Social media management is something of a minefield for many people, but it is an important skill to master. Even if you run a business that serves a comparatively small, local area, it is important that you have strong social media presence. Social media can help you to find new customers, and can keep your existing customers informed of what is going on in your niche.
Today, we don’t stand on our doorsteps and talk to our neighbors, and we don’t spend a lot of time hanging out at the local bar. The community centre has been replaced by Twitter, and Facebook is our evening hang-out. You need to be regularly posting on those platforms to reach people.
Find the Face of Your Company
It is important that you find a face for your company. This face should is someone who is good at using social media – a person who is level headed, friendly, and able to make smart decisions quickly.
A lot of businesses use the company leader as their social media person. This can be a good decision if they are good at networking, but if they are impatient or tend to talk about political or controversial subjects that do not matter to the company’s business, they could be a PR disaster waiting to happen.
Your social media page should always present the company in a positive light. You need someone who is willing to spend time talking to people and answering questions in a level-headed matter. They should know when to make jokes, and when not to and what subjects are off-limits. For example, if you sell car tires then you should probably not have your employees talking about gun control or religion on your social media feeds. These are emotional topics that could alienate a huge portion of your customer base quite easily.
Draw up a social media policy that everyone in your company understands and will stick to. Post daily on Facebook and a few times a day on Twitter, so that you reach the widest possible audience. Spend some time each day answering questions and make sure that you share other people’s content as well as your own. This will stop people from viewing you as being purely interested in self-promotion.