To-Do List: Daily Steps to Grow LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter Fans

If someone asked you, “What would you like to see happening on your social media channels?” Your answers might include…

Better engagement!
More Sales!
More followers!

Here’s the key to making this happen: Use the channel as a USER.

Each channel has a different personality, and one piece of content isn’t necessarily ideal for every channel. If you want to grow your following and ultimately your engagement on your business social media channels, add these action items to your daily “To-Do” list.

Facebook – Facebook visitors are online to catch up with family and friends. They share stories and images. They spend a great deal of time commenting on their friends’ posts and interacting. Use your business Facebook page in this same manner. (Also read: Best practices for Facebook small business marketing.)

• Share how your clients have used your product or service to solve a problem and how it changed their life. If you can get your clients to create the content, either with a video or image, even better!
• Train your team to be on the “lookout” for content all day long. If they run into a good Samaritan helping someone, take a picture and write about it. If they see something funny that your target audience would find humorous, capture it and share it.
• Make your content shareable – whether you use a short video, images, or catchy graphic design work, make your content something you yourself would share on your own channels. The first person you should be able to convince when writing your content is yourself.
• Follow the business pages of your clients. Your clients and prospective clients want the same thing you do: Engagement. Follow their pages and share their content. Add meaningful comments and discussions.

LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a the tool for networking and prospecting. Users are online to meet influencers, learn something new, and network with clients and prospects. Use your LinkedIn business page as a resource center for your industry. The key is to share content people want to share and it will drive your audience to follow you. (Also read: Best practices for LinkedIn small business marketing.)

• Share case studies, guides, and eBooks that help solve significant problems for your industry.
• Get the entire team signed up on LinkedIn and provide them with creative content to share on a regular basis. There is power in numbers!
• Share content your target market wants to share to drive engagement and follows. What are the top three pressing issues affecting your audience? Write a post about each of these issues with clear and actionable steps for solving the issues. Cite real world examples and integrate visual aids like SlideShare and infographics to help tell the story.
• Help others every chance you get. Take time every day to go through your news feed and read the updates of your contacts. If there is an opportunity to connect a contact with someone who can help them, make that introduction. If you can personally help them, reach out. Marketing has shifted to building relationships and solving problems. Social media is a broadcasting tool and many users will share about their problems.   The opportunity is yours for the taking!

Twitter – Twitter is an excellent tool for monitoring your competition and picking up where they left off. We can use hashtags to track content about specific topics, our competitors, and even our own brand. (Also read: Best Practices for using Twitter with small business marketing)

• Engage with all of your existing clients. Are your clients on twitter? Follow their business pages and those pages of the staff you are connected to. Listen. Ask Questions. Respond.
• Share content that is important to your audience and always include relevant hashtags. Without using hashtags, you risk your content getting lost in the crowd. Hashtags help your content appear in search results.
• Share your prospects’ content. Do you have a target list of prospects you are following. Take a look at their content every day and share it.

We’ll take a look at other social media channels in our next post. But, now it’s your turn. What engagement tactics are working for your business?