Top 3 things to consider when starting social media for your business

So you want to get your small business into social media and don’t know where to start.

Here are my thoughts on the top 3 things you should determine prior to getting started:

Goals are #1

What do you want to accomplish by being on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter? Make sure you take this first step to gain clarity behind your social activities. Goals can be long term but make sure they are realistic and measurable.

Budgets

In order to achieve realistic goals with your social media presence you need to have a set budget. Gaining from social media can only be realized once you have a set budget to work with whether it’s monthly or quarterly. This number usually determines whether you are active on just one network or all networks. Small businesses are better off starting small with one account either Facebook or Instagram (depending on the nature of your business of course).

Resources

Let’s be realistic, what do you have to work with? What associations or groups are you part of to help you generate consistent quality content?  Would it cost more for you to spend time trying to understand social media or would it be better to hire a freelance marketing support to help you achieve your goals? These are only some of the questions you need to ask yourself in determining whether you want to manage your accounts yourself.

In my experience most small businesses rarely have budgets for social media. It can be tough trying to see the return from social media presence but sometimes slow days at the shop or restaurant can be just as non-profitable.

This is quite a basic list of the top three things I felt were important, however, there are definitely far more things that are involved when starting up. Social media can be intimidating as your account page is ‘always open’. Make sure you understand the dangers and risks that are involved along with the opportunity for growth by taking seminars, attending online workshops or just by speaking to a digital marketing professional.

Are you already a small business on social media but feel fatigued about next steps? Let me know and we can see if we can get you back on track towards growth (as opposed to just presence).