3 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

You keep hearing that you should be on social media, but are you still struggling to determine if its really right for your business?

We believe that every business can benefit tremendously from being on social media. Your audience is there, so you should be there communicating with them!

However, the amount of social media sites available can seem overwhelming. Don't try to tackle all of those platforms all at once.

The good news is this, you only need to be present where your audience is. Your audience may only be on a handful of social media sites which thankfully, makes it easier for you.

Being present on social media will enable you to speak to your audience where they already are and you won't seem intrusive.

Stop Struggling with Social Media for Your Business

Be Relevant

Do you know where your audience spends their time on social media? Unfortunately, not every social media platform is going to be beneficial to your company.

Before you create any social media account, it's important to determine if your audience is there.  You don't waste any time posting and engaging on a site where you're target audience doesn't have a presence. You already know that wasting time is wasting money!

Once you find out what sites your audience is on, determine what they are using those sites for and if your messages can apply to what they are looking for.

You want to be relevant to your audience and their needs, so doing a little research will help a lot. Also, you have the ability to tailor your messages towards what they are looking for which will be beneficial to you and them.

Test the Waters

Knowing when to post can be difficult.

Once you have your accounts set up, you might be unsure what the best times to post should be to effectively reach your audience.

This is when you should be "testing the waters" to determine what times work best.

You can send tweets out at different times throughout the day to see the response that you get. Your audience may be on social media at different times and its important to determine when you should be posting so that they see.

You are going to find that frequency and times of your posts are going vary from one social media to another. You might find that you're posting once an hour Twitter but only three to four times a day on Facebook.

Spend sometime to research the responses that you are getting so you can make a game plan on when you should be posting. You want to maximize the reach of your social media presence.

Don't be Too Promotional

Did you know that only 10% of your social media posts should be promotional? Even though social media can be a great tool to post about services and products that you offer, those types of posts shouldn't be the only thing you're posting about.

People will shy away from companies that are too promotional on their social media accounts. So finding a good balance is your best bet.

The other 90% of your posts should consist of shared content and other content that is relevant and valuable. Social media is a place to be resourceful and creative.

Remember to include visual content. A picture's worth a thousand words.

Not really sure what to post about, don't worry. You might want to consider posting about current industry trends, providing tips to help current and prospective clients, and even the possibility of having a guest contributor.

Look back to Stephen colbert took over the MLB's Twitter account. Bring a fresh perspective to your account. A guest tweeter is a great way to increase engagement with your fans and followers.