Using social media has become an increasingly popular way for companies large and small to land more business. Here’s how the digital experts say you should proceed.

Choose the right platform for your audience and message. Popular platforms include TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Find out where your targets spend their social media time. Then think about your message and how you want to deliver it. If you want to create a video campaign, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are the best platforms. TikTok has short videos of 30 seconds to three minutes. The platform has hundreds of thousands of informational videos on every subject imaginable. YouTube Shorts, YouTube, and Instagram are other popular video platforms. Instagram’s customizable options let you get creative when sharing your advice and promoting your services.

Focus on details and schedule. Once you’ve chosen your platforms, pay attention to the details, such as using hashtags, and set up a schedule to post on a regular basis. It’s difficult to build an audience if you post too little, but if you post too much your content seems disorganized and overwhelming. Find a balance that fits your ability to create quality content.

Create a variety of content. The goal is to provide meaningful information. Be creative. Post content that talks about mistakes you see customers and clients make. Share a day in your life at work. Talk about how you became involved in your business. Think about the decisions people make when they work with you. Talk about the processes involved in your work. Cover the range of issues people ask you to solve. Be clear, and honest, and get straight to the point.

Tailor your content to the platform. Put informative visuals on Pinterest. Post announcements, breaking news, and market reports on Twitter. Share your company’s history, employee and customer testimonials, philanthropic activities, and sustainability initiatives. You can also use the Livestream function on many of these platforms, including Facebook, that lets you “go live” to interact directly with viewers.

Polls are another great approach because people like to share their opinions. YouTube has videos that show how to create polls on Facebook. SurveyMonkey has free poll-making resources and almost all social media platforms provide poll-making tools.

Businesses have also found been successful with contests, sometimes promoting them using the LinkedIn InMail feature, which is only available to active LinkedIn accounts.

Don’t forget to position your brand. More and more businesses are climbing on the social media bandwagon, so it’s important to differentiate your brand from the rest in order to be seen and remembered. Your positioning puts your brand in the best light possible. It should focus on your core value—the key customer benefit or benefits—you deliver. Above all, make sure to give customers what you promise.

Are any of your contacts buying or selling a home? We’d love to help! Please feel free to refer us.