social media for small business ownersIf you’re just now joining the world of social media, we’re going to prepare you to hit the ground running. Social media for small business owners is one of the most valuable things you can learn. Each week we will focus on a new social site to help guide your content creation on that specific platform through our Social Media Series. Topics and keywords we will cover include driving sales, “how to”, product knowledge, customer support, and customer engagement. To get started, here are our guidelines to keep at top of mind before hitting the “post” button.

Delegate responsibility on social media.

You will most likely be active on multiple social media platforms. It’s important to share content that comes from one voice (your brand’s) and flows seamlessly across these platforms. Select one person to handle all content creation and posting or create a team to tackle it together. Choosing between one person and a team should depend on the number of platforms you will utilize and how often you will be posting. Because social media is such an incredible (and free) marketing tool, consider candidates with a marketing or PR background. They understand your brand identity and how you want be portrayed in the media.

Know which platforms are right for you.

Throughout this series, we will focus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube. We consider the first three the standard platforms to be on. Not every platform is appropriate for every type of business. With its diverse user base and all of its features like text, photos, videos, live streamed video, and more, Facebook is a great place to start.

Target the right demographic.

Social media is very generation sensitive. Are you looking to reach the pre-teen/Gen Z crowd? You won’t find them on Facebook. Try Snapchat or YouTube instead. Facebook is better suited for Gen Y, Baby Boomers and most millennials. When you start to develop your content calendar, you will learn who you want to reach and how you want to reach them. Selecting your platforms will make perfect sense.

What is a content calendar?

A content calendar is a way of organizing the content you want to share with your followers. It includes which platforms to post on, and when you will share it. Blog posts, Instagram photos, tweets, and Facebook statuses are just a few ways to share content. Each method will receive very different feedback. Wondering where to start on content creation? You should first decide what your purpose is for being on social media and what target market are you trying to reach and go from there.

Check back next week for our Facebook guide where we’ll highlight engagement monitoring, paid advertisements, trackable URLs, and live streaming. Along the way, we’ll also share cool (and mostly free) social media tools to help you save money.