Ten easy tips to manage social networks for small businesses

Managing social networks for small businesses is not an easy task. While some SMEs have a dedicated marketing team, others have to manage on their own. The use of social networks requires dedication, if you want results. Here are 10 tips to help you.

Social networks are tools increasingly used by SMEs to communicate. And for good reason, they are an economical way to start attracting Internet users and retaining existing customers.

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Here are two statistics to convince you:

46% of Internet users consult social networks before buying a product or service.

80% of people are registered on at least one social network.

Here are some benefits you can draw using social networks for your business:

Target audience to find potential prospects

Retain existing customers

Communicate with a community

Reassure prospects and improve your brand image.

However, managing social networks for small businesses requires time and energy. It is not enough to create your account, you have to be organized and plan your presence. How do you do it if your days are already full?

Here are 10 tips for managing social networks for small businesses

Tip # 1 -Be organized and plan your publications

Proper organization is the key to keeping your head out of the water. There are many tools to help you plan and keep an eye on the various platforms where you are registered.

Hootsuite is a tool that brings together your social accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on one page. Once you have set up your dashboard, you can manage all your accounts. You can even view all your messages and reply from there.

Here are some similar tools:

- Social Sprout

- Pagemodo

- Buffer

Tip # 2 - Create and Share Quality Content

Sharing quality content that will appeal to Internet users on social networks is essential to get their membership.

According to a recent study, 55% of Internet users share content that will be useful to their friends and 48% of them to amuse their friends.

Do not hesitate to share a variety of content: Videos, photos, quotes, infographics, reporting, comparatives...

You can also start creating your own content that will allow you to "feed" your social profile and go back in the search engine results. And this for a simple reason.

Without content, you will not appear in search engine results. Unable to generate traffic to your site.

The figures are eloquent; According to a Hubspot study, SME sites with a professional blog generate 77% of requests for additional quotes

To organize yourself, an editorial calendar is a good way to make sure that you make miles up to date frequently. You can schedule the publication of your content in advance, saving you time by focusing on the basics. Create quality and relevant content.

Start your editorial calendar with these tips: start by describing the year and highlighting the main events: holidays and seasons. Identify monthly topics or topics to cover. Break each month with your thematic ideas by identifying what types of messages you can create around it: text, video, micro-video, visuals, relative quotes, questions, white paper, etc.

Tip # 3 - Humanize Your Brand

Successfully managing social networks for small businesses requires lower cost results. You must therefore succeed in provoking engagement and interaction with the customers who follow your brand. You should avoid at all cost simply relaying information.

For example, MattressInquirer has done an extensive research on the buying behavior of the users who are looking for mattresses online. They ask questions about sleeping habits.

So, do not hesitate to ask questions or send more personal messages like seasonal posts (Christmas, holidays, events ...).

Tip # 4 - Look at what competitors do

To inspire yourself with good practices and find new ones, do not hesitate to look at what the competition does. For example, you can search Twitter to target seasonal posts or those related to a news event.

This monitoring work is also important to analyze the content that is created by the most innovative companies in your sector.

Tip # 5 - Collaborate with Contributors

To ensure that the content you publish is as diverse as possible, teamwork is an idea that can save you time. You should offer your collaborators, your coworkers, and you can also outsource to a third party who will create content for you. You will benefit from a web writer who will save you time to focus on what you can do.To organize your collaboration, you can use the Trello tool to manage several contributors.

Tip # 6 - Invest

Managing social networks for small businesses takes time. The more you are present, the more likely you are to succeed. Take a few hours a month to plan and schedule the content. Then take at least 10 minutes a day to "check" your accounts and respond to messages. The great strength of social networks is that they never stop; They can be used at any time of the day or night.

Tip # 7 - Invest Several Broadcasting Channels

If Facebook is the best social network in the world, there are a number of other social networks. Do not neglect the other channels of acquisition of Internet users that can be very powerful. A rule anyway, think about your customers and do not hesitate to question them to know their habits of use.

Also, if you're investing in social networks, why not start building a mailing list and let you send a newsletter as soon as you want it to your audience?

Tip # 8 - Promote your social profiles on your points of sale

To start accumulating new fans, or followers, promoting your social profiles is ESSENTIAL. Use your places of sale, your commercial documents (brochure) and all your other communication media

Invite your customers to "like" your page or give their opinion on the Internet.

Tip # 9 - "Sponsor" your page and publications

All social networks have an advertising model. That is, they clearly have an interest in paying advertising to be visible. Rest assured the tools offered are still very economical and the targeting power is enormous.

For example, you can target a profile by profession which allows you to develop the visibility of a job very precisely.

Tip # 10 - Measure your results

The tools available to you (Hootsuite, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics ...) allow you to measure every action you take. Also, unlike traditional advertising (print, radio ...) digital generates accurate data that will help you make the best decisions.

Managing social networks for small businesses through content management tools can really help you utilize these new media and optimize their potential. Good management will not only save you time and profit.