5 Tips to Manage Your Small Business' Social Media

More and more small businesses are joining the conversation and getting social media accounts. Connecting with their customers and people interested in their products and services. One of the biggest challenges any small business faces with their social media is how to manage it. Without proper management, there's simply no point in doing a social media campaign. Here are 5 of our favorite tips to help you manage your social media:

Put someone in charge of your social media efforts. It is very easy to say that "someone" will do it and to not assign anyone in particular. But what will happen usually is that everyone will get busy, thinking that this other "someone" will do the social media that day - when nothing will get posted. You need one, or even two people in charge of your social media for any small business. Even if it is done occasionally by different people, there needs to be "someone" in particular in charge. So get that project assigned even before you open up the accounts!

Do what the pros do and plan your social media in advance. Social media looks very casual and "spur of the moment." But most businesses actually plan out their social media, and you should too. Even if you just outline a list of topics for blogs and social media posts for the week, this can help focus your social media efforts. Planning out your social media can help to target it towards specific products, sales and topics you want to focus on.

Use social media management tools. Try HootSuite or other popular social media management tools. You don't have to worry about posting your Tweets for Tuesday morning on Tuesday morning, because you can schedule them ahead of time - or actually for any time you prefer. You can schedule many different forms of social media, easily viewing your accounts. A social media management tool can save you time and effort, something any business would appreciate.

Get feedback from staff about social media efforts. Every small business joins social media to get results. Each member of your staff has different responsibilities and probably sees your products and services from different perspectives. The salesperson sells, the customer service representative solves customer service problems, the marketing department does marketing - asking for input about social media ideas from your staff can be helpful. They may have ideas for promoting products and services in a way that may not occur to you as a business owner, or to the person doing the social media.

Social media should be fun. This is something that people - many people and businesses - seem to forget. So we'll mention it again: social media should be fun! Social media is interactive like a conversation. It is not a time to constantly give your customers or potential customers the "hard sell" to buy your products. Post social media posts and topics that relate to your business, ideally ones that will spark an online conversation and get people interested in interacting with you. Keep it fun, informative and interactive and your social media will be successful!


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Lawrence Reaves writes for Galorath, a software company that offers a project mangement software that companies can use to complete projects. For more information on Galorath or their software please visit http://www.galorath.com/index.php/products/manufacturing/C6/


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