One business owners struggle to be all things social and still keep the business lights on.
Question:
I only have a few hours per month to focus on social media. What is the best practice for me to start?
Courtney, Agriculture - Calgary
Answer:
First, I would say you need to find out where you are going to get the most engagement for your time.
Each business will have a different marketing mix that works for them based on the products/services they sell and the consumer they sell too. Their backgrounds, day to day activities, age group and general interests will change the effectiveness. In short, you need to figure out where you customers are and be there in a very accessible manner.
When it comes to Social Media, how do you find where your customers are?
Look at your stats of consumers. Website, Social, Google Analytics or any other form of data you have access to. No it will not be perfect out the gate but getting started is half the battle.
Answer questions about them like: Who are they? What is their age? Gender etc? What do they do in their free time?
Align this with external metrics to see what types of people are using what that meet what data you have.
Find the specific data yourself. You can also ask your consumer where they spend most of their time on social media when you speak to them or survey them.
Have a friend or family member that is in your target market? Great, next time you see them ask away.
Always remember data is a volume game. If you only have a few or one response it is not indicative of your entire customer base and should be used as a data point with as much importance. These ideas are based on facts not opinion, which really is key for any Marketing today.
However, in the case this information is lacking or inaccurate you can start your strategy with a more opinion based strategy. This will have high risk of low return but we all need to get started somewhere.
In either of these cases I would always recommend a very rigid test and learn strategy so you get as close to a data proven strategy as you can.
When you get down to your actual posts, before or after you figure out your ideal social media channel, stick to story telling and practice your Authenticity like I mention above. How did you get here? What inspired you? What makes you different or unique in the world and in your space?
But before you go turning that few hours into many more be careful. Another issue I see is clients getting stuck down the Social Media Rabbit Hole. A quick way to gauge if you are doing too little or too much is to look at your total Marketing time spent - by you and/or your team - and then calculating what % of that time is social media. If its over 10% take a look what could be automated, streamlined or cut due to no conversion. If its under 10% take a look at brands you like, competitors and complimentary verticals for ideas. Remember you want things that are easily and quickly executed. If this is not the case this needs to be a marketing wide initiative not only effecting one channel.
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