If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably wondered if your business really needs to have social media accounts. The answer is not cut and dry. When done correctly, business social media accounts can be a huge benefit and significantly boost your business. When those accounts are ignored, they can become an anchor that slows your business growth.
So first, the benefits of social media account(s) for your small business
Business social media accounts are a great way to promote your company, build a loyal following, and increase your market share with little to no cost! Here are a few ways this is accomplished:
- Share your finished work (contractors), share products (retail, web agencies)
- Allow customers to share testimonials, reviews, quotes & postive feedback
- Create a targeted loyal following through groups
- Legitimize your expertise by participating in other’s organized groups
- When you tag a customer or client, they may in turn share that post on their accounts – expanding the reach organically.
- Increase legitimate backlinks to your website by adding your website url to social media account profiles. (Backlinks in turn improve your SEO.)
- Can even become an avenue of income (for example, a youtube channel)
When is adding social media accounts to your business a bad idea?
2. You just don’t have the time
When you don’t have time or capability to maintain a regular posting schedule. Accounts that are extremely out of date, for example a year without any new posts or engagement, gives the impression your business is also stale. Not monitoring your business’s social media accounts can also lead to negative reviews going unaddressed.
2. Not staying on topic
Many small business owners end up blurring the line between business-beneficial social media posts and personal posts. If your personal account merges with your business account posts, it’s important to make sure those posts align with your business goals. For example are personal & political opinions appropriate or are they going to alienate clients? Are you portraying a professional image or showcasing messy & disorganized aspects of your life?
It’s important to always ask yourself, does this reflect the image I want to portray about my business? Does it support my business goals? Does this post reinforce the business mission?
3. Not staying in touch
It’s also a bad idea to set up social accounts for your small business when you don’t plan on monitoring the messaging features. Many younger customers communicate through Direct Messages, What’s app, or Messanger. If you have those features enabled, but aren’t checking in, or don’t have notifications set up correctly, you could miss and lose clients.
How to keep your business’s social media accounts fresh
There are many tools to help prevent your social media accounts from going stale. A free version of Hootsuite will accommodate up to 3 social media accounts. You can use this tool to schedule posts months in advance so that your accounts never seems outdated.
For messaging concerns, set up your account notifications to your main email address or promote calling instead of written messages. Auto-generated responses are a great tool to provide potential customers with contact information quickly.
Need help with your small business’s online presence?
Contento Interactive Group can help set up and even maintain your social media accounts for you. Drop us a line to learn more.