5 KEY STEPS IN RUNNING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA BUSINESS
Social media originally started as a fun way to connect with family and friends. It helped facilitate communication between people in a virtual world. It made it easy for people in entirely different locations, and in different time zones to share information as if they were in physical contact. But today, owing to the fact that the world has gone digital, social media has become a veritable tool for many business owners to take their business global and build beneficial relationships with their clients.
It is now more than ever about having an informative and entertaining conversation with prospective clients and customers. However, many business owners do not have the patience or time to run their social media platforms or business presence. This is where you come in.
In this age of DIY’s and Being-Your-Own-Boss, starting your own social media business should be relatively easy. Although there are social media courses one could take, running a social media management business is more dependent on experience and innovation than any formal or informal education. With all that being said, here are a few things to note when starting out:
Have a Knowledge of Various social media platforms.
Individual social media platforms have their custom channel specific rules when it comes to social media marketing. What applies to Twitter or Instagram may not necessarily apply to Facebook and vice versa. Studying the trends and characteristics that seem to work for the individual social media channels is a good place to start.
Understand your client’s market
You have to realize that what works in the Furniture industry might not necessarily work in the banking industry. Understanding the kind of language the brand uses, when to be witty and when to address issues in a corporate manner and knowing when it is okay to post once a day and when it is okay to ride on emerging trends and viral marketing are just a few of the skills you need. Most importantly, you have to understand what social media platform works best for each industry. The big 3 — Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will suffice most of the time, but you have to know when to bring in others like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Youtube and Snapchat as it shows versatility.
Create a market strategy suitable for your client’s goals.
Once you have a good idea of what works on the various social media platforms, and the industry to which your client’s business belongs, it is now time to create strategies that best suits your client goals. First you have to understand the client’s core goals, vision, mission and performance metrics to better optimize your approach. Once this is done, you can set out to create strategies that are unique to your client’s business.
Staying abreast of current market trends relevant to the client’s business.
Being aware of significant market trends and their relevance to promoting your client’s business is fundamental to your work. Knowing what market trends are relevant to your client’s business will help you know what trends to take advantage of, in engaging and relating with the virtual community.
Improve your own social media presence.
Most importantly, before setting out to manage other people’s social media platforms, you should work at developing your own social media presence as proof of competence. You are your first client. Most times, when meeting clients and pitching your business to them, they will want to see what you can do and showing what you have done for yourself is a good place to start.
We hope this has been helpful if you’re looking to set up tent in the social media management space in the near future. Here at Astract, we excel at coming up with highly customized digital marketing ideas, content development and social media management. You can email us at @kharis@astract.com if you’re interested in working with us.
