Sure, your business has a Facebook fan page and maybe you even have a Twitter handle. Congratulations! You’re now one of hundreds of millions of people using social media and odds are, your business is getting lost in the shuffle.
If you’re not fully utilizing social for your business you’re missing opportunities. Here are a few ways your business is a big Fail Whale (if you don’t understand the reference you’re not fully utilizing social!) and some things you can do to fix it.
Facebook:
Your business has a fan page, not a business page, right? A fan page allows you to be more dynamic in your branding efforts and there are all kinds of cool features your business can use to gain recognition. Not only should you have a page, you should be adding content daily. Whether it’s status updates, photos, or likes, you need to be active on Facebook.
Additionally, you need to be sure you’re giving and not just taking on Facebook. Engage with your fans, “like” other businesses and in general, reach out twice as much as you release new content. The key to effective social media marketing is building an audience slowly, and Facebook has the biggest audience.
Features to use: Promoted Posts, offers, dynamic header image
Twitter:
Your Twitter page should look as polished as possible and you need to spend some time getting more followers. Don’t buy followers – simply start following and engaging with other Twitter users and you’ll slowly add to your numbers.
The worst thing you can do on Twitter is be too promotional. As a rule, keep promotional Tweets to a minimum and concentrate instead of building your brand by Tweeting relevant industry posts, news stories, and editorial opinions. Don’t hesitate to post pictures and remember, you should be Tweeting multiple times a day!
Features to use: Retweet, reply (talk directly to customers), promoted Tweets
Pinterest:
If your customers base skews heavily female, you need to be on Pinterest. Make sure you’re posting photos often and your photos are high quality and show the brand in a professional light! If you’re more into authenticity and grit, use Instagram instead. On Pinterest, your branded content needs to be useful. Offer recipes, tips, and photos of ways people can use your product or service they may not have considered.
Be sure you spend time following other people’s boards, as well as other companies’. And don’t forget to spend time Pinning things to your own account that help fill out your brand identity. Not everything you pin has to be from your own company’s website!
Features to use: Like, repin, “Boards to Follow,” Pinterest app
YouTube:
What do you mean you’re not making YouTube videos? YouTube gets over a billion hits PER DAY. Mobile is big here, so keep your videos short, unpolished, and imminently usable. You should tie your YouTube channel in with your Google+ account to help with overall SEO and you should be posting often, about once a week if you can.
Features to use: Analytics, promoted video, cross-promotion with sites like Buzzfeed
Whatever you’re doing on social, you could be doing more. The more time and effort you put into social media the more benefit your business is going to get out. And remember: social is a two-way street! You’ve got to interact with other people and brands, too, and not expect everyone to come to you. Social only works when you engage.
Guest Post: Ryan is a product manager at BizShark.com, with 5 years experience in online marketing and product development. In addition to web related businesses, he also enjoys the latest news and information on emerging technologies and open source projects.