CAREER PURSUIT 2021

EXPERT ADVICE - SELF-EMPLOYMENT 33 HOW TO SIMPLIFY SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS ACK TO BASICS The first thing you need to think about is, WHY are you posting on social media? Is it to make sales, engage new customers, create a community around your business, or to make people aware that you exist? Once you know your ‘why’, you can then begin to target all your efforts towards this why instead of not really being sure. The second thing you need to know is, WHO are you talking to on social media? I know every business thing you read talks about the power of niching down and having an ideal customer, but they’re not wrong. You need to know exactly who you’re talking to, so you can figure out where they’re hanging out online. If your target market is corporate businesses, they’re probably not going to be on Instagram or TikTok. Likewise, if your market is stay-at-home parents, they’re unlikely to be on LinkedIn. Once you know where they’re hanging out, pick between one and three platforms to focus on. Doing any more than three will really stretch you, and you need to be working on your actual business as well as just posting to social media! THE POWER OF SCHEDULING (AND THE BIG ‘ALGORITHM SECRET’) Now you know why you’re posting and who you’re talking to. Brilliant. Let’s now talk about WHEN you’re posting. The best thing you can do for your business social media is to schedule your posts. Posting on the fly is great, but you’re more prone to forgetting to post, not knowing what to post about, or getting too busy and not bothering at all. I highly recommend setting aside an amount of time, either each week or each month, to plan and schedule your posts. “How many posts should I do?” I hear you ask. Consistency is key, so go for the number of posts you think you can keep up with for the rest of your existence. Next, have a look at your profile insights to see when your audience is the most active online, and aim to schedule your posts at around those times; this can help you to pick which days of the week you post andwhat time of day.When it comes to Facebook and Instagram, the algorithms show posts in newsfeeds based on three rankings: is the post timely? (i.e. was it posted recently?), do you like posts like this? (either by that person or on that topic), and do other people like this post? Everything you read always talks about the ‘power of social media’ and how it’s a must-haveforeverybusiness these days, but there are so many platforms that are ever changing, with rules and algorithms and all sorts of things, that it can often feel like a wasted effort. So, whatdoyoudo?Onesolution to the social media problem is to outsource it completely – employ a virtual assistant or social media manager to run it all for you. But, if your budget doesn’t stretch to that, or you do actually enjoy doing your socials when you know what you’re doing, then this article is for you. B By Rachel Luke