5 Pro Social Networking Tips to Implement Before Year-End

Did you know 96 percent of small businesses use social media in their marketing strategy?

If your business is part of the 4 percent, you’re falling behind. And because the majority of all marketing is on our cell phones, you need to be a business that caters to this.

But social media can be a difficult terrain to navigate. Without the proper know-how, you may end up hurting your business instead of helping it.

Lucky for you, this article will tell you the top 8 pro social networking tips you need to know. Read on to learn more!

1. Decide on Your Platforms

Before you get started with social media, you have to decide on which platforms you will use. Doing so will make sure that your efforts are worth your time.

When deciding on a platform, ask yourself where your target audience is online. Many people use more than one, but you may have a higher concentration on a different site.

For example, a business on Instagram should be targeting a younger demographic. Older people, while they do use Instagram, are not as active as younger people.

But, for those trying to reach professionals, LinkedIn or Twitter may be a better option. Other demographics will be on these sites, but you have better chances if you target social media use.

Keep in mind that social media accounts are free to make. You don’t have to feel like you can be on one or two alone. In fact, you should be on three or four.

But also don’t overextend yourself. Not updating your social media accounts will look unprofessional to your followers.

If you’ve started before now, consider if you want to create a presence on a new site. Also, try cutting out social media accounts that don’t have a lot of reach. This will allow you to focus where it matters.

2. Make a Plan

Before you start posting on social media, make sure to create a plan. Lazy social media marketers will fail to do this, and their social media will fail too.

Think about social media in the way you think about your business. You wouldn’t make a business decision without planning; why would you do it for social media?

Here are some questions you should ask about making a plan:

• Why am I on social media?
• What tone do I want my business to have?
• How often you will I post on social media each week?
• Should I delegate social media to one of my employees?
• What content will I post?
• Who will I follow?
• Who will I try to get to follow me?

Make sure to learn more about making a plan and the advantages of social media. The more you learn, the easier planning will become.

3. Be… Social

One of the biggest mistakes you could make as a business on social media is forgetting to be social. In other words, don’t forget to interact with your followers.

Making sure to be social is one of the best ways to gain more traction online. People who interact with you will often share what you said.

This also shows your customers that you care about them as well. Because of this, chances are that they’ll choose you over your competitors. This is because a social media interaction will give them a history with your business.

Make sure to respond to comments, retweet, and like what people say about you. Of course, you need to be careful, you don’t want to have to deal with internet trolls.

4. Use Social Media Advertising

As a small business, your budget may be a bit strapped for cash. Suggesting a paid advertisement could sound ridiculous to you.

But, advertising on social media is easy to do.

To advertise on social media, all you have to do is pay the social media website a small amount. Of course, you can spend thousands on this, but $20 or less can be effective as well.

Sites will let you pick what demographic and location you want to target. This is much more effective than television or radio ads.

Social media advertising will help your accounts grow. And even if you don’t get new followers, people will at least see that your business exists.

Running a social media advertisement makes you look more professional to potential customers. For new businesses, in particular, this is important.

5. Do Social Media Contests

If you want to make sure to gain more traction on social media, do a contest. Even if you don’t have much to give away, this can still give you the opportunity you need to get followers.

Social media contests tend to start with a post that requires users to tag their friends in the comments. And many of those friends will tag theirs as well! Who doesn’t want to win free stuff?

This guarantees that people who don’t follow you will see your account.

After a week or so, pick a winner at random and give them the prize. The prize can be big or small, but make sure it is worth bothering your friends for.

While people will see your account, this doesn’t guarantee a follow. You could make following you part of the contest requirements following your account. But they may unfollow after the contest.

Even if they do, they will now remember your business in the future. Doing this kind of contest will help you on social media, but it could also mean business results.

Want to Know More About Pro Social Networking?

Now that you know the top pro social networking tips, you’re ready to get your business on the right track. If you do everything right, you may see great success on social media.

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