Getting Started with Social Media

Don't be overwhelmed

There are so many different social media platforms, that businesses may not know where to start.

Create Accounts:

We suggest companies start with sites that are most popular with your customers. Unsure where your customers are? Then follow these generic suggestions.

Are you a business whose customers are mostly adults? Start with:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

We suggest these platforms to businesses whose customers are mostly teens/ young adults.

• Instagram
• Snapchat
• TikTok

All companies should also claim their business listing on:

• Google (Business Profile)
• LinkedIn
• Review Sites - Yelp.com
• Bing Places

Make sure that your social media accounts have a similar look and feel. You should follow the color scheme of your web site and also use your company logo as your profile picture.

Promote Social Media:

After you have set up your social media account, promote it to your current customers. Create signs for your place of business and email customers asking them to Like/Follow your account.

The next time you print business cards or marketing material include your social media (QR codes are a good shortcut to promote one main social media site.)

Start Posting:

For Facebook, we recommend that you start out posting once or twice a week. Later in the week, and late in the work day between Noon and 3 pm or between 6 - 9 pm.

Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat need more frequent posts. We suggest starting out daily and see how your customers respond. After lunch is a good time to post.

Measure and Adjust:

Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms allow you to monitor how engaged your customers are. Make sure to measure your results (be sure to have a definition of what engagement you desire: conversions, clicks, or gathering customer data).

Adjust your efforts accordingly. You may want to try posting at different times, or varying content for different media platforms.

Expand Your Presence:

After setting up and starting to work with those sites, you may want to expand your social media presence to these sites.

If you are a B2B company you can then look at these site, if you have not yet set up an account:

• LinkedIn
• Video (YouTube, Facebook Live)
• Instagram
• Blogging

B2C companies can look to these sites, if you have not yet set up an account:

• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Snap Chat
• Video (YouTube, Facebook,  WhatsApp, TikTok, Periscope)
• Blogging