Where To Start With Social Media: A Beginner’s Guide

Whether an established business or a start up, it’s always good to build a plan ahead of choosing how you wish to use Social Media. You may wish to find leads, boost your brand or just compete with your competitors but without a plan you run the risk of disappointing results and worst still thinking it’s not for you. We have yet to work with a business that shouldn’t be on Social Media and yet to find one that didn’t totally ignore one of the platforms because they didn’t think it was for them or that they didn’t have the time or skills to use it.

So lots to consider, but work through these 6 questions and you’ll have the clarity you need on why you want to use Socials, then it’s over to how!

Answer the 6 Questions below: -

1. What’s Your Purpose?

   What results are you looking for? have a real clarity of what the end goal looks like, We have seen people spend thousands of adverts, when they could have offered less money to book direct in with them. We have seen people sell, sell, sell whilst others have told a story, we have seen accounts with no message. If you don’t know what your on socials for, how do you expect your audience to know?

2. Who’s Your Target Audience?

   Who are you looking to find? is that audience/ industry future proof? do you have something they need? what makes them someone you want to work with? Knowing your audience will save you time and money by shopping in the right places.

3. What Platform(s)?

   If you know why and who then you are ready to think about the platforms and whether they will work for you. Each platform is different and should be treated as it’s built. Don’t post the same post on various platforms without thinking about the restrictions like image size, hashtags as well as tone/ voice etc.

4. What Should I Say?

   Your posts will need to appeal to the audience they are intended for. So think the answers to the questions above and now draft out what you’d want them to have from you. Forget the creatives at this point, think about the overall message or challenge you are answering. Once you have the idea set, now return to styling it out to be right for the post.

5. Then What?

   Now you have the metrics you’ll need to keep posting consistently over and over. If you get engagement via comments then respond. It will take time to build up so don’t lose heart.

6. How Do I Monitor Success?

   All the platforms come with analytics, so it’s good to think about what you deem as success, Is a call better than a like? is your post reaching more people better than a sign up? It’s your metrics to decide.

So an example might be: (1) A restaurant might be looking for lead generation, (2) ladies that lunch aged 40 - 55 in Derby, (3) To post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. (4) Post will be about meeting up, chatting, champagne lunch/ brunch, branded to the restaurants style. (5) send out every few weeks (6) with the goal of getting seats sold at lunch

And there you have it, 6 very easy to answer questions that very rarely people plan out before sending out a post. Don’t get into the trap of sending out posts that work for you, it’s not about you, it’s about the audience. If you can engage, relate and solve a challenge they have they are more likely to stop and look.

If you would like help with your Online Marketing, we are always happy to help, book a free discovery call below :)