Facebook has 10.4 million Dutch users: of which 7.5 million daily uses the medium. Twitter employs 2.6 million Dutch people (and is not among the top 5 most used social media), and LinkedIn can count on 4.3 Dutch users. Only 0.4 million users this average daily (source: Marketingfacts.nl).
So it is almost sure that your customers are here too! That's why social media offer a lot of business opportunities, such as sales, marketing, and communication.
TIP on Facebook and LinkedIn is the largest group of users between 20 and 39 years-on YouTube and Insta Gram 15 to 19 years. In general, more men than women use LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus and use something more women Facebook, Twitter, Insta and Pinterest (source in this article).
In this knowledge article, We give you some useful tips to get the best out of social media as a self.
1. Consider what you want to achieve
What exactly is your goal with social media? What should it bring you? Want more brand awareness? Sell more products or services or get in touch with your (potential) customers? Also, ask yourself if the channel/use of social media helps you achieve those business goals.
2. Where is your target group located?
Now that you know what you want to achieve, you are going to see where your customers are. Feel free to ask your existing customers which social media channels they are active in. If so, ask them if they want to like your page too. The number of followers is expanding steadily.
TIP also look at your competitors: on which social media are they located and how many followers/likes do they have?
3. Reserve time and maintain your knowledge
Social media is crucial and, to successfully deploy it, you need time and some experience. That means you get an extra task. Realize that so well and make time for the filling of your channels free. You also realize that you are not only sending information, but also doing something with the reactions of your followers. Read more about this in point five.
4. Share useful information
As you could read in the first point, you can use social media for a variety of marketing objectives: strengthening the link with your customers, increasing leads (potential customers), increasing your brand awareness and more. Consider what information contributes to your goal. What messages are you going to share? What do your customers want to read and what message do you want to share? Tips from words you can share:
Share not only commercial messages, but also give tips
Also, share relevant news from your sector or industry
Organize a competition
Share a project you've completed (with your customer's approval of course)
A personal message: Look behind the scenes for example
Place a (live) Video: Moving image becomes increasingly crucial on social media.
5. React and learn!
Now that you've gathered followers, you're going to look at what they're doing on your channels. What questions do they have, what messages are most popular among your followers and are it mostly men or women? Are they lower or higher trained? Where do they come from? See what your target group is doing, respond to the comments and questions, and use your social media as a measuring tool to see what your customers are moving and engaging in.
6. Use your network
As an entrepreneur, your system is vital: a lot of advertising goes through-through and from word-of-mouth. Does one of your followers or someone from your LinkedIn connections have a specific question? Try to engage your network too: recommend a fellow entrepreneur (no competitor of course) or carry someone out of your system. If you do this, the chances are that you are also recommended to others in your order!
7. Completeness and recognition
Make sure you recognize your image by processing your logo in your images, using a relevant cover photo on both Facebook and LinkedIn, and using an identifiable profile picture on your social media. Also fill in your profile with contact information, your website and a summary. Even on LinkedIn, you do well to complete your profile as thoroughly as possible: This will benefit your professionalism.
