Quick Start Guide for Successful Social Media

Posted in: Articles

Posted on: 08 May 2013

Last month we promised you a quick start guide to the most popular, effective and commonly used social media tools. So without further ado, herewith are our top tips and best practice golden rules:

1. Make appropriate use of "likes" and "shares"
2. Keep your timeline current and interesting
3. Share exclusive content and make it unique to your business page
4. Encourage participation – ask questions of your clients & fans
5. Post frequently and consistently
6. Be visual and try to include thumbnails and photos in posts
7. Use surveys & communicate the results
8. Handle negative feedback. Don't be afraid of it, but ensure to respond appropriately
9. Create custom audiences to enhance your email marketing

1. Understand and make appropriate use of hashtags (#), mentions (@), re-tweets (RT), direct messages (DM) and every now and then a well placed Follow Friday (FF)
2. Share photos & relevant information – national, topical, seasonal and local.
3. Listen to the conversation. In particular monitor comments about your clinic
4. Ask questions of your followers. It gives valuable insights & also demonstrates that you are listening
5. Respond to questions and requests for help, particularly with RTs. Don't forget it needs to be in real time
6. Post frequently, ideally once or twice per day
7. Give credit where credit is due! If you find helpful and interesting information from another source, be sure to reference it & give thanks to the author.
8. Don't forget to stay within 140 characters! Use URL shorteners.

Blogging
1. Consider different categories when it comes to creating your blog content e.g. news items, education, photos, guest bloggers & special offers
2. Post regularly. To boost your SEO and your ranking you need to be updating and putting fresh content on your blog regularly i.e. daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly
3. Be aware of what you're saying. One way broadcasts, constant promotions or advertising your services are a sure fire way to failure
4. Engage your audience! There's no point blogging extensively if you don't actively seek engagement... Invite comments, ask questions, request images and share stories

Once you're up and running with the above, the golden rule to truly successful social media is to maximise integration. By linking all your social media accounts together you exponentially increase your visibility. Your SEO automatically increases and your business ranking also rises. Ultimately you also strengthen your ability to manage your online reputation by creating advocates of your clinic in your digital community.

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