Social media marketing can seem freakishly daunting to beginners. Where the fudge do I even begin, yo? Don’t worry, if you’re a complete noob (btw that means you know NOTHING) then this post is just for you. Why bother? Well because social media is FREE. That’s right. FREE.
I'm going to cover three social channels, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Yes, there are loads more. But this is a nice beginner’s post, so we’ll keep it simple. My next post will look at Instagram, the fastest growing social channel of the moment. For now, here are some handy tips and hints, so that you don’t feel like screaming any more. Well, maybe just a bit less.
Ok then sweetie darling, let’s get started. Firstly, before you set up a business page you need a personal profile on Facebook. You can set this up easily, just follow these simple steps. This is your personal profile, so use pictures of yourself (not your business) and keep it about YOU. You can change your privacy settings, because you may want to keep your personal page private.
Great! Now you have a personal page, and you can create a page for your business. This hilariously red-faced man shows you the steps on how to do it, via the medium of video.
You will ideally need to post content on Facebook once a day, and you can use Facebook Insights (a tool at the top of your page, available once 90+ people like your business) to help you gauge when to post. But broadly, the evening between 7-9pm is when most people are online.
NB: You don't need to be doing it all the time. To make your life easier it’s possible to schedule (plan ahead) your posts. The tool for the job is Buffer, an online tool that will easily plan your posts and is free for one user! So go for it, use Buffer and plan your posts for weeks in advance.
Signing up for Twitter couldn’t be easier. Unlike Facebook, you don’t need a personal page, and can create a business Twitter account for free. Choose an @ handle as close to your business as you can, so people can search for you, and you’re ready! Now you need to set up your page to reflect your business. Think carefully about which images you use, include a link to your website and use the large banner behind your profile photo as a free advert. For other tips on getting started, including using some of Twitters more business orientated features, see this useful post.
Tweets are 140 characters long (the length of an old text message). Twitter is a constant stream of tweets, re-tweets and replies. There are some basic rules to tweeting as a business. Here they are:
You can tweet regularly, aim for a minimum of three times a day. To find out what is the best time for you to Tweet, use Tweriod, or this helpful post.
NB: You can use Buffer to help you plan your Tweets ahead of time, but remember to keep monitoring Twitter to see if you get replies or @ mentions. The best tool for this is Hootsuite, which allows to you to monitor certain relevant hashtags and keep an eye out for interaction. Great stuff!
Pinterest is an absolute gem for business. It’s better than Alton Towers when you’re a teenager. Like Twitter, you don’t need a personal page and can set up a business Pinterest account for free. What’s so good about it? Well you can ‘pin’ images of absolutely anything to Boards you create, and the more you pin, the more other pinners will ‘re-pin’ your images. Set up your profile in a few easy steps, and get going! Whatever your business, there will be Pinterest boards related to you. Add to them, re-pin to your own boards.
Pinterest is about lifestyle. So keep your pins aspirational. Add descriptions of the images you post, that make it sound attractive. All pins need to have a link, so pinners can follow the pins to purchase. Compared to Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is perfectly suited to business. Just think of it as one huge advert!
Check out the Noisy Little Monkey Pinterest account - who knew so many images could be curated around search and social? Let us know if you found this article useful, give us a tweet or a facebook.
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