Like it or not, it’s a digital world out there. If you want to attract customers and potential employees, you are going to have to step up your digital presence, according to Dee Reinhardt, social media strategist and principal at Time2Mrkt.
To find out how well you are doing with your social media presence, search your business name to see what comes up. Then you need to “claim your property.” In other words, own the social media sites with your name on them. Make sure those sites have complete information, including images. When it comes to your digital presence, it is important to refresh content on a regular basis. Check messages left by site visitors and also check reviews.
Make a point of having all your social media platforms link back to your website so people can get more information about you. You may be wondering why you need to use social media at all. According to Reinhardt there are four reasons:
- To build brand awareness
- To position yourself as a thought leader
- To increase lead generation and sales
- To support customers
The audience you are trying to reach will help determine which social media outlets you should use. For business-to-business purposes, Reinhardt suggests using blogs, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Google and E-newsletter. For business-to-consumer purposes, select Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and location sites.
To save time, you can use sites like Zoho Social, Brandwatch, Hubspot and Sprout Social that allow you to post to multiple sites at once.
After your sites are set up, you need to let people know about them, participate in them and engage with site visitors. Reinhardt reminds you to be consistent in your posting and to work to build your online presence.
