Simple Social Media Tips for Businesses of All Sizes

Today, social media is not only a powerful way to connect with important audiences, it’s a necessity in building trust and confidence.

Trust and confidence are essential in earning new business, attracting top talent for employment opportunities, and supporting the positive reputation of your organization.

Simply put: social media is too important a tool to ignore anymore.

So why are so many businesses and organizations either afraid to participate or without a focused plan for using social media? The top answers we hear frequently are:

Lack of time
Lack of knowing what to do
Lack of a plan

Well, while we can’t create more time, we can certainly help with the other two. Let’s explore.

Not knowing what to do with social media

There are two easy suggestions to helping folks decide what to do with social media: Hiring and New Business.

Social Media For Hiring – Finding quality employees is more difficult than ever. It’s tough enough to gain the attention much less interest from qualified applicants. There’s been a major shift in both people leaving the workforce and reconsidering what they want to with their time and talents. A job description and help-wanted sign in the window will no longer cut it.Social media becomes a way to educate, inform, and inspire top applicants to consider your company. And it goes both ways. In a recent survey, 90% of employers reported using social media as a screening tool for applicants. While another survey highlights 79% of applicants using social media to research companies and job opportunities.If applicants were to review your company’s website and social media accounts in their research, would they be interested, inspired, and confident that the job would be satisfying and fulfilling?If the answer is no, then think about what is need to change that answer and make that part of your social media efforts.
Social Media For New Business – The same question and reasoning applies to prospective customers and with prospective employees. A recent survey from Search Engine Watch reveals that 71% of consumers reported using social media as a tool and key influence in the decision to buy a product or spend money with a company.In the interest of building trust and confidence, what will prospective customers see when they look at your social media channels and company website?

So if you are stuck on what to do with social media, thinking about new hires and new customers can help you plan with focus.

Additional resources to consider:

How To Craft A Plan For Social Media Posting

A social media plan doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. It doesn’t have to take up all your time or force you to hire a social media manager. What a social media plan does do, however, is help you take a few minutes to get organized and focused on what you’ll do next.

It sounds scarier than it is. Here’s a simple formula to get started.

Start with the three C’s: Culture, Community, and Commerce. These three categories will help you quickly find purpose in your social media posting.

Culture: These are posts that show what you do, how you do it, highlight people and processes, and lets people behind the scenes of your company.
Community: These are posts that simply add positivity and awareness around other people’s actions, events, and news.
Commerce: These are posts that ask your audience to act in some way: Either buy a product, download a paper, donate money, attend a workshop, etc.

However often you are able to post (once a day, once a week, once a month) we recommend starting with a plan to use these three types of post in a rotation. The 3/2/1 ratio is an easy way to start. For every six posts, have three community posts, two culture posts, and one commerce post. More info on each category and the easiest way to build a simple plan can be found here.

Other resources to consider:

Conclusion

If you’re scared to start or feel you don’t have a plan or purpose for social media, know you’re not alone. But, also know that social media activity is simply too important to ignore. Following the simple tips outlined in this article will hopefully help you start the process of posting with purpose to help build trust and confidence in your social media effrots.