3 things you must do on social media every week to be successful

12th, Oct 2020

Legal and financial professionals are usually years behind other businesses when it comes to social media marketing. Yes, professionals often get the majority of their business through referrals, but social media can help increase referrals as well as build your credibility and reach new prospects. In order to compete, at a minimum, professionals must make time for these things every week:

Weekly Planner for social media1. Stay informed. Social media is a source for relevant news and information. That might mean business and industry news. However, it also gives you information about your clients, referral sources, prospects, competitors, colleagues, and personal contacts. You can use social media to search for and “follow” people, organizations, interest groups, topics and almost anything else you want.

This can be invaluable to your marketing and business development. It can give you insights into what others are interested in, who they know, where they go and how you can reach them. You can find new clients and referral sources as well as potential business and marketing partners. Even if you don’t feel comfortable posting on social media, there is no excuse for not engaging in “social listening” and intelligence gathering that can help your business.

Ideally, try to do this 4-5 times a week for 15 minutes a day. More if you are researching someone or something, such as prior to meeting or pitching to a prospect.

2. Post content. When you network, you do not sit in the corner by yourself. You meet and talk to people. You also know to show up regularly because one event does not create a relationship. When you post to social media, you are talking to people. They get to know you and you get to know them. The more you “see” each other, the more likely you are to remember each other and form an opinion (hopefully, positive). The key here is to make sure what you are posting is useful or interesting to your audience. You want them to value what you are posting. You can post your own original content, including blog posts, articles, tips, checklists, videos, graphics, photos, podcasts, presentations, and PowerPoints. It is also fine to post your relevant activities such as events you are attending, charitable involvement, and personal and professional accomplishments. Don’t overdo this, however, so that it seems all you are doing is touting yourself in every post.

In addition, you can share content from third parties. This can be information from individuals and organizations you don’t know personally but consider reputable or it can be content from your contacts as discussed further below. You can find third-party content by setting up google alerts, following hashtags or subscribing to news feeds.

Generally, I recommend posting at least 3 times a week, which can be 1 original post and 2 posts from third parties. If you can do more, even better. You can use a scheduling tool like Hootsuite to schedule multiple posts at one time.

3. Interact with others. Posting content is a one-way conversation. You need to engage with others to be successful on social media. There are many possibilities. For example:

    • Check your notifications. This is typically at the top of your social media pages. You can see your contacts’ birthdays, anniversaries, and postings as well as who has interacted with your posts. Reach out to those people with an appropriate message either on social media or otherwise.
    • React to other people’s posts.If a contact has posted something, at a bare minimum like it, but try to add a comment to draw greater attention to both of you.
    • Respond to comments to your posts.If someone made a substantive comment, respond in the comment field or with a private message.
    • Offer to give recommendations/reviews. Reach out to referral sources, colleagues, vendors, and clients to provide them with a recommendation or review on social media.

As with staying informed, you should try to engage with others 4-5 times a week for 15 minutes at a minimum.

While not discussed here, it goes without saying that you must connect with people on social media. When you meet new people, send an invite. It also pays to go through your older business contacts to check that you are connected on social media. Sometimes older contacts get overlooked and you are missing an opportunity to stay in touch.

Once you get comfortable doing these activities regularly, check out my related post for ideas on how to improve your results.

If you need help with your marketing, contact us for a consultation.

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