Your goal is not to attract likes and follows. Yep. This is not a popularity contest. Likes and follows are simply vanity metrics if they don’t lead to sales.

The goal of your social content is to attract potential customers.

 Your content should:

• introduce your business
• educate and inform (and yes, entertain)
• build relationship

Introduce your business

Your social content should represent your business, your services, and the problems that you solve. This is a place to introduce people to your business, show how you meet your client’s needs, and solve their problems. When your words and images come together to convey a story about what you do, and how you help people solve their problems, or achieve their dreams – then you can build connections that turn into customers.  

Educate and inform

Through social marketing, you have the opportunity to share information that is interesting and helpful for your audience. For example, as an accountant, you are aware of upcoming tax deadlines. Your post about important dates could help a customer get more prepared.

Social marketing can also help future customers understand WHY they should work with you. How does your business differ from your competitors? What makes you unique?

Build relationship

Your content should also develop the know, like, and trust factor. People do business with people they know. Your social media is an opportunity for people to get to know you as a person as well as understand the services you provide.

If you want to share more about who you are away from your business, your hobbies, your family – great. If you don’t, that is also fine.

Don’t let your audience hear crickets. When you respond to comments and direct messages you build trust and familiarity. 

You can use your social media to draw future customers closer into your circle. Remember, you do not own the social platforms and there can be changes at any time. A great goal is to offer something of value via your social account that your customer will exchange their email address for. Then, you can move the conversation to email – a place you DO control.

Connecting with your audience on social media should be fun. Social media is a platform for you to engage, share similar interests, serve your audience, and find new customers. I hope this change of perspective helps you approach social marketing in a more positive way.