Article by Nathan Todd, ASBAS Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre
Social Media Tips
There are many different challenges facing small businesses and being able to manage their social media channels. These things may include time management, creating meaningful and relevant content, having ideas but lacking resources, and finding a way of tracking your progress/engagement. These are challenges that I encounter each week, so I have put together a few simple tips for managing your social media.
Establish a clear focused vision
Your social media will struggle for success if you haven’t planned out what the goal is that you are trying to achieve. Yes, you ultimately want to gain a following, but is the content you are posting attracting the wrong crowd? Your posts must remain in line with what the core objective of your business is. Researching successful competitors to see what content is working for them is a great place to start.
Be consistent
This may be the biggest challenge in your business as it is for most, but being proactive rather then reactive is key. To manage an effective social media, you must plan your content for the week. Content can be planned in one day and scheduled for posting throughout the week. If you manage numerous social media accounts, then you may want to look into a platform which will help you plan your posts such as Hootsuite or Buffer.
Creating content
Some of you may have the image in your mind but don’t have the skills to create it, but don’t worry, you don’t have to be a graphic designer to create content. A program such as ‘Canva’ could be a great tool for you to use to create meaningful images that will attract the attention from your following.
Intriguing posts
The ultimate goal on your social media is to get meaningful interaction on your posts. These include likes, comments and shares, and these are what will make your posts viewed by a larger crowd. Be the expert in your field, structure your posts around gaining interaction. Provide people with information that they may not know which they may want to share. If you use live videos well, they can be very powerful!
