Grow your business with social media – 10 tips to get you started

Social media has merged into our everyday lives. We’re taking pictures, giving opinions, communicating with more people and endorsing products – and all of this online sharing is accessible worldwide, instantly.

But there’s no need to fear social media and, as a business, you should definitely be starting to think about your social media strategy. By not having channels for customers to communicate with you through, you’re limiting potential leads, missing the opportunity to defend your reputation and potentially ignoring a whole generation of online customers who just aren’t reading newspapers or walking the high street anymore.

Save some time and easily set up your social media with our top tips:

1. Make a plan before you start anything. Plan who is going to be in charge of the platforms (make it more than one person!), work out what sort of things you’ll post and make a calendar of how often you’ll post so it doesn’t just drop off the radar.
2. Start with one channel first and do it well. Then move onto another. If you have a big local following, try Facebook and if you want to maximise on reach and engagement, try Twitter.
3. Make your feed personal and you’ll quickly make friends and build relationships. Be positive but honest.
4. ALWAYS reply – whether the comment is good or bad. It reflects badly on a brand if they are actively talking to people in a friendly way on social media, but ignoring any complaints.
5. You don’t always have to talk business (it’s probably better if you don’t). Try posting news, top tips, blogs and join in on trending topics – like popular TV shows or footballers moving team and buying a home.
6. If you’re unsure whether something is appropriate to put on the channel, ask someone else before you commit to it.
7. When answering a complaint, take problems offline but explain what you’re going to do (for prospective customers looking at your feed). Then you can give the situation care and attention offline and keep a customer happy, without the social space for it to escalate.
8. It shouldn’t always be the youngest person in the office or the one who is always on Facebook who should run your social media – it’s about enthusiasm, commitment and good customer service.
9. Ask questions, offer advice, fun stuff, share opinions and entice people into interacting with you.
10. The most important thing to remember when you’re starting social media for your business is that it doesn’t matter how many followers and likes you have, it’s about engagement. Focus on this and the rest will come!

Good luck setting up your social media channels! Let us know how you get on and if you have any questions, tweet us @RightmovePro.