Social Media is not Self Promotion!

Whether you are new to social media or not, be aware that social media marketing is not about self-promotion. It is marketing but it is not advertising. The content you post on your social media accounts should not read like an advert or sales pitch or boast too much about how good your products and services are. I suspect a few of you are asking.... well what is it about then?

Social Media started as a way for young people to connect and be sociable online. It has now reached all ages across the globe but it is still about social networking. If you want to know how to use social media to market your business, think about how you and your friends use Facebook.

My friends post beautiful pictures from their travels, pictures of themselves with their friends, share useful articles which they think most of their friends would like, share funny videos and share news items which they think their friends might be interested in. Are your friends sharing similar content?

What kind of content do you not want to see on your Facebook newsfeed? For me its people posting what they ate last night, boasting about their children's achievements all the time and posting about their political or religious views. What is it for you?

So after thinking about what you post and what you like to see on your newsfeed, do the same with your business page. It should reflect your personality and how you wish your business to be perceived by others. My suggestion is a mix of the following:

• Share content from industry leaders and other companies that compliment yours.

• Share images of customers benefiting from your products or services (I realise this is not always possible) for example students on a sailing course or people enjoying their new boat accessory.

• Share information which would be useful to your followers e.g how to guides, solutions to common issues and answers to frequent questions about products or services you followers are interested in.

• Share entertaining content e.g. images that require a caption, funny videos, competitions, stunning photos.

• Share in a subtle way posts which promote your products and services without being pushy and sales like.

By being more social, you will gain higher engagement and organic growth in the number of followers you have. This, in turn, will result in more people seeing your posts and learning about your business, its services, and products. If you are interested in having us help you manage your social media, please get in touch. We offer a FREE initial consultation