Would you interrupt a stranger while they’re eating at a restaurant just to tell them about your small business? “Excuse me, I know you’re having dinner with your spouse, but let me tell you about the products I offer…”
That would likely be a short and unpleasant conversation.
You may, however, attempt to have a conversation about your brand if you meet someone at an industry convention.
Because, as a small business owner, you know where you choose to have a conversation about your brand (i.e., build your brand) matters.
To connect with potential customers, you must find ways to interact with them in the manner they prefer.
Here are three tips to help you do this.
1. Determine the best channel for your brand
I recommend brands who are just starting with social media choose just one channel at first. Doing so helps them establish a rhythm for posting and makes the process less intimidating.
Most brands are likely to be on at least one of the big four: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
If you’re not sure which social media channel your ideal customer visits most often, I recommend doing the following:
- Choose three competitors to analyze.
- Then, see what social media channels each of these competitors are using.
- From there, pick one that all or most are on. If they are all on multiple channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, then pick the channel you think you would be most comfortable using.
2. Get really good at using that channel
Once you’ve made your choice, become a pro at using it. Learn the ins-and-outs of the site, so you understand what you can and cannot do.
For your convenience, I’ve included links to help centers on the big four channels:
3. Make sure your site looks great and works well on mobile
If you’re going to have a stronger digital presence so you can build your brand, you need to think of how people are interacting with the Internet.
More people than ever are using mobile devices to visit websites. Last year, 54.8% of web traffic worldwide occurred on a mobile device, up from 31.16% from the same time in 2015.
As evidence to this growth in traffic, Google PageSpeed Insights now shows you how fast your site is on mobile and desktop (it recently only showed desktop speeds).
Bottom line: If you want to build your brand online, it’s important to interact with your site using your mobile device.
