Owning a business can be one of the most exciting times for an entrepreneur but it can suddenly become overwhelming. There are a lot of topics that must be learned and perfected very rapidly in order to remain operational while maintaining profitability. The number one factor is learning how to use social media and the internet to your advantage.
Many small businesses feel they can’t afford a PR firm to help them get started and get put on the map. The good news is any small business owner can make this a do-it-yourself project, the bad news is that it takes a lot of time and commitment each day.
Planning a Business Road Map
Creating a brand on electronic media should be an important topic to address early on in the business. If you are an established company and have fallen behind, do not worry, catching up is something that can be done.
Getting new customers to visit your website and purchase products or services is the goal. Social media is similar to driving to a specific brick and mortar store; we will take highways and regular streets, make a series of lefts and rights in order to get to the end location. This is how social media should be used.
Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pintrest are all highways and roads and your business website is the destination. Now that we understand how the highways work we need to figure out how to map out travels to get more people to leave the highway at your exit sign and visit your location.
Driving Directions
Social media can be used to share items, events and news from your website. By creating content that will capture prospective clients imagination you will begin to direct them where to go (JLM Communications just did it with this article). Content creation must be informative and creative at the same time.
After content has been created on the main site it can be shared on social media as a link. Each person that sees your story and wants to read more will be redirected to your website. This is where making sure your article/story has proper links throughout it.
If you are discussing a new product be sure to have a link in your story that will bring the reader to the purchasing page. Customers do not want to spend time looking through a catalog when they know exactly what they want.
Destination Arrival
Owning a business means taking care of every aspect of your customers needs. Be sure to have an easily navigated website and simple methods to find the products or services you offer. Your customers do not want to follow the directions to your site only to get lost trying to navigate through a complicated maze.
Creating a social media road map is not hard, it just takes time. It is recommended to have at least one story per day to keep content fresh and customers interested.
If you feel like you don’t have enough time to do all of this please feel free to contact JLM Communications to discuss solutions that will work for your business.