Building an effective social media presence can be a daunting task.
While many tout the importance of social media, embracing the benefits is often easier said than done.
But yet, business owners and entrepreneurs know that it’s no longer a matter of whether they should use social media. It’s how to use it effectively and without fail.
While there’s no fast track to mastering social media, there are ways to become proficient in a shorter amount of time.
If you’re ready to maximize your online potential, the twelve tips below will help you engage your audience, no matter the social network! Plus, grab the Slidedeck that includes tips from my latest presentation.
12 Steps to Master Social Media
1. Choose Your Channel
Facebook, Google Plus, and other social networks allow you to interact with potential clients. You can also find your next job, shop, sell, buy, auction and exchange just about anything you can think of.
No matter your reason for using social media, make sure you choose your main networks wisely.
Choose one or two social networks that allow for the greatest exposure and then use them daily. We all know time is money. There’s no sense in starting something if you’re not going to consistently stick around.
2. Define Your Target Market
Do you know who your target audience is? Have you identified your specific area of expertise?
Don’t try to cater to everyone by being all things to all people. If you want to reach the right audience, your content should be hyper-specific. Write your posts and speak directly to their wants, needs and desires.
3. Share Appealing Content
Sharing content in an appealing way is tougher than it seems. How often have you stumbled on a post or tweet that left you shaking your head at an opportunity lost?
Share interesting, relevant and insightful content and share it often. This is the single best way to establish your expertise and credibility.
You have knowledge others need. Give it away freely!
4. Listen and Respond
While social media is an excellent communication tool, it is also a very beneficial listening tool.
As you listen to your customers, take time to truly hear what their needs, wants and desires are. Then work to fulfill those needs with your content, time, compassion and genuine feedback.
5. Establish Your Genuine Voice
People want to get to know the real you. Social media gives you the opportunity to share your authentic voice, no matter the format.
Whether you are tweeting or posting to Facebook, add context around the content you are sharing. This provides unique insight into who you are and what makes you tick.
6. Don’t Rely on Automation
While I love automation, I also know that you never want to rely on it so heavily that your personality gets lost.
Always use automation in moderation. It should never replace you or your ability to get “social.
7. Join the Conversation
Don’t hide in the shadows. The only way to connect with others and create meaningful relationships is to get into the conversation.
Ask a question, provide feedback or offer your thoughts around someone’s shared content.
Make your presence known!
8. Commit to Your Social Media Strategy
Practice makes perfect and a commitment to your social media strategy is essential.
Consistency builds trust. It also allows you to create a workable, sustainable and successful plan.
Execute, execute, execute!
9. Take Social Media Seriously
Just like any other marketing campaign, building a successful social media presence takes time.
Commit to a specific level of interaction and engagement. Design your day knowing that each post or interaction drives you closer to your marketing goals.
10. Don’t Overlook Your Blog
Social media can be a boost to online credibility, but it cannot replace the value a blog brings to your business and personal brand.
It should be one part of an integrated marketing plan. Determine how often you will post to your blog and use that content to repurpose across your social channels.
11. Measure the Impact of Your Efforts
As the saying goes,
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
So it is with social media marketing as well.
If you’re posting daily without a plan, you are wishing for results, not planning for them.
12. Analyze and Adjust
Once you have put systems in place to measure your success, you now need to analyze your progress.
Identify what is working and adjust what is not. A successful social media strategy is an agile one.
Your Turn
I’d love to hear from you! How are you using social media to expand your online presence?
Grab the Slideshare
Post originally written by Rebekah Radice and found on 12 Most.
Quality content is the secret to interest the people to visit the website, that’s what this web
site is providing.
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also go to see this weblog on regular basis to take updated from most recent gossip.
Wow! At last I got a webpage from where I know how to genuinely obtain valuable information concerning my study and knowledge.
I am truly thankful to the owner of this web site who has shared
this enormous post at at this place.
Hi to every one, the contents existing at this web
page are really amazing for people experience, well,
keep up the good work fellows.
Thank you, I have just been looking for information approximately this subject for a while and yours is the best I’ve discovered so far.
However, what concerning the conclusion? Are you positive
about the source?
It’s awesome to pay a visit this website and reading
the views of all colleagues concerning this article,
while I am also eager of getting familiarity.
It is in reality a nice and useful piece of info.
I am glad that you just shared this useful information with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Your style is very unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from.
I appreciate you for posting when you’ve got the
opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this blog.
It is in point of fact a great and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you just shared this
useful info with us. Please stay us informed like
this. Thank you for sharing.
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I
stumbleupon every day. It will always be exciting to read content
from other authors and use something from their web sites.
May I just say what a relief to discover an individual who truly understands
what they are discussing over the internet. You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important.
More and more people need to look at this and understand this side of the story.
I was surprised that you aren’t more popular since you
certainly possess the gift.
Hi to all, because I am in fact eager of reading this website’s post to be updated
regularly. It consists of good stuff.
, on the other hand, raised its cigarettte prices by 41-44 cents per pack and reduced the discount it offers to retailers to keep its bottom line.
Electronic cigarettes arre without harmful components wwhich do nnot cause lungs cancer, heart stroke
issues or any of the respiratory tract problems. So the first thing you need to do
iis determine which suits you best.
The itemizing from realty company Plantation Providers states that media
mogul Ted Turner bought the island—now a Registered Pure Landmark—in 1979.
When availing the services of a dog boarding kennel you can remain assured of getting the
following benefits:. Kodak walks you through the entire process and allows you to download covers and coupon pages as PDF
files. When you have the right shape, the door opens
and you can get the doll.
I’m no longer sure where you are getting your information, however great topic.
I must spend some time finding out much more or understanding more.
Thank you for excellent info I used to be on the lookout
for this information for my mission.
Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favourite justification seemed to be at the web the simplest factor to be mindful of.
I say to you, I definitely get annoyed even as people consider issues that they
just do not understand about. You managed to hit the nail
upon the top and also outlined out the entire thing with no need side-effects , people could take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
Very good blog post. I certainly love this website.
Thanks!
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a enjoyment account
it. Look complex to far delivered agreeable from you!
By the way, how can we keep up a correspondence?
Hi my loved one! I want to say that this article is amazing,
nice written and come with approximately all vital infos.
I’d like to see more posts like this .
It’s very simple to find out any matter on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this article
at this site.
Hi there, You have done an excellent job. I’ll certainly digg it and personally
recommend to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this site.
Acctually nno matter if someone doesn’t understandd then its up to other
visitors that they will help, so here it happens.
Generally I don’t read article on blogs, but I would like
to say that this write-upvery pressured me to take a look at and
do it! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thanks, quite great article.
Hello, all is going well here and ofcourse every one is sharing
information, that’s really fine, keep up writing.
This is done very carefully in order to ensure a good result.
This side effect is nothing serious and usually lasts for
a couple of weeks. Hair grafts are exactly hair follicles that are removed
from the back of the head to the front.
It’s actually a cool and useful piece of info. I’m happy that you simply shared this helpful info with us.
Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
You’re so awesome! I don’t think I’ve truly read through anything like that before.
So wonderful to discover somebody with some unique thoughts on this subject matter.
Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This site is something that is needed on the internet, someone with some originality!
Hello everybody, here every one is sharing these knowledge, so it’s nice to read this blog, and I used to go to see this blog every day.
Now synthetic companies say you can change your oil every 7500 miles and
the best synthetic oil will guarantee their oil to
last 12 months and up to 35,000 miles. For example, paraffin, a common refined oil
component, causes refined oils to thicken and flow poorly
in cold temperatures. This can be especially beneficial to the younger
generation, as many of their “first cars” burn through
oil more quickly than newer ones do.
Hi there, yup this article is in fact nice
and I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging.
thanks.
Heloł,
bardzo piękne miejsce, napewno chętnie odwiedze Cię tutaj nie raz, bardzo ciekawie piszesz twojego bloga
– jest naprawdę bardzo udani
Pozdrawiam
Joasia
Thanks for every other informative web site.
Where else could I get that type of information written in such a perfect approach?
I’ve a undertaking that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.
This article will assist the internet users for creating new
website or even a weblog from start to end.
It’s awesome in support of me to have a website, which is helpful in favor of my knowledge.
thanks admin
A lot of people have viewed this awesome blog post about Essential Steps to Take Today to Master Social Media Tomorrow . Thanks, and let us know what you think. Are there more reasons that you can think of?
Nice article Rebekah, again the information you shown is really interesting. I completely agree with you about “Define your target market” because it will be meaningless if you share content with the audience who has nothing to do or nothing interesting for them in content. Great stuff.
Exactly right Ashish. It’s a critical piece that’s often overlooked.
Hi Rebekah,
Mastering social media is critical and in many ways it’s not as complicated as many make it to be. I personally see it as an extension of my networking and relationship building.
What an amazing tool!!!!
You made two real points that personally stood out to me:
1. Don’t Rely on Automation – I never use hootsuite or tweetdeck or any automated tool. I learned a few years ago that it allowed me to get into bad habits and get lazy. As a result, my personal engagement just dropped like a rock and it really hurt my effectiveness. So, I picked LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook to engage. Yep, I chose four.
But, because I’m good habits it’s really not a big thing for me to use all three independently and at one time.
2. Don’t overlook your blog – so many don’t understand the relationship of their blog to social media. While social media is a good and beneficial thing, it’s rented space.
The key is create such value that people come to your site and engage with you there as well.
It creates more loyalty and it demonstrates to new website visitors that you’re competent and well respected on your site. Anyone can have a lot of social media followers but it’s very different to have 50, 100, 150, 200 comments on one article. Don’t you agree?
All your points were very,very good. These two just stuck out to me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this critical issue.
~ Don Purdum
Those are such important keys to maintaining an online presence Don and staying top of mind with your audience. A blog is one of the top missed opportunities I encounter as I talk with small business owners. They just don’t see the value. But once we discuss the impact it can have on their business, it’s exciting to see them embrace the idea and run with it.
Hi Rebekah,
I’m big on choosing 1 channel to really work. For me it’s twitter. Fab post here!
Twitter for me is a quick, easy, seamless way to spread the word, to engage and to find the right automating ratio.
Being in paradise – and 16 hours ahead of EST – I need tools to automate, to reach different time zones.
Twitter lends itself nicely to tool users while FB and G Plus just aren’t as friendly, to tools and to automating.
Like you said get to engaging too. Automating exclusively tells folks, “I am a bot”, and bots don’t gain the trust of their target audiences. People do gain trust, and people engage frequently.
Share, chat, direct message and build those bonds. Make friends. Detach from outcomes.
I’m a fan of giving freely to make an impact wherever I am, on social media, because I find myself receiving more easily, as I give while cutting the strings.
Thanks so much Rebekah.
Tweeting soon.
Ryan
I couldn’t agree more with you about Twitter. It was my first social media love and continues to be one of my strongest marketing channels.
I hear you on the automation and your need to reach markets outside of your time zone. That might be the only challenge to living in Paradise. 🙂
And you are a huge giver and proof that giving without any expectation of receiving in return is a powerful mindset and strategy.
Hi Rebekah,
Cant agree more with your comments on “don’t over look your blog post and your personal branding”.
I do use social media to expand my audience but I think I also don’t really put myself out there. The other thing I don’t put enough attention on is measuring my activities.
Great reminders once again Rebekah!
Thankyou
Have a great day
Di
Hi Di! Putting yourself out there is a challenge everyone faces. It’s finding that balance between blasting everyone with your message in a spammy way and actively sharing who you are and what you do.
Challenge yourself daily to find a new way to brand yourself or share something new about your business. Pick one person and reach out. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
An excellent post. Social Media is a TWO way street and every one has to negotiate the traffic smoothly without hurting anyone.!
That’s for sure! You have to listen and be active. Posting and running off will never allow for long-term growth.
R —
What automated social share program do you prefer — you mention the topic in #6 and I’m searching right now for a solution.
What say you?
Hi DB! I use Sprout Social and Buffer daily. Sprout is how I handle all daily conversations, listening, monitoring and analytics. I also use Buffer daily to schedule a few posts as I come across great content. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this great article. The tips are very beneficial and the most important thing that I liked is using social media as a listening tool. Most of the time we forget to see what people want. We are more interested in telling what we have.
Actually we should first listen and then design our content in a way that can help people.
Thanks Rebekah!
Perfectly said Khushboo – I completely agree! Listen and then design content that’s tailored specifically for your customers. It makes content creation so much easier.
Rebekah,
Thanks for sharing this. To be honest, I think you nailed it girl. I used to be everywhere … focusing on all the channels I can think of and I was dead wrong.
I understand the hard way that by focusing on just one or two (max 3), I could leverage more and even better.
Huge mistakes and learned from it.
Thanks for sharing this lovely article!
*PS Love the image by the way too!
I’m guessing that trying to be everywhere left you tired and overwhelmed. Although, I feel like I see you everywhere, so you seem to be managing it all quite well! You must be a master juggler my nature. 🙂
Hi Rebekah,
Great and useful post here.
I think #3 is really worth paying attention to because you can’t just go and share and and everyone’s content – since some content is much better than others.
I would say that a blogger needs to really filter what they share because it reflects off of their brand and if they share bad posts, it’s a negative stigma attached.
I also think that choosing your channel is great advice because you don’t want to wasting your efforts on a platform that’s obviously not performing for you.
Great tips here.
– Andrew
Social Media needs what already works in the physical work:
– Being caring for people, over money.
– Missing the elephant in the room, that is “You”.
– Visual metrics on core aspects.
I’m sure I’m not your first reader to recognize each of these 12 steps require thorough thought and analysis and further refinement over time. Time and again, I discover more details on who my “ideal customer” is and what content and in what format they seek before contacting me.
The same holds true with my SMB clients. The more details they know about on who their ideal customers are, where they are, what they’re seeking and why they’re seeking it, the better they can serve up the exact content their ideal customers want.
We all want to do more in less time, but like you’re #6 step points out, try to avoid using too much automation, api bot stuff is OK for getting the news, but not ideal for cultivating a relationship via the social web.