Social media today is a tool you need as an entrepreneur to communicate with customers, market your products, increase sales, brand awareness and build a community around your business. However, according to social media statistics from 2019, there are 3.5 billion social media users worldwide, and the list is ever-growing. Which means it is harder than ever before for your business to be recognised and attract the right audience.
Luckily, that does not mean it is impossible, it simply means you need the right strategy to build your social media presence to take advantage of the many benefits it has to offer. These seven tips will help increase your social media effectiveness;
1. Set Smart Goals; just like any other venture you need to be able to answer the ‘why’ question, which is ‘why are you on social media’. The answer to this question helps you determine and set your goals, but remember they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Then your efforts on social media would be built around this and prevent you from posting aimlessly.
2. Identify your audience; as an entrepreneur you already know, not everyone is your customer. It applies to social media, not everyone is your audience, hence you need to know and identify your ideal audience, what they like, where they are, and how to reach them.
3. Start with one network; as of today, there are over 10 popular social media sites, unfortunately, your business cannot be on all and sincerely should not be on all. Having your business across all platforms will reduce the impact of your efforts, so with your goals and ideal audience in mind, start with one platform, establish authority there and grow.
4. Follow the 60/20/20 rule for posting; the rule states 60% helpful/useful information, 20% support your followers, 20% self-promotional. The rule is self-explanatory, follow judiciously and you will gain the trust of your audience.
5. Illustrate your posts; use pictures, graphics, videos, and info-graphics to convey your message on social media. Everyone is busy scrolling on social media with very short attention span, capture their attention with good graphics.
With these steps, you would be able to build your presence on social media.
