There are many actions a small business can take on social media that will either harm or help them in their marketing efforts. The five actions listed below is the first step in making sure you are sending the right messaging to the right people.
GET SET UP AND/OR OPTIMIZE ACCOUNTS
First, make sure your business is set up online properly. It all depends on your target market as far as which social media platforms make sense. Regardless, your business should be set up on Google with a Googly My Business account. Each account you create and manage leaves a footprint which helps you be found easier by consumers.
DEVELOP ONLINE REPUTATION PROTOCOL
REPLYING TO COMMENTS & MESSAGES: Create template responses to different scenarios. This is something you can create ahead of time and reference it when needed. Determine how often or how quick you would like to reply to direct messages. Although generally, you want to respond as soon as you can, you may want to also think about setting boundaries when it comes to appropriate times to engage with your consumer.
- Keep it positive always, direct to private/direct message or offline if anything but positive
- Set appropriate boundaries for replying to messages
MONITORING & RESPONDING TO REVIEWS: How you respond to a negative review has more of an impact than a positive review. In your Online Reputation Protocol, make sure you create custom responses to many different scenarios. Take conversation offline or in messenger if needed.
DEVELOP A PLAN
Develop a schedule of topics/themes to promote based off calendar events, seasonal promotions, product releases, etc. Keeping these topics/themes in an annual calendar will help you integrate your social media activity with other marketing avenues.
- Schedule posts in advance. That way it frees up your time to focus on responding to messages, comments, etc throughout the day.
- Track/monitor analytics on a per project or monthly basis. Focus on engagement insights instead of vanity numbers like followers.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The consistency is whatever works for you. Just make sure you keep it up.
- Message (posts, replies) – Start with something you can manage, 1-2 posts per week, then build on that.
- Response Time – Set a time each day to respond to messages and reviews. This is whatever works for you and your schedule. Take advantage of auto-response tools on certain platforms.
- Branding (colors, images, font) – Keep your image consistent. Designate a range of branding colors and fonts to use throughout your social media activity.
DESIGNATE A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
This could be you, a team member or someone outside your business. Just make sure this person understands your company, message, voice, target market, etc. When one person is designated as a manager, it cuts down on messages and reviews falling through the cracks.