Most small businesses are aware that setting up social media accounts is something of a must, but many of them do not know exactly how; Thunderbolt Digital know that attempting to create your own strategy for online marketing Guildford amongst the ins and outs of running a business can seem like an impossibility, but we’ve picked some top tips to help you get started! It’s a good idea to remember to…
Maintain Your Online Presence
Many SMEs fall into the trap of creating social media pages (because they know that they ‘should’) and then simply leave it unattended or neglected, with either no posts, or very infrequent activity. This can be more of a problem for your company than you would initially think – abandoned social media pages can give a bad impression to prospective customers, as it will either look like you simply don’t care about your brand image, or are even out of business!
To avoid this, make sure that you’re posting regularly; not only will this show that you are indeed still in business but you’ll be more likely to see engagement this way than if you post rarely and sporadically. To make this easier on you (or your social media team) make sure that you’re only signed up to platforms that you actually intend to use!
Engage Don’t Preach
Who wants to be part of a conversation where the other person won’t stop talking about themselves? No one, that’s who! The same goes for social media – you can’t spend too much time talking about your brand and nothing else. Yes, your social media pages are about you, but your followers will quickly find that subject very boring, especially if that’s all you ever post about. It’s a harsh fact, but people don’t follow social media pages simply to be advertised to – what they want is value, which comes in the form of fun, interesting, or informative content.
You need to listen and respond to customers as well as people in your network, not just broadcast about your business; reply to comments when you can, and share content from others, too (all the better if you weigh in!).
Remember, self-promotion should make up the minority of your posts (some believe around 30% is a good number), with the rest being shared content from relevant sources, user generated content, or your own valuable content.
Handle Customer Service via Social Media With Care
It’s a bad idea to rely on social media for customer services and complaints, but you shouldn’t ignore the platform as a means of amending disputes either. Many customers will not want to take the steps required to formally complain (like writing a letter or waiting on hold on the phone) but will easily complain about negative experiences online, which can be extremely damaging for small businesses with burgeoning reputations.
The best course of action when dealing with social media complaints is to politely apologise to the customer and then request that they message you privately to resolve the issue; this will stop your pages from becoming too clogged up and will prevent a spectacle from being made in the public eye.