Create Your Social Media Presence in 5 Easy Steps

We’ve created a simple, 5 step framework to get you started with digital media…

Find Your Voice

Identify what you stand for as a brand.  Focus on specific issues you want to cover and solutions you provide.  Really think about who your customers are, where you can find them and what type of message will appeal to them. It is very important to be speaking the same language as your customers

Claim Your Digital Turf

Regardless what your neighbor’s best friend’s auto mechanic’s grocer’s 14 year old son told you, you do not need to be active on 12 different social media profiles to reach your customer.  That said, you do need to make sure that you claim your vanity URL on the key social networks (Facebook, Google +, Pinterest, YouTube) before someone else does.

While you are at it, don’t forget locational sites such as Foursquare and Yelp.  Especially local businesses can see a positive impact from encouraging & responding to reviews.

Create a Digital Strategy

Now that you have a digital presence on one or more key site(s), it is time to determine which 2-3 sites will generate you the most bang the buck.   If you really spent time on Step 1, this should be an easy decision for you.

Couple things to remember after you have selected your key sites:

• Cross-share, cross-post & automate when it makes sense.
  • But do not let your Social sites become photo-copies of each other.  People expect unique content, not a Google Plus account that is simply a mirror image of your Facebook page.
• Do not forget your web-site.   For most businesses, their Social Media sites should be designed to build relationships & pull people to their webpage.  A majority of conversions (or sales) should  takes place on your site.
• SEO in 2015 is not the same as it used to be – Social Activity counts for over 60% of your ranking. Especially if you hire someone to do your SEO, make sure they understand this.

Listen and Respond

Did you know that over 60% of customers expect to hear from brands via social media and only 40% of brands respond to them?  Social Media is all about a conversation:  share, re-tweet, respond, engage in a dialog, recognize and thank your users.    If you aren’t participating in the conversation, your audience will gladly move to a competitor that is.

Additionally be aware of your surroundings: set up Google alerts for you, your brand, your industry and your competition.  You may not see anything most of the time, but it only takes one unanswered bad comment to ruin a company’s reputation.

Understand your Marketing ROI

It is getting harder and harder to find brands that are not participating in the social activity.   Everyone seems to have a Facebook page and Twitter account.  That said, approximately 50% of brands are not sure about the ROI of social media.   Which 50% are you in?   Unless you are in the trenches of social media marketing, stick with what works without the expensive ticket price:  Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Hootsuite, & SocialMention will give you all you need to know about your social media campaigns.