group. They’ll have someone who has been properly vetted. If you need a website to drive traffic back to via your new social media strategy, we are here to free you to do what you do best. Stay tuned for more on #GiversGain. #BNI. #ReferralMarketing #WordOfMouthMarketing #Networking #WhosInYourGroup.
Rob Shurtleff
The Website Guy
Social media marketing, like website design, is not something you should do on your own. But if your budget says otherwise, here are a few tips and tricks for the do-it-yourselfer…
When to post – Although there are proven times to post on specific social networks, this should be reserved for a professional budget. For the do it yourselfer, simply make it part of the morning routine or evening routine as time allows and simply post whatever is on your mind – so long as it is relevant and memorable in a positive way. The idea is to be likeable.
Start with Facebook. If you haven’t already, make a personal account. Friend everyone you know (school / work (employees & customers) / family / friends / networking groups etc. – anyone you don’t mind knowing what you had for dinner) and build a personal following. Search by name and by email in your address book. Then, make a business page, and invite your personal network to like the page.
Do the same with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. For video, add YouTube. Be sure to like potential referral partner businesses (businesses who target the same customer but for a different product or service) and invite them to like you back for mutual support. You can also follow the sites of your competitors. Keep your friends close, and your competition closer.
Then, for Facebook, post something to your business page. Post about your products / services (sparingly) in terms of how they solve problems. Post something relevant, motivational, educational or entertaining that is relevant. Post testimonials (todays accomplishment). Post about your events, giveaways. Show us examples of your expertise or passion or experience. Post something personal about you (make it positive). You can also run a contest to give something away – like a consultation or gift certificate where the most likes / shares is declared the winner. Tell a relevant short story, make a relevant analogy, have a specific ask: Do you know someone who…? Make it an image or video. Above all, make it something that is sharable and therefore makes YOU PERSONALLY likeable.
Then for Facebook, after posting it to your business page, “share” it to your personal feed and encourage your personal network to do the same. This way both networks within Facebook (business and personal) see the post. For all social networks, don’t forget the #dailyhashtag keywords and @mentions of specific businesses for small business marketing. Engage with those you engage with you. And treat each network as an individual in terms of engagement (what you like, share etc.).
Facebook also has groups that can be invaluable to awareness marketing on social media. Some are industry specific and some are geographically specific to local city communities. Some folks go on these groups to look for “referrals” for a specific industry. This is your opportunity to post “I can do that” or “I know someone who can”. In the Facebook group, post a reciprocal like request: Like my page and I’ll like yours. You can also do this for other social media accounts: Post on Twitter a link to the FB page for example.
These social media posts, especially for longer posts like this one, can be incorporated into a full blog post on your website & SEO (Google loves fresh content), and then add it to an email marketing campaign or even a press release. The idea here is to not just sell and push and spam the internet, but to develop meaningful relationships with your customers or potential customers as well as potential referral partners so that they will essentially become your sales force via referrals. By giving and helping others grow, it comes back to you in return.
For more information on how to maximize & optimize your social media presence, ask your local Chamber of Commerce or BNI group. They’ll have someone who has been properly vetted. If you need a website to drive traffic back to via your new social media strategy, we are here to free you to do what you do best. Stay tuned for more on #GiversGain. #BNI. #ReferralMarketing #WordOfMouthMarketing #Networking #WhosInYourGroup.
Rob Shurtleff
The Website Guy