I’ve been speaking at a lot of events lately about social media, entrepreneurship and marketing.
The one key message that I keep hearing from business owners is their feeling of being completely overwhelmed by the numerous social media platforms and the lack of time they have to participate in even one of them.
They already have to deal with all other aspects of running their business, how do they possibly find any more time?
Some business owners have resorted to outsourcing their social media activities. Others are throwing their hands up and screaming for help.
Here are some ways you can start feeling less overwhelmed and more empowered by the tools available to you.
•Social media is a tool, not a burden
The first step is a shift in attitude. Don’t fear social media. Most people have conquered how to use a telephone or email over the years. Social media is simply another tool to help you communicate with clients, potential clients and an expanded audience.
The tools are there to empower you and make you more efficient, not the other way around.
•Have a plan
Understand what you’re trying to achieve. At the very least, you should be managing your brand and reputation. Set your objectives and targets so you can measure whether you’re effective.
•Determine where your audience is
Before you choose the communication tool, figure out who you’re communicating with and where they spend their time.
Facebook continues to be the most-used social media site, but other popular ones in Canada include Tumblr, Twitter and LinkedIn.
You should also understand the demographics for your industry. Pinterest, another popular and fast-growing site, is dominated by women at an 8:2 ratio.
If you’re in the spa or retail business catering to a female clientele, you should probably be on Pinterest.
•Choose the social media tools that work best for you
If you’re a great writer with good content to share, then writing blog posts makes sense for you. If you’re grammatically challenged but are great on camera, try posting video clips on YouTube instead to share your ideas.
•Stay focused. Master one platform before you move on
If a new social media tool comes along, don’t be distracted by the “new shiny object.” Determine how much time you have weekly or monthly to allocate to investigating the new tools. Master one platform and do it well first.
•Reserve your name
Even if you aren’t actively using each social media site, it’s important to be proactive and at least reserve your name and your company’s name so your competition doesn’t snap it up first. It takes only a few minutes to set up your profile. Website www.namechk.com allows you to check your name across a variety of different websites.
•Budget your time
There’s no question that social media can suck up time and time is money. Determine how much time you will allocate to social media and prioritize this activity against the other things you need to accomplish each day. Stick to your schedule.
•Use automated tools where appropriate
There are people who are completely against scheduling posts. I take a more practical approach. I engage in direct conversations in real time when I can.
However, I am up late at night often when everyone else is sleeping so it makes little sense to post messages then. I use HootSuite to pre-schedule messages during times that I know my audience is listening, and the tool allows me to choose which messages I post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ at the same time.
•Measure your effectiveness
Social media return on investment is complex and difficult to measure because it’s part of a “multi-touch” approach to lead generation.
Survey your customers periodically to find out how they found you and whether social media was part of that touch point.
•Share good content
Try to give value to your audience by sharing good content. Develop a trusted community of people who you interact with who will reciprocate by sharing your content.
I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes: “Social media is word of mouth powered by technology.” •
