If you are like most small business owners, chances are that you have a Facebook Fan Page for your business and a Twitter account, but may not be keeping up with it due to time constraints or just not knowing what type of content to post to make the most of it.
By posting helpful, valuable content, you can improve retention and get new clients or members. It does take time and tenacity to build social relationships and if you get a few new customers a month and build relationships with your current ones it could be worth thousands of dollars to you.
Best of all, any new local fans or followers you add, will likely have a list of friends, families and businesses that are local as well who will get to see some of your social messages and invitations- so you have the possibility of building a group of warm leads or fans.
To help you figure out what you could post on your social networking sites for your Small Business,I’ve created 13 Social Network Updates for Your Small Business below. Please notice that the majority of the posting topics are of benefit to the reader and aren’t asking for a sale. This is key as well as that you post on a regular basis.
1. Upcoming Events- Do you have an open house, anniversary celebration or some other important event to promote this month? If so, be sure to create an event on your Facebook Fan Page and invite your fans and friends through Facebook.
2. Funny Video clips, Pictures, Bloopers- As long as it’s in good taste, share your online funny or amazing videos and pictures related to your business by sharing them on your social media accounts. You’d be surprised at how many comments and retweets you can get.
3. Public Appearances- Are you supporting a local event, demonstrating your product or services at a tradeshow, or donating items for a silent auction? Be sure and let everyone know through your social networking sites where your team is going to be. In addition, ask the organizations that you’re supporting to share it on their social networking pages too. For example, if you’re going to do the Great American Teach In at a school, mention the school in your posts and ask the school to post that you’ll be there too for greater exposure.
4. Fundraisers for a Cause-If you’ve got a fundraiser planned to help a charity or benefit a cause, then don’t be shy about it. Let people know what your business is doing to help, how your staff is making a difference and what your customers and the general public can do to join in and help.
5. Positive Messages-Share motivational quotes and feel good comments on your social sites. Just about everyone likes positive messages and quotes and it can help them understand that you’re company is a positive one.
6. Give Customers Recognition on your Social Sites –There are many opportunities to publicly thank or congratulate your customers or sponsors publicly on your Facebook Fan Page and other social sites. So give a public “shout out” to congratulate customers on their birthdays, for winning contests that your business is hosting, supplying feedback used to improve a product or service, etc.
7. Promote your YouTube Videos- Do you have a YouTube Channel with some entertaining, informative or instructional videos to share? Then share them on your social networking sites or even add your YouTube channel as a “tab” on your Facebook Fan Page.
8. Gift Certificates- Once in a while promote your gift certificates by mentioning them, putting them on sale or by having everyone enter to win one by asking fans to share or tweet: “I love (the name of your business) on Facebook or Twitter.” Select a winner at the end of the week and post their name congratulating them.
9. Give Bonuses to Your Fans and Followers-You can provide extra perks to those that follow or “like” you on Facebook, Twitter, etc by sharing links for additional information that’s of value to your target audience, extra discounts for your products or even share a service or new program with them before anyone else.
10. Ask for Opinions and Feedback- Post articles on what’s going on in your local area or things that are relevant to your business and ask everyone else what they think. Interact with those that reply. You can also ask their opinions on new menu items if you’re a restaurant, what colors, sizes, flavors, etc; they’d like to see your products in and more. Thanks those that respond publicly.
11. Contests –Host online photo caption contests, trivia questions, the best random act of kindness ideas and more to get members a chance to interact with your business.
12. Testimonials-Did someone say something nice about your business or employees? Then shamelessly let everyone know, by reposting the kind words and publicly thanking the author. It’s a great way to build social proof and also positively reinforce the act of praising your program.
13. The Benefits of Using Your Product and Services- Remind everyone how and why your product or services can benefits them. You can include your mission statement or tagline, but it’s great to specifically mention how and what benefits come “buying” from your company. Now, after reading this far, I’m sure you have plenty of ideas of what you could post each day on your social media accounts. There are tools out there to make your posting more time effective for you. buy youtube social shares