3 things to know when using Social Media for business

1. Quality of Content

It is integral that that you produce content of a high quality. By generating original content it shows your leadership and entrepreneurial abilities. It highlights your belief in your business and product and shows customers that you know what you are talking about. Remember that quality does not equal quantity. You have a limited amount of time to engage and entice a potential customer – so think carefully about what you post and when. Each day and time can address a different clientele and so you need to research when is the best time to post for most effective interaction.

2. Be Open, Engaging & Positive

It's important for potential clientele to see the heart and soul of your business and your posts on social media should reflect your individuality and drive. When posting it is essential to treat everybody equally and with integrity. Addressing comments, complaints or issues in a mature, professional and understanding manner shows you are dedicated and passionate not only for the product or service you are providing but also for the customer you are providing for. Try to be quirky and original – not too offensive or crude. Keep your personal, political and social views to yourself and remember the goal is to promote your business not your own personal agenda! Humour is a great way to engage your audience and it is important to not continually pressure sales. Consumers can become frustrated by the lack of professionalism and your reputation can become twisted as a money grab from your clientele. Focus on standing out, find a niche area that works for your business and add it to your content objectives.

3. Know and Embrace each Social Networks unique traits.

It is important to understand each platform you are using to promote your business. For example, Facebook has a completely different user demographic than Snapchat. Sometimes sharing identical content across multiple platforms will not be as profitable due to the differing demographic and user features on each social platform. It is important to be strategically visible to your clientele and use social media to cross promote sales, physical stores, pop up stores, email marketing, blog posts etc. The ability to know and embrace the intricacies of social media can help enhance your business's exposure and sales in a variety of ways.

It might seem like time spent on social media might be a distraction from more important tasks imperative to running a business – however, in this technological world – to not post on social media platforms is like closing your eyes when driving! You need to be able to see the road ahead. By using social media and having on omnichannel presence for your business – your eyes are open to a road of success, marketing, engagement and profitability.