July 25, 2019
When planning a social media campaign, it is best to narrow your focus to the top three mediums that are relevant to your business. We have already touched on Facebook and YouTube, but the lingering question remains: should you choose Instagram or LinkedIn to round out the third focus?
As a franchise owner, your early days will be mainly spent in administrative mode. Instagram is a great tool if you are in the middle of the daily action. If you already use Instagram for personal use, it will be an easier transition. Your first step, regardless of where you and your staff land on the value of Instagram is claiming your business name and setting up the account so a competitor doesn’t take it. You will also need to link your account to your Facebook Business Page, as the two are owned by FB and interact well with each other strictly on a mobile device.
An important point about Instagram. Most users fall in the age 17-34 age range, which would include some of your clients, but you also need to position yourself as the educational expert, in which LinkedIn could be a better choice to spend more time culling. A good compromise is to delegate a trusted staff member to text you images and a quick explanation so that you can monitor the content and post directly from your iPhone or Android on an occasional basis.
Setting up a Twitter business account is quick and straightforward. Anything you schedule to post on Facebook can also be tweaked to appear on your Twitter feed. How so? The answer to streamlining this process is Hootsuite. You can manage up to three social networks with Hootsuite Free. You can schedule up to 30 posts, which is ideal for coming up with a marketing calendar and setting up your posts for a week in advance.
There is so much information about social media that it can be daunting. You should not be overwhelmed, simply take each account step by step. Have your images and logo ready and dive in. Make a spreadsheet with all your log-in info recorded (do not use the same password for all accounts!).
Start with claiming your business on Google and setting up your account as mentioned in Part 1. Create your YouTube account and your Facebook business page. Link your FB page to an Instagram business account. Set up Hootsuite for your business.
Honing in on your most successful keywords, phrases, and hashtags will improve your Google ranking in a search. Social media is futile if they aren’t treated consistently as a living document/app. The phrase “after school programs in Sammamish” could also be utilized in a singular form “after school program in Sammamish” or even “best after school program in Sammamish”. Vary your initial approach, as the free analytics (called “insights” under Google Business), will show you what your customer s are searching for and where you are getting the most hits.
In the next post, there will be a checklist of social media task and links that you should bookmark. In Part 4, we will explore the intricacies of LinkedIn setup and why it is important. At the beginning of your new business venture, your number one goal should be claiming your business name on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. You can attend to the fine-tuning but first, you must claim your name. Social media is evolving by the second and there is a learning curve. Start your marketing in an organized and scheduled way and your business will be on its way to growth and success.