Almost all small businesses are now getting on social media platforms as they are inexpensive and effective ways to advertise and attract customers. Whether you run your own social media accounts or have someone else to it for you, it’s wise to set some policy guidelines to make sure you’re sharing the right content and nothing embarrassing.
Start by setting up goals and metrics for your social media campaigns. Any good businessperson knows that if you can measure it, you can improve it. So set goals for post frequency, audience growth, and engagement. Once you know what your goals are, you can work backwards from those goals to design you campaign.
Make sure your social media pages have up-to-date information and reflect your branding. People use social media to follow and learn more about businesses they’re interested in, so you don’t want them learning the wrong things. You also reflect your branding through setting the tone and voice for all your content and customer interactions. If your customer service people are taught to always be positive, then everything you share on social media should be positive. You should also set guidelines around type of content so whoever is running your accounts doesn’t accidentally share a message that is not in line with your brand.
The next step is to share your goals and policies with your team. Ask employees to share, tag, and like to help leverage their networks. Give them credit for business related posts and images and share on your platform. Social sharing is drive by people, so leverage the team you have.
When you share content, including blog posts, pictures, videos, and more, focus on high quality. People will want to follow you and share your posts if they have good and relevant information, but will unfollow you quickly if you share too much low quality material.
It may take a while for your social media efforts to pay off. Stick with it, watch your metrics, and adjust where needed so your campaigns lead to business growth and success. Social media is a great way to drive interest in your product or service and a little bit of creativity can make it one of your most successful advertising efforts. Whether your audience likes your thoughtful blog posts shared on Facebook, your clever tweets, your business insight on LinkedIn, or the amazing images you share on Instagram and Pinterest, they’re connecting with your business in new and exciting ways.
Talk to the team at Virtus Law Firm if you need help setting appropriate communication policies, especially if you are in a profession that has rules around the types of information you can share. We can also help you understand how you can and can’t limit your employee’s social media use. If you choose to consult with us, we will make sure you understand legal rules around content sharing to make sure you’re not violating anyone else’s copyright. Schedule a consultation by calling us at 612.888.1000 or emailing us at info@virtuslaw.com.