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So, you’ve just launched a new business, which means setting up social media accounts to promote said business to as many potential customers as possible. While managing a social media account for your brand can seem overwhelming when you first start out (How will people find out about you? How will you gain followers? How will you get people to engage with your page? How do you make your feed aesthetically pleasing?), we’ve got the Golden Rules of Social Media to help you have focus and direction when it comes to using these platforms to build a community around your brand.
Rule #1: Strategy, strategy, strategy! Is your goal to gain a certain number of followers by a certain date? Are you trying to generate leads through your page? Determining your overarching goal/s for the pages you have will inform your decision making and influence the type of content you are posting. It’s also important to note that each platform may require a slightly different approach, so it might be best to double check before you repost that Instagram straight to your LinkedIn profile…
Rule #2: Consistency! Make sure you are in your customers' front of mind by utilising features such as Instagram Stories to communicate with them on a regular basis. If you’re not taking up the space you’ve made for yourself on social media, you can guarantee a competitor is! Regularly updating your feed and having a consistent presence is absolutely crucial to building and maintaining brand awareness.
Rule #3: Understand your demographics and tailor your messaging to them - who is your audience and what platforms do they use? How can you speak to them in a way that is interesting and relatable? Is your customer a conscious consumer? Then how are you communicating your sustainable practices or ethical business model through social media?
Rule #4: Keep an eye on what's trending, and if it applies to your brand, see how you can get in on the action! Are you a boutique fashion brand that targets Gen Z young women? Then you’d better be making outfit montages on TikTok and Instagram Reels if you want to get noticed by your target audience.
Rule #5: Constantly analyse and re-assess: It's no use using something over and over if it's not getting you the results you want. Analyse data such as engagement, the best posting times and so on to get an idea of how to strategically reach the right audience at the right time in the right place. Making the most of helpful built-in features such as Facebook Business Manager and Instagram analytics will give you a breakdown of data so you can know what is working where and what isn’t.