It’s not a fad and it’s not a trend. It’s here to stay and social media is part of our lives, whether we like it or not. Social media for your business can be as complex as you choose to make it. You could pay thousands of dollars to engage another company to do it for you. You could automate all your posting and set it in advance. Or you could do all the work yourself. Regardless of how much you spend or how often you post, there are few simple guidelines that will help you make the most of your online business presence;

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1. Having an audience does not mean you have a following. Aim to have a high level of engagement with your followers. Generating a proportionally low level of post likes and engagement from a high number of page likes implies that your content is not reaching or not engaging much of your audience.

2. Use images. Ensure that your posts include eye catching images. When Facebook users are scrolling through their feed, you have a very short amount of time to capture their interest. Images will help with this. There are plenty of free imagery creation sites online. Canva is a very popular one at the moment.

3. Find your influencers. Are there businesses or celebrities who share your values and/or goals? Sharing the content from bigger businesses or pages can help you reach new audiences and also get noticed by other businesses. The more potential referral sources, the better.

4. Consider structuring your posts in different ways. Linking to one blog post can be done by quoting a fact, posing a question or listing a benefit. Also, trial images of people, technology, quotes and testimonials to see what works best for your audience.

5. Don’t use every post as a sell. Share a mix of informative, interesting, engaging content on your social media. Try to sell directly once out of every five posts. Be sure to include a call to action in these too.

6. Be topical. If there is a local, industry or national event that people will be talking about then be sure to include that in the content on your page. Your business is a part of the community too – show your roots.

7. Engage experts. If you aren’t sure where to begin or you’re scared of launching your business online, then talk to an expert. There is a full range of social media help available, with entry level help starting at approximately $500 per month. Figure out what your time is worth and spend it generating new business and bringing in money while you outsource the level of social media help that works for your business.