We are proud to partner with social media expert Heather Heuman of Sweet Tea Social Marketing, one of our facilitators of our Retail Workshop Program.
GGP - Retailvisory - Make business social media accounts that stand out
Make business social media accounts that stand out
What to do before you start hashtagging and trend hopping
Over the past two decades social media has grown, evolved, and revolutionized the way we interact with not just each other but also our favorite brands and products. From the early days of blogs and forums to highly curated Instagram accounts and TikToks with all the bells and whistles, social media is constantly reinventing itself, which makes it hard to keep up. With a revolving door of trends, new updates, and new platforms, there’s an overwhelming amount of information to learn regarding social media.
The good news is, you don’t need to master everything to develop a strong social following. Along with tips from Heather Heuman, a social media strategist and author of “The Golden Rules of Social Media Marketing,” we will guide you through the digital chaos with tips and tricks to develop a better social plan and footprint for your business.
Know you & your audience
Before creating Instagram accounts and hopping on the latest TikTok trend, it’s vital that you know what your brand is and who makes up your audience. This means understanding what your company stands for and what makes your product stand out. Discovering this will help you create more engaging content that quickly and clearly expresses your brand message in a meaningful and impactful way.
Knowing who makes up your audience is equally as important. This helps you uncover how you can help them and how you can relate to them. Heuman suggests that you “take care of your audience and get more people like them.” If you understand what your target audience wants and how your brand helps them, you will be able to create better content that shares that solution.
If you’d like help getting to know your brand and target, check out our marketing strategy article for a free framework to get started.
Pick your platform
After gaining insight on your brand and audience, you can choose which platforms are best for you. Choose one or two platforms to use instead of trying to do it all. Focus on quality over quantity. As for which platform to pick, Heuman recommends you “choose the platforms that your audience enjoys the most, but you also really like.” It’s important to invest in the spaces where your audience spends most of their time and a platform that you enjoy creating for.
Once you decide which social media platforms you will use, make sure you create business accounts for each one. Having business profiles allows you to examine analytics on posts you create, build ads within the site or app, and access e-comm platforms. These tools can fuel your creativity and help you make social media-related business decisions.
Create with purpose
When you start creating content for social media, you must think carefully about what you’re posting. There is so much clutter on each platform — you want your posts to be concise and eye-catching so they cut through the noise and express a clear meaning. Heuman states that influential content will “say what nobody else will say and have an opinion.” Be bold! Take a stance that your audience will align with. It’s also wise to create content that gives value to and entertains your audience. This keeps them engaged and more likely to follow you.
As for how much time you should spend working on social media, Heuman recommends committing to one of the following schedules:
Two hours a week, all at once
Six 20-minute sessions throughout the week
Two one-hour sessions during the week
Pick a plan that seems sustainable long-term so you can get in the habit and stick to it. Also, make sure you spend time engaging with people who comment on your posts or DM you. Heuman recommends dedicating 10 intentional minutes to engaging on your business social media. This could be responding to DMs, liking comments, etc., but having 10 dedicated minutes is all it takes to keep up with social media engagement. If you’d like more tips on content, check out our building content article.
Optimize & get efficient
Consider using apps, tools, and systems to help you post more efficiently. Generative AI and social media scheduling tools can help you create a backlog of content to post throughout the following months. This is a major time-saver and helps you streamline your process.
Once your social media is active and you are posting regularly, focus on how you can form deeper relationships with the audience you have built. You can start playing around with brand voices to find what’s relatable and authentic to your target. Consider different types of posts and promotions like giveaways or surprise-and-delight opportunities to keep your audience engaged.
Most importantly, have fun and don’t be afraid to try new things! It might take a bit of trial and error to land on a successful social media plan, but these tips will guide you in the right direction. And remember, if you think the content you make is fun, informative, and engaging, odds are other people will think that too.
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