If you’ve read our 7 Assumptions Made From an Inactive Twitter Account blog previously you’ll realise how damaging having inactive social media accounts (particularly twitter) can be for your business
And yet over 2 years since I wrote that blog I see businesses post their #myfirsttweet and stop posting less than a month later, I get added by LinkedIn connections and never see them post, I see facebook pages where the last update was 3 months ago – and these are not from businesses that are no longer active, they are from businesses that are very much a ongoing concern
So what should you consider when resurrecting Your Businesses Social Media
Here’s an easy 3 step guide to make your Social Media a success
EVALUATE WHAT WENT WRONG LAST TIME
It’s important to understand what went wrong last time in order to learn from your mistakes
Did you stop updating Social Media because
- You don’t have time
- You don’t have the knowledge / technical ability to use it properly
- You don’t know what to say on Social Media
- You don’t get instant results
The evaluation is a time to be brutally honest with yourself about why Social Media didn’t work for you before you ceased posting
PUT A PLAN IN PLACE
Once you have fully evaluated and understood what went wrong the 1st time around what specific plans can you put in place for the Social Media resurrection
Let’s break down each of the reasons above to see which plans of action you could take
YOU DON’T HAVE THE TIME
When putting a plan in place the question to ask if do you really not have the time for Social Media or actually just don’t enjoy Social Media
There is a difference
Realistically 2 Social Media platforms can be managed in 30 minutes a day – so the question is where else can time be saved from your day, be it your business life or your personal life.
Shaving 5 minutes off everyday tasks can leverage the time to manage your social media effectively
Is there someone in the office that has the required technical, marketing and customer service skills to manage your social media for 30 minutes a day?
And if those 2 aren’t an option is outsourcing it to a Social Media Management company such as ourselves may the best option
YOU DON’T HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE / TECHNICAL ABILITY TO USE IT PROPERLY
Simple solution – Training
Small Businesses often start up because they have a passion for the area of business they’re setting up in and they bring in professionals to help with accountancy, HR and IT. Why not Social Media?
Social Media is something you’re expected to do as a business, but it doesn’t mean you have the required skill set
In the corporate world you have training days for everything – literally half days training on how to sit properly (Sorry H&S experts) – so don’t worry about asking for outside help to train you on something that changes by the week such as Social Media
A social media company will have the knowledge from running social media campaigns 24 hours a day 7 days a week and spend time on emerging platforms to learn the nuances of each one
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
So you have the time and the knowledge / technical ability – but you don’t know what to say on Social Media
It’s a common complaint – how do I find things to say every single day that inspires my audience?
Write down all the things you offer, all the things you do, all the problems you solve, all the pains you fix
And
Then write down all the things your customers are interested in (down to minute details)
And then work out what is the intersection of interests between yourselves and your customers
This is what we spend a lot of time in our training sessions on – ensuring your marketing message is the right message to the right people at the right time.
And we use data and insights to back up our gut feelings
IMPLEMENT
As Nike say – just do it!
There’s zero point in evaluating and planning unless you’re going to put it into action
Social Media Marketing is all about the return on effort and zero effort means zero results
When you turn up every day, be present, be authentic, help others, support local businesses – that is when the results come in from Social Media
Do you care enough to resurrect your Social Media – because if you don’t care about your business enough to be where their eyes are – why should your customers care?
IF YOU NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING OR WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
Email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk or call 07806774279