The use of various social media platforms by SMEs in their overall digital marketing endeavours continues to increase. While many businesses seem to have figured their way around, others are still wondering what they need to do to get it right. Fortunately, addressing the most common problems might be easier than you think.
The Time Factor
Some business owners and managers complain that they don’t have enough time and have trouble prioritising. For starters, you need to treat social media marketing like any other business function. Determine how much time you can allocate to the process, and ensure that you make time on an every day or weekly basis. Learn to schedule ahead. Check your notifications regularly, and respond to them as quickly as possible.
Choosing the Right Platforms
Choosing the right platform requires that you familiarise yourself with your target audience. You also need to know which platforms give you the ability to reach out to specific subsets through targeting capabilities.
Effective social media marketing requires that you know the strengths of different platforms.
- Facebook: Advertising, engaging with your audience, collecting reviews, and providing customer service
- Twitter: Providing real-life updates and building industry authority
- Instagram: Brand building exercises
- YouTube: Highlighting company culture as well as providing tutorials or demonstrations
- LinkedIn: Reaching out to B2B prospects
Knowing Your Audience
If you’re not aware about your target audience, there’s a good chance you’ll end up creating content that is not relevant. To identify your target audience, determine what problems your company’s products or services solve. Analyse existing customers and competitors. Find out why your customers choose your business over your competitors.
Once you know your target audience, you get to understand how to create relevant content that provides value. This, in turn, helps increase conversions.
Creating a Process you can follow through with
If you don’t have a process to follow, you’re going to struggle to maintain consistency in the delivery.
First of all, spend the time to develop a social media marketing strategy and then formulate a clearly defined process that is manageable for you. Use this to guide your actions as well as to measure the success of your efforts. The goals you set have a bearing on the metrics you need to monitor. If your business already has a social media presence, consider carrying out an audit to identify areas that can do with improvement.
Having doubts
If you’re doubting yourself, you’ll be second-guessing the impact of your activities online – and it won’t be enjoyable!
Doubts often arise from a lack of knowledge – so spending the time to educate yourself and staying abreast of changes will help. Keep to a few simple rules: Remain consistent. Be active in conversations. When disagreeing, be respectful. At all times, come across as a confident professional.
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