If asked, many people might say – social media for business – yes, I can do that! I’ve been on Facebook for years, I have ‘x’ number of ‘friends’ – can’t be that hard, can it?
The formal definition of Social Media refers to “websites and computer programs that allow people to communicate and share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone” according to the Cambridge dictionary. And Statista, a leading provider of market and consumer data, tells us that there “has been an upward trend in the population share of active social media users in Australia...in 2020, 71 percent of the population were active users compared to just 58 percent in 2015”. So that means that 71% of us are competent social media users? And able to participate in successful social media for business?
No…think again, many of us may have many skills that get us through our personal lives, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we could earn a living from that skill. For example, cooking…in every household the tasks of grocery shopping, prepping for and creating meals is happening regularly BUT that doesn’t mean that within every household there is someone who is Masterchef-worthy or able to run a food hospitality business. You may need to order takeaway every now and then to complement your cooking at home, and perhaps sample different cuisines, and for some, frequent home delivery may be the solution!
And so it is with social media…if you’d like to try your own ‘cooking’ here’s some tips to get you started:
5 SIMPLE TIPS FOR BRAND OWNERS NEW TO SOCIAL MEDIA
1. Have a goal
Work out what you’re hoping to achieve with social media. Is your key objective to grow your business and find new prospective customers? Or is it to improve your conversion rate?
2. Know your audience
Understand the target market of your business (this is a must whether you’re operating off – or online) and research where your audience spends their time online.
3. Choose your platform(s)
Yes, you’ll need to select the social media channel(s) that best fit your goals and your audience. It’s not about which platform shoes to wear with your outfit!
4. Have conversations
Sharing content is not ‘one-way’. Whilst social media allows you as a brand owner to ‘speak’ to your customer, or potential customer, it’s important to slowly build 2-way communication.
5. Be open to change
Continually review your results against your plan (there’s social media analytics that can help with this), keep up to date with platform updates and current user expectations (eg. visuals)
So if after reading this you’re thinking you’d like some help with the social media basics for your brand or business, or you’re looking to extend your socials beyond ‘simple’, our 360South team of social media aficionados together with our wider design team have the knowledge and skills to drive your social media strategy forward.
