Just a few minutes is all it takes to do a little social media marketing.
Once you get a social media profile set up and a campaign underway, there are lots of things you can do in just a few minutes each day to boost your presence and performance.
For small businesses, social media campaigns usually involve batch-creating content that will be shared on social media over time. This includes graphics, links (often to your business’s website), and text. For example, you might create a campaign in which you share one tip with your customers each week. If you’re an electrician, you might share tips about the best lightbulbs; if you’re a hairdresser, you might share hair-care tips. You create a series of tips in advance and then share them on your social media over time — that’s your campaign.
But there are other things small businesses can do to expand social media marketing efforts, quick actions that take just a few minutes and can be done in real-time.
Quick Tips for Social Media Marketing
These tips assume that you’re already running some kind of social media campaign. Whether your campaign posts daily, weekly, or monthly, the actions below will boost your existing efforts:
- Make sure your social media profiles are easily accessible. If you mostly work at a desk, set up your computer so you can log on to your social media accounts quickly and easily. If you’re often on the road, make sure your social media apps and profiles are set up on your mobile device. If logging in is a hassle, you’ll be less likely to jump on any platform to take a quick action.
- Follow people when you find them. When you hear about someone who complements your business or industry, hop online and follow them. Don’t put it off. For example, if you’re a hairdresser and you see an ad showing a Twitter handle for your favorite brand of shampoo, get online and follow them right away. It only takes a minute, and if you don’t do it now, you’re likely to forget.
- Share useful and relevant information. When you come across an article or anything that your followers (customers) would find useful, share it immediately, especially if it’s newsworthy or time-sensitive.
- Use hashtags and keywords. Get familiar with hashtags and keywords that are related to your industry and use them in both your social media campaigns and your off-the-cuff postings. This increases the chance that customers will see your posts.
- Peruse and reshare. Social media is about making connections. You need to go beyond constantly posting about your own business. Give someone else a boost every once in a while by resharing their content. Spend a few minutes scrolling through your feed or timeline and look for content that your followers would appreciate, and then reshare it.
- Provide commentary and offer insight. When there’s news in your industry, post your remarks about it.
- Engage and interact. If someone posts something that you find interesting, respond, but remain professional. Engage with people, but don’t get in fights. Be friendly but keep it classy.
It only takes a few minutes each day (or whenever you have some spare time) to step up your social media efforts. The more time you spend on these platforms, the more astute you’ll become at using them. And if you’re short on time, you can always hire a social-media pro.
Buzz Pro Studio provides website services to small businesses and independent professionals, specializing in website design and maintenance. For more information or to get a no-obligation quote, contact me.
Melissa Donovan is the founder of Buzz Pro Studio, providing website services to small businesses and independent professionals.
