The Top Five Social Media Outlets I Use Today
Social Media is My Most Effective Marketing Tool
Social Media is My Most Effective Marketing Tool
When I started the first of my three businesses in 2008, I had a Twitter account. I had one follower and I followed one person. Both were the same: my daughter who had encouraged me to start my consultancy. It took me a while, but I eventually became proficient and active on most of the main social media channels, and it is through my consistent content marketing on my email lists and those social media channels that I market myself, my companies, and my podcast.
As a solopreneur, I pretty much do all of the marketing tasks and activities required, although I do have help from my two virtual assistants. Over the years, I have learned how to choose the best social media outlets for my type of businesses, how to write and format the copy for each network, and most importantly, how to automate most of the posts in order to maximize my time and the effectiveness of my social media marketing.
As a creative solopreneur, I have also learned to concentrate on the five social media outlets that will most effectively showcase my businesses and products and services in graphic, audio, and video formats, or a mixture of the three. I am constantly learning about and growing my presence of the five social media networks I use the most.
About the YB2C Companies
YB2C is the acronym for Your Business Your Brand Creatively, the branding and marketing consultancy I founded in 2014…medium.com
LinkedIn
LinkedIn was originally a place for people to post their resumés and job search requests. Over the years, however, LinkedIn has transitioned into much more than a place for job seekers. Today, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking site, with a global reach nearing the 200 million mark. The most effective ways I use LinkedIn is by indirectly promoting myself and my companies through my LinkedIn company page and by regularly publishing short posts and longer-form articles that show my knowledge of my industry.
LinkedIn is a relationship-building site where I can grow my contact base and network with others who can either introduce me to people who may be interested in my services, or who may be interested in what I offer. The biggest mistake I see people make on LinkedIn is asking to connect with me and then immediately trying to sell me something without even researching whether their product or service is even something I would be interested in.
I take the time to find common interests with my connections and build a relationship from there first. When people see the value I can bring to them, that is when we can develop a mutually beneficial business relationship.
Facebook
Of course I have a personal Facebook page (doesn’t everyone?), but I do business on Facebook through my Facebook group and my Facebook business pages. I have a Facebook business page for each of my companies. I post regularly on my Facebook business pages, including products, services, and special offers. In my Facebook group, I especially work with creative and solo professionals who choose to join my group looking for information about branding and marketing and looking to network with entrepreneurs with similar businesses and interests. I encourage my personal Facebook friends and connections to join my Facebook group and/or follow me on my various Facebook business pages. I don’t double post most business things on my personal Facebook page.
Instagram
Instagram is a visual social media platform that is perfect for creative businesses like mine. Instagram is a perfect social media outlet for raising the awareness of my brand and for connecting with accounts belonging to people who follow businesses similar to mine. In addition to pictures, I can post videos, carousel graphics, quotes, and information about my products and services. With Instagram, I can and will run targeted ads and do Instagram Live events. Instagram is more casual than LinkedIn, but it also has higher brand engagement rates than either Twitter or Facebook.
YouTube
I am just starting to really grow my YouTube channel, which I have had for a while. I am publishing videos of my podcasts and adding training and informational videos about my products and services. YouTube is the 2nd most visited search engine after Google, and also the second-largest global video traffic provider; only Netflix is larger.
It is possible through YouTube to have interactive relationships with my viewers and establish and build my brand as I build followers. My YouTube videos will entertain, inform, educate, and encourage my viewers to engage with me and my businesses. Like with all of my social media outlets, building my YouTube channel will take a lot of work, but I am really looking forward to making my channel into a revenue-generating outlet within the next 12–18 months.
Twitter
Twitter was my first social media outlet, and it is still where I have the most followers. Twitter is the place where I increase my brand’s awareness and find lie-minded businesses and prospects and clients for my products and services. I have gained many clients who follow me on Twitter; I did not even realize that some of them were my Twitter followers. The best way I work with my Twitter followers is to put them into different lists for different purposes. Without my Twitter lists, it would be almost impossible for me to keep up with my thousands of followers.
Because I only have 280 characters for each tweet, it is important that my Twitter content is targeted and focused. The purposes of my Twitter account is to entertain, educate, and engage with my audience in interactive conversations.
Email
My email list is not a social media outlet, of course, but it is the most important list I have. If Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook suddenly went away, I would still have my email list. I often urge my social media followers to join my email list through a call-to-action link. Again, regularly publishing valuable and informative content to my email subscribers helps to grow and maintain one of the pillars of my marketing efforts.
If you are just starting out in social media marketing, I would recommend that you focus on no more than 2 or 3 outlets. Growing and maintaining an effective social media presence takes a lot of work, but it is totally worth it. That work is how I have grown my businesses since 2008.
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If you would like to work with me to successfully set up and implement your social media outlets and social media marketing plan for your creative or solo business, I would love to work with you! Sign up for one hour of Pam’s Power Hour Consulting for each network you’d like to set up.
Through Your Business Your Brand Creatively, I work specifically on branding and marketing “for the rest of us.” If you are looking for coaching or consulting assistance for your creative, solo, or small business, booking a “Pam’s Power Hour” is a great and affordable place to start! Weekly appointments are available: book your slot here.
I invite you to join the #1 Facebook Group for Creative and Solo Professionals, YB2C Premium. Get ideas for branding and marketing your small business and network with other entrepreneurs and solopreneurs like yourself.