If you have a small or medium sized business then you are definitely familiar with social media. Understanding the world of social media can be daunting. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat have all changed the way our world works. What most business owners want to know is how they can use these platforms online to grow their business and see profitability increases. What I am going to cover today are some of the most effective methods that I have learned for Calgary social media management by working with some of the best businesses in Canada.
Understanding posting, engagement and growth
It is important to have fun engaging content in order to grow your sphere of influence. A business needs to reach out to all family and friends when beginning to grow its following. You have more connections than you know. It can be your close connections or even Tom at the corner store or the guy you ride to work with on the train everyday. Who do you interact everyday? These relationships are the ones that are likely to take you a lot further than you could imagine. Let people know who you are on social media. Talk like “Hey, we are @superbusiness on Facebook, could you follow us?” will go a long way. In many cases, you will notice people pull their phones out right there on the spot. Making this behaviour a good habit is as simple as doing it everyday. Your posts need to be about what you do, fun and engaging for people to like and share them.
What about placing ads? The difference between SEO and SEM
All of the major Calgary social media platforms are now using progressive metrics in order to woo advertisers. A large part of their advertiser market is made up of small and medium size business. The challenge for a newcomer to social media to learn how to navigate placing ads can be overwhelming. We like to relate to users that they need to keep it simple. On Facebook, boost a picture or video. You can set the audience you like in some cases by targeting geographic location, gender, education, vocation, special interests and more. Reach out to your own users or new ones that you have not yet connected with. Differentiating SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) is simple. SEO is how you prepare your platforms ie: website, social media, pictures or video online, blogs with your focus keywords in order to be seen by search engines on the internet. SEM is how you invest your online marketing dollars into platforms like Google AdWords/AdSense, Facebook, and Instagram in order to be seen by a user group of a particular platform. Social media management Calgary needs to be calculated, considered and concentrated.
How much should I spend with Calgary social media management?
What is really important is how you spend your budget for social media management on your platforms. For example, we recommend that when boosting non Facebook or Instagram that you ‘test’ which days of the week are best for your company. Post something everyday; boost the pics or videos that are getting reaction, change your audience settings to reflect your results. Hone in on the days your posts work best. Then, concentrate on boosting or ads during those days and times that your audience is focusing on you. Spending $20 for a 10-day boost has been the rule I use. It’s $2/day. It gives you a good overall idea how and when to boost and spend. You can adjust your budget accordingly as you go. You will become savvier at using keywords, hash tags and brand trigger mechanisms, which are all more advanced strategies when they are done correctly.
Taking the time to begin to better understand social media platforms for your business will help make your business more profitable.
Jim Hoey has owned his own successful media company since 2004. Jim’s company Conquest Outback Productions Inc. serves many profitable businesses in Calgary and southern Alberta. As a producer/host of the award winning Canadian television program The Dimestore Fishermen he has traveled Canada extensively for the past 21 years. He has been a director of photography and first camera on international film shoots all over the world. Jim blogs also for the Calgary Herald online and has had his written work picked up online by the Vancouver Sun, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Edmonton Journal. Jim has been asked to speak on a variety of topics all over Canada ranging from environmental stewardship to business strategies for success. Volunteerism is a big part of his life. Jim continues to work with various different non-for profits and charities. He is a proud husband to Shannon, who works closely with him, and father to his three children Scott, Jessica and Hayden.