By now you have heard how important social media is for marketing purposes, and particularly for small businesses who don’t have the multi-million dollar budget to advertise through more traditional channels.

If you’re convinced that your business needs a social media presence but aren’t sure how to begin, here are four keys steps in the process. If you’d like some help along the way, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

1) Select the right platforms for your business. The “Big Three” social networks are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Nearly as popular are networks like YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest. Every business should have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you regularly produce video, YouTube is a must. And if you use images to promote your business, Instagram and Pinterest are invaluable. Finally, while Google+ doesn’t have the same level of popularity as some of the other networks, it’s affiliation with Google’s search engine means that it’s a good idea for most businesses to have a presence.

2) Brand your profile. Once you’ve identified your social networks, it’s important to properly brand your profile. Use your company colors whenever possible, and make sure your logo and tagline are clearly visible. Your social media profiles are often the first exposure a prospect has to your business, so it’s important to make the right first impression.

3) Link to your social media profiles from your website, email marketing campaigns, and so forth. Once your social profiles are up and running, make sure they’re seen! An important way to do this is by linking to them from your website, your email marketing campaigns, and wherever else you can. Some businesses will even include a link to their social media profiles on their business cards!

4) Stay active and engage with your audience. Finally, don’t create your profiles and then forget about them. This is a common scenario – but it’s almost better to have no social media presence at all than one which sits dormant. Post links to your blogs and articles, share links to breaking news, share funny or inspirational quotes, answer questions from your audience… be active!

Questions or comments? Contact us today if you’d like to learn more.