Now think about your own social media page, away from the company. Are you following any companies that you like? What do you enjoy seeing from them, and what else would you like to see?

1. Social Media Tips for Small Business
At my old internship, I was part of the social media team for our various musician clients. Some of
these musicians had over a million followers, which required a lot of posting and a lot of figuring out
what to post. These musicians had the freedom to post just about whatever they wanted whenever
they wanted because they were big music names and everyone loved them. If they wanted to post
several consecutive status updates, they could do that. If they got a new puppy, you could expect a
dozen photos. To some, these musicians were larger than life, and these followers would be quite
happy seeing what their favorite artist had to eat for breakfast.

2. Small businesses, sadly, do not have this power. Many companies and organizations still don’t seem to
grasp how to use social media properly. So I’ve written down a few tips and guidelines that can
potentially help you in the social media world.
And if you are a small business (or even a big business) reading this without a social media page of
any kind, it is a good idea to get one set up.
Be Informative
Sharing Knowledge From Your Blog
No matter what your company does or sells, you have something to say. If you have a website, you
might already feature a blog where your company occasionally writes an article about some topic
related to what you do. You can your social media page to post a link to that blog and gain more
readers. Chances are your viewers will be on Facebook more often than they will be on your website,
so taking advantage of that will help in the long run. Many people share links to their contacts as well,
which can bring in traffic to your page and site, or at least get your name out there.
Highlighting Current Events
You can also post links to current events in your industry. If you’re a bike shop and the city of Austin
recently passed a law that affects cyclists, posting a link to an article about it would make sense. Your
followers will most likely have a bike or be cycling enthusiasts. Such a post would be relevant to their
interests. Keeping your followers up-to-date on relevant information can attract new people to your
page.
Be Active
If someone is following you, it means that they like what you do and want to see more of you. You
have to give them something. They went out of their way to get to your page and click ‘Follow’ or
‘Like.’
Don’t make them regret it.
Going on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is supposed to be a way to connect with friends,
celebrities, and news sources to have an entertaining and informative experience. What very few
people want to see are constant ads and posts from a single person or page. This is especially true for
business pages because the member probably doesn’t have as much of a close personal relationship
with your company compared to their own connections, which means their tolerance level is lower.
But how often is too much? That depends entirely on what you’re posting, which might sound
contradictory to everything I just said, but hold on a moment.
Let’s use a small construction company as an example with Facebook as the social media outlet. Let’s
also say that you (the construction company) signed a great contract and were able to construct an
amazing building in Austin. The building is well-made and has everyone nodding their heads in
approval. You’re proud of it and it’s probably your best project to date.
Post a picture. It’s an accomplishment, a milestone, something to show that you’re on your way up to
the top of the construction world! Make some sort of post talking about it and thanking everyone. If
you have a lot of pictures, make an album about it and post that.

3. But no matter how many followers you have, the last thing you want is to flood their feeds with
countless pictures and posts. Eventually all the “Great job!” comments will turn into “Don’t you have
work to do?” Even the social media team at my previous internship didn’t post all the time. If you
don’t like seeing countless posts from the same person, chances are your followers won’t either.
From personal experience, the worst offenders can be found on Twitter and Instagram. Of course,
there’s no actual rule that says you can only post so much, but seeing the same account post
countless items in succession makes me quickly look for the ‘Hide’ and ‘Unfollow’ buttons.
Think about your followers. What do they want to see from your page? Look back at your company’s
posts and see which ones had the most interaction with your followers. Which ones got little
response?
Now think about your own social media page, away from the company. Are you following any
companies that you like? What do you enjoy seeing from them, and what else would you like to see?
Study social media pages from the eyes of a small business owner and make a note about what works
and what doesn’t. Understanding your followers is one of the biggest necessities for having a
successful social media page. For more information you can also visit www.webii.net