Social Media Management Tips for Beginners and Start-up Entrepreneurs

Got no idea on how to market your products or services on Facebook and Instagram? Most companies nowadays hire community managers to manage/maintain their pages. However, not all start-up entrepreneurs have the budget for this. So if you’re one of those who is still clueless and struggling on how to build your social media audience, here are 5 of my basic, practical, tried and tested tips on how to properly launch and manage your social channels for your business/brand.

5. Create a single name/handle for your channels

      For example, you have a catering business with the name “XYZ Catering,” I suggest you decide on a single account name/handle like @XYZCatering across all your channels, so your followers won’t be confused when tagging you.

Kinda like this:

facebook.com/XYZCatering

instagram.com/XYZCatering

twitter.com/XYZCatering

Remember, most people only post on one channel (usually on Instagram) and are then linked to their Facebook and Twitter accounts as well, so best to have 1 proper handle for easy monitoring. Avoid creating multiple accounts so your customers won’t be confused on which one to “like.” Also, come up with an official hashtag like #XYZCateringMNL or #XYZCateringPH to localize it. Be sure your customers know which handles to tag and hashtags to use.

 

4. Plan ahead. Create an editorial content calendar

Our personal accounts are of course meant for our day to day adventures and spontaneous blurts of happiness and/or rage, but for your business page, you really have to create a proper content calendar ideally every 3 months. Take note of all the special holidays and events so you can have an idea on how to strategize your posts. Of course, the main objective is for you to sell and earn, so better to have a “battle plan” for your monthly campaigns. For example, you have a flower shop and you want to promote your bouquets for Mother’s Day, I suggest you promote your items at least 2 weeks before Mother’s Day. Run a promo and promote it during payday week, so people have money to purchase. Remember, your competitors will also do the same, so you better think of ways to standout.

3. Frequency of Posts

Post around 3-4 times a week (every other day). It ain’t easy to think of content and write captions if you’re not used to this, so I think 3-4 times is fine for now. Less is more. You don’t need to post 10 stories per day. As a follower, I’d rather see 1 really good well thought of post the entire week than a hundred boring spammy posts. The last thing you want is for people to hit the unfollow button.

Make sure to publish engaging / “likable” content. When I say “likable” I mean:

1. Photos must be striking, colorful with clear messaging. If you sell food, post close-up shots of your food. Show its texture and make the colors look alive. If you have a catering business, show photos of how your food trays look like. Give your potential customers an idea of what to expect when they order.
2. Professional product shots may look good to see, but some people may find them too hard sell. Prepare a healthy mix of amateur photos from your own camera or phone and post them too. If your customers tag you, try to re-post if their photos look nice. If not, do your best to like and comment on their post to acknowledge. It pays to get to know your customers and build an online relationship with them.
3. Come up with short and catchy captions. Long captions are dead boring. Try not to be overly formal. Be different. Ask questions to get answers and reactions.
4. If possible, produce short interesting videos about your products/services. Make it as short as 1 min max.
5. Create relatable/inspiring/witty memes or quotes that would compel your audience to hit the “share” button.

Feature a variety of content every week. 1 video, 2 photos, 1 article link, 1 slideshow etc. Observe which posts get the most engagement and learn from your experience. Don’t forget to add a “Call to Action” button so your customers can easily reach you. Check your weekly Facebook and Instagram insights to know your progress and to know which areas to work on.

 

2. Boosting Tips

Allot a monthly budget for your Facebook page… like at least P5,000 to P10,000 per month as a start. Basically, I suggest you boost the “Promote Page” so your potential audience can find your business and get more people to like your page. Allot around P100 per day for that, then budget the rest for your regular posts. For your regular posts, I say, work with around 300-500php per post. If you have a promo or trying to target sales for a special day (like Valentine’s, Mother’s Day etc), add more budget to reach more people.

Define your target location. If your business is based in Metro Manila, then target your boost there. Also be specific with your age range and gender to target the ideal crowd. Remember, you need to target the right people. It’s useless to have “likers” from abroad if you don’t ship items overseas. Get my point? Use your budget well.

 

1. Interact. Be “ human”

This is the most important tip of all. In my observation, many pages fail because they forget to add the “human touch.” Most pages don’t even know who their audience is and have forgotten how to be “social.” Most tend to be too formal and are obsessed with the “tone” for branding purposes, that they fail to communicate and interact effectively. Make your audience feel that you are a normal human being like them. Be friendly and casual whenever answering inquiries. Be genuine with your answers and do your best to answer right away. Don’t rely on robots and autoresponders. Personally reply and make them feel important. I believe this also applies offline.

There are still a lot of tips running around my head, but I believe I have to stop for now, before this article turns into a novel. LOLS

Perhaps and I can make another set of tips next time, or if time permits, maybe an actual class/workshop would be better. What do you think?

If you have more questions, feel free to message me at www.facebook.com/WheninManilaMae/ or email me at mae.wheninmanila@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to answer. =)