"BEING THERE" How To Be A Social Media Rock Star

“BEING THERE”

How To Be A Social Media Rock Star In 2016

(Guest Blog Post By Karen Repoli)

One of the most basic strategies – and one which is most often ignored, believe it or not – is to be there, live and active on the social network of your audience’s choice at the right time of day or night.

All marketers talk about focusing your social media on the platforms your target audience uses most. For many entrepreneurs, the question is how do I find out which platform that is?

One good place to start is the Pew Research Internet Project.

As an example, Kay has defined her target market as:

Male
White
Age 30-49
Education Level: College
Income Level: Above $50,000

Checking the demographics at Pew Research she finds?

Demographic	Facebook	Twitter	LinkedIn
Male	66%	25%	26%
White	70%	20%	26%
Age 45-59	79%	29%	32%
Attended College	72%	27%	46%
Income $50,000 +	66%	25%	32%

From these findings it would appear her audience is primarily on Facebook followed by LinkedIn. However, before dumping all your marketing efforts in one platform you should consider some other variables. Such as:

Facebook is the #1 social media platform and approximately 33% of social media users report that this is the only platform they use.
Is Kay targeting a business to client audience or business to business prospects? If it’s the latter, then LinkedIn would be the top choice.
Kay should also check her website analytics and see where current visitors are coming from and the corresponding bounce rate for each. This will give her a good indication of who is listening and interested.

Once you have chosen the appropriate social network you want to concentrate, do some more homework to see what time of day is best to post. The best place to do this is to check your analytics on each social network. It will give the most accurate answer to when your followers are online. If you are just starting, here are some general times for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Facebook: A general time is 1 - 4 pm
Twitter: 7 am and 13 pm
LinkedIn: 7 am, Noon and 5 - 6 pm

Now that you know where and when you should be posting, don’t just lurk and follow – participate and share!

Comment on posts
Answer questions
Share information
Thank people for their information, answers or comments
Help your followers and fans

Make sure you identify yourself visually in each social network with a professional-quality, recent head shot for your social media profile photos – you want your target audience to be instantly able to put a face to your name. Don’t be afraid to brand yourself by using little tricks such as always including a particular element such as a specific color in your profile or cover photos. Mari Smith did this when starting out by always wearing turquoise-aqua as her “signature” color; Sandi Krakowski did this with her trademark magenta hair streak. It can be fun to choose what visual trademark will be!

Ultimately, there is some trial and error involved in determining where and when your target audience uses social media. Try a couple of the major platforms, check your analytics and engagements on each and then decide where your marketing time and dollars are best spent.

Meet Karen Repoli

Karen Repoli, is a successful entrepreneur who has realized her dream of owning a successful business and having the freedom to live the lifestyle she desires. A seasoned business professional with 30 years of experience in office management, internet marketing and bookkeeping, she holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of NC, Greensboro and is VACertified.

Karen’s practical, proven systems help entrepreneurs accomplish their business goals. Karen is passionate about helping motivated entrepreneurs so they can manifest their brilliance to the world.

She is the author of How To Create, Publish and Sell Your eBook as well as several ebooks including The Nuts and Bolts Series. This series includes books on Coaching Management, SEO, Social Media and Webinar Management. These manuals provide entrepreneurs with the practical tools they need to grow their business. Also, she is the Charleston Internet Business Examiner on Examiner.com. Examiner.com is a top 100 website, reaching over 37 million unique visitors a month.