Social Media 101 — Some General Rules To Get Your Business Seen

So, you’ve created a social media account and posted something. Now it’s time to make room for all those new customers, right? Right? Right…

Not so fast. 🛑

Most social media platforms (that aren’t LinkedIn) are usually quite casual, even for business accounts. However, social media management is serious work.

Let’s look at some basics to get the most out of your business account:

1. Speaking to everyone is speaking to no one. The most important rule is to know who you are speaking to. It is a very good idea to properly identify your business’s niche and construct a customer avatar to aid you in creating your messages.

Trap to avoid: trying to appeal to everyone. Even Machel Montano can’t do that. Instead, choose your tribe and speak to them.

2. Consistency is key. What counts as consistency depends on the platform. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, posting at least 4-5 times a week is standard, while on YouTube, a video every two weeks would suffice. What is important is that you post consistently enough that the platform’s algorithm (and your followers/subscribers) don’t ‘forget’ about you.

Traps to avoid: being sporadic in your social media posts. Instead, plan ahead and create your posts in batches so that busy times don’t affect your posting schedule.

3. Your posts must have a purpose. Generally, content that you post needs to do at least one of the following: educate, entertain, inspire, or foster connection. Also, the content has to have a central focus in order to position your account as a ‘go-to’ place.

Trap to avoid: posting useless garbage. 💩 Instead, have a clear purpose to each post.

4. If all you do is sell, things will not work out well. Followers become clients when they feel a connection with a business (or its owner) that can solve a deep problem they have.

Trap to avoid: making every post about something that you’re selling to potential clients. Instead, keep the direct selling to less than one-third of your content.

5. Don’t give up! 💪🏿 It usually takes a while for things to ramp up on social media. Sometimes, a business’ social media account does not translate into clients or cash 💵 for weeks or months. However, once things start, they tend to mushroom (especially if you have followed the rules above 😉 ). 

Trap to avoid: impatience while waiting for your account’s return on investment. Instead, focus on  the skills you are learning from engaging with social media. 
 
In a future article, we will look at how to prevent social media management from taking over your entire business life.