You might be at the stage with your business or social profit where you have a website or are in the process of creating one. Your website is your most important marketing tool in your toolbox of online resources (more about that later).
There are many other tools you can use as well such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and so forth. Choosing the right tool for your social media needs is critical to getting the best visibility for what you have to offer.
Perhaps you've experienced one or more of the following:
- You know you need to have a social media presence, but you don't know how/where to begin.
- Your customers or members ask you to give them the link to your website or your Facebook page.
- You use social media personally, but are not sure how to use it for business.
- You see that other businesses talk with their customers or offer discounts on social media. You want to be able to do something like this for your business.
- Because you are small, you don't have a marketing staff that can help you with this.
It can be daunting to enter the world of social media, especially if you are a small business with limited resources. Here are some things to keep in mind when thinking about your social media presence:
- What type of image do you want to convey on social media? Check out how businesses or social profits similar to yours are doing it and get inspired!
- Decide what you want to talk about - Do you want to share the unique features of your business? Drive sales or add new members? Can you offer something to get people interested in your business?
- Having an organized approach (using templates, worksheets, and editorial posting calendars) for engaging on social media is a huge time-saver.
- You, or someone on your team can dedicate a couple of hours a week to working on social media. You'll get out of it what you put into it, so you'll need to commit to working on it.
It's important to remember: you are the expert in your business – it makes you the primary resource to talk about what you do. Once you learn the tools, you become the best advocate for what you have to offer.