Last week I was asked how do I do my social media. I can tell you this I don’t have secrets tricks of the trade, I’m doing what most social media people are doing. Please believe me, those telling you that you can have a million followers in a short space, we have tested some of the techniques, and all it did was cause problems and ghost accounts. If you sign up with social media platforms where you buy “real following” take a close look. The following profiles may be real, but they have all been set up by the company. I have found that accounts had duplicate images collected through free image sites, and have all been set up the same day and have limited pics. As @garyv would say, there is no easy way around this, except for hard work, commitment, and advertising spend. So the long and the short, there is a lot of miss-guided information. If you do not have money to spend and you are looking to grow your social media presence organically, Here is my advice;

Choose your platform

Don’t try and be all to all platforms; most social media marketers focus on one or two platforms and grow these to a large scale. They are filtering to cross-post platforms.

Be consistent. 

For all our clients we do at least one post a day, whether it’s a new post or repost fillers, this shows those following that you are on social media daily. If you are using your personal account to push on Facebook, they may block you for 3-days for overuse of your account so be smart make sure you do two posts a day.

Make connections personal and to groups.

Keep looking for people, companies, and groups you want to connect with, whether they are of interest to you or helping your clients.

Get the right tools 

You may want to look at @Grammarly for copy and post writing, scheduling tools like Buffer & Hootsuite, are some of the more established scheduling tools. These can be pricy for those starting up. Then there is a new kid on the block called Hellowoofy. We played with this platform since last year when we were looking at more cost-effective scheduling solutions. What I do love about this app, it is not restricting or charging you for additional accounts. The team is super helpful, and you can even book a zoom one on one with their team.

Respond

When people are commenting on your posts, make sure that you respond to them. It will show that you are active on social media and that you are reading your comments. There is a reason why someone is making contact.

Deal with negative comments

You must respond to negative comments in a neutral way. When someone complains, read it carefully and analyse whether this is a genuine complaint or a person that is just seeking attention or a pocking exercise. Most of the time, it’s about acknowledging that you hear people and take in what they say. I believe that negative comments are sometimes a wakeup call to show you where your business is failing you; this can help you find solutions. When a negative comment is solved, or you have the resolution to make a change, the person who brought this to your attention is satisfied. Report back in social media you can do this in a blog article or a post.

Never slander

It is essential from a brand perspective that you are respectful and, act in your brand’s best interest (whether personal or professional). Be professional and courteous. If the comment makes you want to type in rage step away from social media and wait until you are calm and deal with it professionally.

Lastly, keep in mind and pass this on forward.

Whatever you post on social media will always be there, there is no such thing as a deleted post. Every post leaves a URL footprint, a unique digital stamp, once posted this stamp will leave a permanent crumb in the electronic universe, which is retrievable. We often see how bright young individuals are losing out on great opportunities because of their social media lives. In the last couple of years, a trend is that companies hiring are doing their due diligence by investing in Facebook/social media background checks. It is essential that what you put out there is what you believe in and can live with or justify. 

Conclusion

Being able to grow your audience and reach organically shows talent. This will make you more attractive to clients that may need it the most, small businesses. We work with startups, restaurants and small businesses that do not have large scale budgets and may only want to reach a local community audience. If you have brand-consistency on social media and you post regularly, you will build a visual presence.

If you have any further question, and if there is anything we can help with, please send me an email on angela@designsimplified.co.za.