Over the last few years, social media has grown and expanded into an intimidating beast. From Facebook to YouTube to LinkedIn—it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to stay on top of it all.
Here’s a tip: you don’t have to. If you’re struggling to juggle all the platforms at once to maintain brand awareness and advertise your business, here is how you can streamline your social media presence and increase your impact on your audience.
Step 1: Prioritize
Every platform has its purpose, and not all of them will fit your needs. Your first step is to identify what you want to accomplish, choose the right platform(s) to fit your needs and focus on just that. Social media is all about engagement. In terms of public image, it’s less harmful to have no page at all, than to have a “dead” page you don’t maintain.
Which platform is right for you?
- LinkedIn: Spotlight business growth, recruit, and generate B2B leads
- Facebook and X (Twitter): Grow brand awareness and connect with clients
- YouTube and TikTok: Share video content relevant to your business
- Instagram: Showcase your work with before and after comparisons, and progress images or timelapse videos
Step 2: Streamline
Maintaining multiple platforms at once can be time-consuming. Luckily, there are several tools that help you bring your social media into one dashboard where you can monitor all of your profiles and schedule posts with ease. Shop around, compare different tools and pricing, and pick the one that fits your needs. Here are a few options you can check out:
- HubSpot: A robust platform that puts all of your marketing efforts under one roof with one all-encompassing Client Relationship Management (CRM) system.
- EClincher: Similar to Hootsuite, this platform takes your social media management to the next level with AI tools and tons of integrations.
- Zoho Social: For an affordable, scalable solution without all the pricey bells and whistles, Zoho Social is the way to go. Everything you need, in a simple, user-friendly interface.
Step 3: Engage
If you’re using social media like a stage with a spotlight, you’re doing it wrong. Social media is all about engagement. The content you post should be tailored to elicit a reaction, whether it’s likes, comments, or reposts. The more people interact with your content, the better your results will be.
And it doesn’t stop there. When people do interact, you should respond accordingly. If someone comments, Like or reply to acknowledge them. When they share or repost, offer a Like as well. You should also occasionally go outside your bubble and interact with other pages as well. This helps boost your visibility and engagement.
A few tips to make your posts more engaging:
- Ask questions: This prompts visitors to respond to your post
- Share and repost: Current events, community news, and relevant content from other businesses or industry professionals helps to solidify your credibility.
- Include Media: Add images or videos to make your posts colorful and attract attention.
- Add tags: Tags also help with discoverability. Don’t go overboard. Focus on the ones most relevant to the audience you want to attract. Think about what they would be searching for and include it as a hashtag. Aim for 5 or so for best results.
- Be genuine and true to your brand: Set the tone you want your brand to convey (playful, professional, informative, friendly, supportive, etc.) and stick to it across your social media.
- Include a call to action: Don’t forget, your goal on social media is to generate more business. It doesn’t have to be on every post, but at least 50-60% of them should include some kind of call to action that reminds your audience you’re open for business. Direct them to your website or a dedicated landing page where they can read more about your products or services and contact you directly.
Every business should have a website to help generate business. If you don’t have one, or you’d like to improve what you have, we can help!
Warning: Pace Yourself!
Social media can be an incredible time suck. Once you get into it, it’s difficult to come back out. This can have a negative impact on your productivity and time management. To avoid getting pulled into the black hole of doomscrolling, schedule a dedicated time slot for social media in your day, and stick to it. 15-30 minutes a day should be more than enough to log in, respond to comments, post something new, and log out. Remember: unless you’re an influencer or professional content creator, social media should be a supplement to your business, not its sole focus.