Social media is here to stay. A few people are rocking it; many seem to be catching on, and you? You aren’t sure most days. Here are five signs that it may be time for your business to call in the professionals.

You post the bare minimum.

Your mom told you that “you need a Facebook page,” so you got one. Then your best friend said, “Hey, aren’t you on Twitter yet?” you signed up. Someone said: “all the cool kids are on Instagram these days at a business network meeting.” Okay, you got that too. Every once in a while, you get motivated and have a great picture or an exciting piece of news, so you gleefully post and wait…nothing. Your business is doing well, and you are crazy busy, but you know you should be connecting. Weeks later, you repeat, and you can’t figure out why nobody sees your stuff. The internet must be broken!

Oops! You made a doozy of a mistake.

You thought you did everything right, but you missed a step or didn’t know about a rule, or worse yet…you’re the boss, and you have no restrictions for your company! Ouch, this is a tough one to come back from. You wish you had paid more attention because this will be costly.

You are frozen in time.

Five years ago, you went to a great conference, and someone taught you how to USE Social Media. I gave you all the current tricks and you have been dutifully doing ‘all the things since then. Unfortunately, you haven’t looked up in a while. As you were building your empire, some…okay, ALL of those rules have changed and grown around you. Now you are so far behind, and you may as well be sending out SOS signals.

Promotion is your middle name!

Social Media is fantastic because it’s FREE. You learned how to share everything from a single post on Facebook and send it out to Instagram and Twitter in one fell swoop! Every single sale you have going on makes it to your social media. You love that you can take a quick picture of a poster and put it up on all your channels. Your parent company sends you pre-made materials that are easy to share, share, share! You are totally in the game- except you aren’t because people aren’t following you & you suddenly realize you are advertising to yourself…and maybe your mom.

It feels like no one is listening.

And you are right. You are posting without a plan, without the current best practices, and you see zero to little growth. Social Media followers don’t always have to travel like a rocket, but a steady increase in your community shows a healthy relationship. Yours has been feeling under the weather for a while now.

Social designed for business is an entirely different ballgame, my friend! If you answered YES to any of the above, it’s time for your friendly neighbourhood Social Media Strategist to step in! Most companies offer various services to help you create a healthy Digital Marketing Plan. There is always the option to hire an in-house person to do your social, a word of caution, ensure that they are more than just enthusiastic about their own “Snapchat streaks.”

A few standard options:

  • One-on-one training sessions for you to get you up to snuff in the world of what is happening now & what is best practice within your industry. Often, team members can design a content calendar for you to follow and use to guide where and when to post.
  • The creation of a full Social Media Policy Manual for your company. Do you have all of the policies laid out for how each team member handles Social, both professionally and privately? Do you have anything in place if it is misused? So many frustrating situations can be avoided by having those discussions ahead of time.
  • Corporate training session. A social agency can come in and work with your team, so you can rest assured that your brand is represented the way you need it to be.
  • If you are too busy to spend another minute on Social Media because you are having too much fun doing what you do best, an agency can come in and manage your social for you. Ensure that they spend time and effort in an onboarding process where they get to know you. They should investigate what is important to you and your values as a company. Outside agencies manage many companies; it doesn’t have to be a disconnect. It is a bonus when a team with a social focus devises new and innovative ways to promote your brand that you may never have thought of.

Interview a few companies and see who feels like a good fit. Remember Social Media is not FREE. It needs to be carefully designed to work FOR you, not the other way around.

Get out there and BE SOCIAL! Your customers are looking for you.

 


Need help getting clear on your transformation? Get on a clarity call with us. Fill out this Needs Assessment form so we can help you find out and understand the shifts that you need in your business: www.leapzonestrategies.com/rise.

DEIDRE TANSEY
Connector & Amplifier of Awesome at LeapZone Strategies Inc

A “curator of connection” who demystifies digital pathways and ensures entrepreneurs are in alignment with their online persona. She crafts practical, no-nonsense strategies and smart action plans to help ‘close the energy circle’ with your ideal clients. Deidre is forayed into public service and was the first Digital Marketing Specialist for Vancouver Island Regional Library responsible for creating an online presence for their 39 branches and training staff how to effectively use digital media.

To explore working with Deidre, simply fill out LeapZone’s Needs Assessment here and we will connect to book your free clarity call.