These are the absolute must have social media tools that help keep my small business running smoothly in the 21st century! Using social media correctly is so crucial. It can make or break your business these days.
This blog post is especially for the apps that I use on a daily basis to keep my social networks connected. And how I use these apps to connect to a wide range of audiences that then lead back to my website -- the holy grail of my business.
- This platform is incredibly special and can be used for a variety of different marketing techniques.
- On the Stories, SHOW YOUR FACE! Get personable with your audience. Invite them into your life and truly and genuinely be real with them. Let them get to know you as a human. People connect to faces, this is the best way to do that!
- Use your feed to really inspire them with your work. Post consistently, this allows your feed to be shown to a wider audience by instagram.
- Use the caption space to tell them why you love what you do, describe the feelings in the image, tell them about your day!
- AND USE HASHTAGS, this is how people find you. Take advantage of the 30 that you're allowed to use.
- Check out my instagram to see how I implement all of this!
- Pinterest is a great opportunity to direct traffic to your site!!
- It's a search engine, so use it like one when you title and describe your images!
- I use Pinterest to Pin my blog post images! Create a board with the title of your blog post, make sure to include the city, venue, and what type of session it is!
- Then begin pinning your images directly from your site! Title the photos with the venue, city, and type of session. Describe each image as if you were talking to someone, and use keywords that you'd want your image to come up to when searched! But it should go smoothly, not just a list of keywords. Also, no need to use hashtags. Each word is searchable on its own without the hashtag!
- Make sure each image has the url for your blog post, so when clicked it takes people directly to that post on your site!
- Do this with your blog posts and watch Pinterest engagement rise and traffic to those blog posts increase too!
- Check out my Pinterest to see how I implement all of this!
- Twitter holds an entirely new set of audience. Very different from Pinterest and Instagram!
- I have to be honest in that I haven't yet completely hacked Twitter BUT I still show my work and have my website sitting in the link area available to be pressed and accessed.
- I don't actually directly post on Twitter but we'll talk about in a little bit.
- Check out my Twitter to see how I use it as part of my social networking for my small business:
Planoly
- This neat app allows me to schedule my Instagram posts one month in advance!
- Allows you to plan your feed with images, add your captions, hashtags, and tags to all your images! It also allows you to post them automatically by scheduling them yourself!
- This is a great app that I only recently started using to limit my time on instagram and focus my time on other aspects of my business.
- Incredible plus: you can do all the work directly on their web platform. Anything that allows me to move my work from my phone to my laptop is already my favorite!!
- Click here to start using Planoly!
IFTTT
- This app allows all my networks to be synced! It is so time saving!
- For example, it posts my Instagram posts onto Twitter with the caption and all! I created a "My Instagram" board on Pinterest and it directly posts my IG images on there, and on Facebook! Syncs them all, so I don't have to do it manually!
- Click here to access IFTTT!
Canva
- Easy graphics creator for guides like the one below! Infographics like these can be created and easily share-able on Pinterest and Instagram!
- They can really add value to what you can offer and teach!
- Aside from that, if you can offer something worth sharing, this easily brings your name to multiple platforms and audiences with one click! And if it's really good, then it will continue to be shared without any extra work on your part!
- Click here to access Canva and the magic it can provide for you!
I hope that using my must have social media tools for small business helps you create a balanced online presence for your business!! If you're interested in more of my application tips, click here for one that is specific to photographers!
Please pin the graphic below to help other creatives as well! Thank you!
