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Video Tips: Social Media Strategy

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In the last few weeks we have been working on differing social media and marketing strategies for clients and given that Social Media was high on the list of New Year’s Resolutions I thought I would do a video with some quick tips. 

As I mentioned I think there is a lot of angst around Social media in business because there is the perception that if you are not on every social media with your brand, you are missing out on millions of clients. The truth is never that simple. So below are some tips on putting together a social media strategy.

And first up I would say that this is likely to be very different if you are new to social media or a little more established. Working with some business intelligence is obviously easier so strategies will differ when starting out and building an audience over implementing a strategic eatery to a business which is established on Social Media.

1. Decide what do you want to achieve?

Write a short mission statement, based on what you would like to gain from your social media presence.

For example "I want to help small business owners, startups understand how outsourcing their work is a simple and beneficial way to increase their productivity"

This might be something I would say, but it is not really overtly sales-driven because I don’t have a big following.

However, if you do have a sales drive in mind such as “X number of new clients” make sure you understand what will be required to achieve that, and then don’t just chase likes, stick to what is required to achieve it.

2. Find out where your audience is?

Do your research to find the channels your target audience uses and concentrate on doing that well. If this means just doing Facebook, then concentrate on Facebook and do it well.

Don’t replicate everything across all social media thinking that you are casting a wide net to catch more fish.

3. Content is king (still).

I don’t like the word “content” because it is a rather cold way of describing something creative but I guess we are stuck with it. Content, quality content, is the most important element in your strategy. It needs to be useful and compelling to your followers. Video is the most consumed type, hence what I am doing now. And as you can see it doesn’t need to have high production values but it does need to be solid - which is a challenge if you are producing it consistently. And doing so consistently - having a kind of pipeline and producing written, graphic or video content is key.

There are plenty of good apps to help you do this and your blog articles, customer experiences and common questions within your business can all provide fodder for this content. 

For example:
canva.com
shakr.com

4. Consistent doesn’t mean spamming.

Find a pace that suits you and your audience when it comes to producing and sharing your own content. This also depends on the medium you use. Facebook is likely to be daily basis, Twitter can be a few times a week and perhaps more sparingly on LinkedIn. Above all, make sure it is quality content and done in a regular way to get your audience used to it.

There are any number of articles online about the best times to post on Social Media but this also depends on your specific audience so you will also learn from doing it.

5. Follow the conversation

Using Social Media must never be a one-way conversation. If you are simply using Social Media to send sporadic messages about your product and how good it is - you are doing it wrong. It is probably best not to use it at all.

Listening is important. Follow your industry, competitors, customers, influencers.

6. Be honest.

Almost everyone is in danger of failing at this. Social media is a weird thing; you share stuff about yourself with the world and it is only normal you should just put out things that please people or show you in a good light, but people can spot a phony from a mile away, so be honest.

Be honest about what you are doing and make sure your message, the content you share and your engagements show understanding, empathy and speak from the heart of your business.

In the above video I promise a longer version. I do intend to put this out in the coming days on our YouTube channel but my laptop died and I am struggling to get the material together, so apologies of you were hoping to see that but do keep an eye out.

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Author: Thomas Smallwood is an outsourcing specialist. Having worked in companies around Europe, from the support desk to the boardroom, he founded bizee.co to help small businesses grow through efficient delegation to skilled virtual assistants. He is an award-winning blogger and a passionate advocate for mental health awareness.

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn.