Considering that the average person spends over an hour a day browsing social media platforms, it surprises me to hear small business owners, again and again, say things like “none of my customers come to me through the Facebook page” or “my clients haven’t said they found me through LinkedIn”. The inference of course is that social media marketing isn’t worth the time and effort put into maintaining it.

Last year I attended a presentation by Louise Landess, a social media professional based in Christchurch. If there was one thing I took away from that presentation, it’s that social media should be anything but meaningless.

It can be hard, especially if you’re a small business. It takes imagination and a flair for creative concision. Most importantly, it takes time – finding content, taking photos, writing, editing and posting or promoting content several times a week. And it can be hard to measure accurately. There is such a thing as “dark social” – engagement you cannot measure.

However, you can track the success of your social media marketing strategies using tools that will help you measure your most effective and least effective social media marketing techniques. Some social media platforms have basic tracking built in – Facebook offers you a summary of each promotion’s views and click-throughs – and some you can attach tracking tags to so that you can properly monitor them.

But there is so much more to social media than how many people click your “Call Now” button.

So, why bother with social media?

Your social media presence isn’t just about pushing your brand, it’s about building a digital footprint and speaking in your voice. People need to be able to find you and then invest in you. Buy in (and buying) is dictated by the heart first and the head second; you need to secure the emotional investment of your customers.  They might not come to you direct from Facebook, but a favourable social media presence will make them pick yours out of the dozens of websites that come up in a Google search for what they need.

Incorporating keywords into your content will not only catch the eye of your target audience but help search engines to find you. If you can present that content in an interesting way, say with an eye-catching graphic, animation or video, people are more likely to pick your message out of the pool of similar messages and remember it.

Posting regularly and offering valuable or interesting information will attract and hold the attention of your ideal customers. If they find it helpful and interesting, they’ll share it with their friends and colleagues, expanding your reach. Using social media for marketing allows you to project your brand voice across a variety of different social media platforms. While each platform has its own unique environment and voice, your business’s core identity, whether it’s friendly, fun, or trustworthy, should stay consistent. A positive social media presence allows you to build a foundation of trust with your customers before they ever set foot in your premises.

Social media and content marketing work together. Social media is a perfect channel for sharing your website and blog or newsletter content with readers, and conversely, a good social media feed will prompt new readers to sign up for or visit your newsletter, blog or website.

You might think that linking to content from other businesses is counterproductive, but in fact linking to outside sources improves trust and reliability, and you may even get links in return. It’s also a great way to stay abreast of new innovations in your industry and show that you are up to date. Remember that your audience is following you because they believe in your values and passions too; if you’ve read something you enjoyed, don’t be shy about linking to it. Chances are they will enjoy it too.

And while you’re at it, it’s a good way to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. If your competitors are using a certain social media marketing channel or technique that seems to be working well, think about how you could make it work for you.

So how do you put a social media marketing strategy in place? Where do you start?

Start with what’s called your “social tribe”.  Think about who you want to connect with – you want to create a tribe of people who are as passionate about your message as you are! In terms of building your business, it’s not about the number of followers you have, but the quality of the followers. That is to say there is no point in having a hundred followers if they’re only ‘following’ you in the hope you’ll follow them back. You want followers who are interested. Interested enough to talk about you and share you with their friends. Or in other words, followers who are invested!

Think about what you are trying to accomplish; whether you are looking to grow your business, or advertise yourself, you need to have a message. One of the biggest things I took away from Louise was “It doesn’t have to be frippery – post with a purpose!”

Show the world that you are who you say you are, and you do what you say you do. If you are driven by a core passion; environmentalism, invention, filling a niche; let it shine through in your social media posts. Talk about what you’re doing. Share posts that reflect your passions. The best way to write something people want to read about is to think about what you want to read about.  Follow people who are passionate about the same things you are passionate about – for a start, they’re more likely to follow you back and more likely to share your content with their friends too.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid of a bit of trial and error – just start. You’ll find your voice as you go, and you’ll quickly learn what gets your audience going and what leaves them cold. That said, you should treat your post like any other piece of writing and take time to edit. A typo might get you dozens of passionate responses, but it’s not the image you’re trying to push. You want your audience to be passionate about your message, not your spelling.

And on that subject, another message from Louise: “Don’t feed the trolls but do answer them – social media is intended to create connections. Otherwise, you might as well pay for traditional advertising and have done.”

Which is not to say you shouldn’t be using traditional advertising methods as well – you should. Radio, newspaper, and television advertising allow you to reach a wider audience, across all ages and consumer habits. The difference is that in traditional advertising, you compose your message and send it out into the world; you’re talking to everyone. Social media advertising is more like a one-on-one, in which you invite your customers to look behind the curtain.

In short…

1. Take the passion that drives you, or your core business values, and weave that message into every blog post, podcast, or slideshow you produce.
2. Promote your content using the right social media platforms. You need a platform that works for your business, and for your message – LinkedIn and Facebook can fulfil similar functions but their audiences are entirely different, and what users are looking for is different. The good news is that audiences between different platforms rarely switch between them – so if a platform isn’t working for you, you can start over. You can even keep your personal and private digital footprints completely separate.
3. Grow and nurture your connections. Remember, write about what you are passionate about, and like-minded people will follow. Push your message out to your social tribe.
4. Edit! Edit! Edit!
5. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. The average life-cycle of a post is just 3 to 4 hours before it falls too far down the list to be visible. Post regularly.
6. Don’t feed the trolls but do answer them. Stay professional, don’t take the bait, and don’t let it get you down. Believe it or not, this too creates connections!
7. Keep going! It’s okay to use trial and error to find the right tone – social media is ever changing and growing.

And if you don’t have time, hire a social media co-ordinator!

Don’t be afraid to bring in some expert help! After all, there is still the time issue. Like any industry, there comes a time to call in specialist help. A social media co-ordinator or communications consultant can help you identify your brand voice and develop a content strategy to tie it all together, and they can manage your social media feeds for you. It will pay you back in spades!