How to Get Started With Social Media

“I hate Facebook”

If I had a $1 for every time I heard this…

While there are many cons to social media, when it comes to your online presence, having a solid social media plan in place is key. If you want to market effectively online, you need to have at least some social media presence.

So how do you get started with social media?

As with most of your marketing, you want to be sure you first identify your ideal client.

Once you identify your ideal client you should have a better idea of where to first focus your social media presence.

Starting small

Don’t make the mistake of trying to learn how to use and be effective in every major platform. Choose one platform to start out.

Let’s assume that you’ll start with Facebook (this is a common one to start with).

First you’ll want to set up a professional Facebook page. Be sure to include a professional photo, fill in the profile as much as possible – including linking back to your website (don’t miss this step).

If applicable turn on reviews.

And then invite friends and family to like your Facebook page.

Facebook also has some tips on how to grow your audience here.

Create a plan

What are you trying to achieve with Facebook?

Is it ___ number of visits to your site?

Is it ___ number of likes to your page?

Is it ____ number of reviews?

Or maybe a combination of all of these things.

Write down your goals for each quarter and the year. Then identify the steps that you want to take.

How are you going to drive traffic to your site? Is it with a blog? A special offer? An event?

How are you going to increase your likes? Are you going to advertise? Run a contest?

How are you going to get more reviews? What is your strategy in place for asking for these reviews?

Creating a schedule

After you identify your specific goals, you’ll want to create action steps. Each action step should be scheduled in your calendar during your marketing time.

Some of my clients find it helpful to schedule regular social media postings on a monthly basis. You can schedule them all out using a program such as hootsuite.com or meetedgar.com.

Facebook also has a built in scheduling option for Facebook pages.

Take it small and focus on one of your goals at a time – especially when you are first starting out.

It’s easy to get sucked into social media (a big con of social media platforms) so be sure you have a specific social media plan in place.

Rachel Muraca
Virtual Design, LLC
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