Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash
If you’re just getting started on social media for your Soloist business, start here at Part One for the basics of getting your brand online.
Read on to up your game and take your social media presence to the next level.
Setting Sustainable Social Media Goals
As a busy Soloist, it’s critical to create a social media plan that is easy to execute and sustainable. You need to decide ahead of time how many and what types posts you’ll share every day. There is no set number of daily posts, but remember that each social media platform works differently. Check out the recommendations in this infographic to get started, then determine what works best for your business.
Sourcing Useful Content to Share
You don’t have to create every piece of content you share online. Avoid running out of content to share on your social media streams by sourcing items from around the web.
Follow competitors and comparable Soloists. If their audience is responding well to what they’ve shared, bookmark it to share it yourself. Don’t forget to give due credit though, supporting other Soloists boosts your own reputation and helps you grow your audience.
Stay on top of trends and breaking industry news so that you never run out of relevant and interesting articles to share with your online communities. Set up a Google Alert so that you receive an email whenever something important comes up. Track keywords and relevant hashtags on Twitter or Instagram to keep an eye on what’s trending.
Establishing a Content Calendar
Keep your social media strategy on track with your goals by putting together a comprehensive content calendar, either digitally or on a paper planner. Plan out a full month at a time to keep track of what you post and to stay on top of holidays, promotions, and other special events.
Lay out your calendar systematically to keep things organized. For example, some Soloists choose to post an inspiring article on Monday, a funny meme on Wednesday, and a useful tip on Friday.
Implementing Content Management Tools
Once you’ve established what, where, and when you’ll be posting, use social media scheduling tools to streamline the process. Both Buffer and Hootsuitehave free plans that allow you to schedule a number of posts so that you can create a large batch at once and offer analytics that tell you how your posts are performing.
Measuring ROI
ROI, Return on Investment, is what tells you whether your marketing efforts are worthwhile. Use one of the number of different formulas to help you measure the actual ROI of your social media endeavors. This Comprehensive Guide to Social Media ROI is a great place to start. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that social media is about more than just the bottom line, it can also teach you valuable information about your clients and your industry.
Developing Partnerships
Partnering with complementary Soloists is a great way to grow your social media audience. Follow the people who are following them to discover potential new clients. Work out a cross promotion plan where you each take turns sharing content the other has posted. Reply to things they have posted to increase your brand awareness in the community.
Using Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to get your content seen by a wider audience. Research which hashtags are most relevant to your desired client type and tag your posts with the most appropriate. It’s not recommended to use more than two or three per post as you never want the length of the hashtags to be longer than the actual post you’ve written.
Buying Social Media Ads
You can extend your social media reach with carefully placed social media ads. Each company offers its own ad platform, which, with a little research you can learn to navigate effectively. This Guide to Social Media Ads is a great place to get started.
Social media is a long term game. It’s important to stay consistently active all while remaining patient. Respond to questions and comments reasonably quickly so that people get in the habit of thinking of you as a reliable resource. Post consistently so that people start to anticipate what you’ll share each day or each week. And don’t forget, the more genuine you are on social media, the more your clients will feel like they know you on a personal level, which makes it more likely that they’ll stay loyal to you and that they’ll refer you to their friends and family.
