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Do have good habbits when you’re a business on social media.

Social media has turned into a major marketing asset for small businesses, but that doesn’t mean that each business is getting the most out of it. In fact, businesses with bad social media habits may be losing more followers than they realize.

Examples of bad social media etiquette.

Imagine that you are scrolling through Instagram and notice the business profile for your doctor’s office. You go to their page to follow them but notice that many of their posts are written in slang and promote conflicting personal beliefs. Would you still choose to see this physician?

Or, imagine you’re on Facebook searching for a new seafood restaurant to try and you come across one named The Seafood Place. You check out a few of their posts and browse the photos of their entrees and think you’ve hit the jackpot. You then decide to read a few Facebook reviews. After reading the review in Figure 1, you may decide not to dine there.

So, what do these two examples have in common? They give clients and potential clients interesting insight into the beliefs of the company – and not in the positive way that a Mission Statement or About Us Page does.

In today’s day in age, typing a message over a social media platform is sometimes more meaningful than saying it in person. That’s why it’s so important to have the very best social media habits when you’re representing your business. It’s like the new saying goes, “Say it forget it, write it regret it.”

Image contains a screen shot of a bad review on Facebook.

Figure 1

Here are a few more tips for businesses on social media:

Use free content writing tools to format your posts to perfection and avoid mispellings or pixelated images.
Never ask too much of your followers. For example, if every post includes a task (“Go here”, “Click this link”, or “Tell us in the comments”) your followers will become exhausted.
Use the statistics provided by each social media platform to find out what time of day your followers are on it the most. Then, be sure to post during those times.
Prioritize your platforms. Put more energy into the platforms you get the most from.
Don’t post for everyone, instead post for your ideal customer.

Check out our Social Media Info Graphic

We hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. If your interesting in learning more about the do’s and don’ts for businesses on social media, download our infographic by clicking the button below.

Do’s and Don’ts >>>

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Social media platforms are essential to most marketing strategies. These three social media updates on Twitter, Instagram, and Hootsuite will easily connect you with customers, help you obtain feedback, and spread product awareness.

Instagram Adds Poll Feature

On October 3rd, Instagram added new stickers in the Stories section of the app that enable you to poll followers. The polls are limited to a two-answer query. But, there is a catch, the polls expire with your Story which lasts 24 hours.

Twitter also has a polling feature that many businesses use to collect feedback and essentially create happy customers. Social media updates made to Instagram, can be used in the same way and will give you a better idea of where you stand when it comes to the relevancy of your product or business. For example, if you are a bakery you can ask something like, "Do you like red velvet cake?" Based on the answers of your followers, you'll know whether to make dozens of red velvet cupcakes, or just a few!

Social Media Updates to Hootsuite

On October 10th, Hootsuite increased the number of posts a free user can schedule from ten to thirty! This is a game changer for businesses who utilize the social media management tool. Instead of buying an expensive package, they have access to schedule more posts in advance.

Hootsuite is constantly making social media updates. With their newest addition you can send more bulk messages, plan more campaigns, and keep your social media sites more organized. Instead of creating compelling messages on a day to day basis, spend your spare time interacting with followers by re-tweeting, re-posting, and liking or sharing posts.

Hootsuite, Social Media Upgrades

Hootsuite now alerts you to how many posts you have scheduled and available.

Twitter Updates Character Count

On September 26th, Twitter announced that a small group of users are experimenting with a larger character count per tweet. The social media platform believes users will appreciate the extra text room. If this is true, you can expect the limit to double from the current 140 characters to 280 characters.

As a business owner using media sites like Twitter is imperative for staying relevant and interacting with your customers. An increased character count means there is no need for sacrificing grammar or the integrity of a post. Basically, this social media update will allow businesses to better promote products, convey messages, and add more hashtags!

"...languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese you can convey about double the amount of information in one character as you can in many other languages, like English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French." - Aliza Rosen, Twitter Employee, Chart by Twitter

Businesses that use blogs or social media platforms to channel their audience should also utilize an editorial calendar. Editorial calendars allow you to organize your media strategy, manage projects, plan bulk campaigns, and stay relevant! A visual record of content is also very useful when comparing efforts that have been successful to those that have not. Don't know how to get started? No worries, we can help!

Our mission at Old City Web Services is to navigate the world of web design, web development, and advertising for our clients so they can focus on what they do best - running their business! Our business intentions go beyond the metrics of graphics, coding, and SEO. We run a personable home front service located on Florida's First Coast and consider our relationship with our clients as a partnership in their success. If you are looking to increase your business’ visibility give us a call at 904-867-4112 or contact us today.

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