Whether you’re looking to share your latest hobby, promote a business, or keep in touch with family, social media is a powerful tool.
As of January 2022, 3.96 billion people were using social media, with adults spending 95 minutes online daily. (Source: Sprout Social) With that in mind, businesses and sole traders need a social media presence, and getting started is easier than you think.
1. Determine Your Goals
First, you need to consider what you want to get out of social media, as this will determine what platforms you join.
If you want to showcase your work, Instagram is the platform for you. However, if you’d prefer to get involved in conversations and chat with others in your industry, you might be better off on Twitter.
If you’re unsure where you would best spend your time, take some time to scroll through each platform. You’ll be able to get an idea of the topics covered, content styles, and people on each platform. You may find yourself drawn to just one or see benefits to all of them.
2. Evaluate Your Resources
Another thing to consider is how much time you have to spare on social media. Some platforms can be much more time-consuming, depending on their required content.
Instagram is a photo and video-focused platform. As a result, you’ll need to spend time creating content, often ahead of time. On the other hand, Twitter is a conversational platform, so you don’t necessarily need to create content in advance. Instead, it’s more about being present and engaging in conversations like #TradesTalk.
Start small and focus on building your presence on one or two platforms. Once you’ve done that, you can always branch out to others.
3. Create Your Social Media Profiles
After deciding which social platforms you want to join, it’s time to create your profiles.
- Username – If you’re setting up a profile for your company, use your company name. Otherwise, choose something simple, memorable and to the point.
- Profile Photo – Use a company logo when choosing a profile photo. Otherwise, use a clear image of yourself. People like being able to put faces to names; this way, they’ll be able to see the person behind the account even if your content doesn’t feature your face.
- Description/Bio – Be clear and concise when writing your profile description. You want to tell people about yourself/your business, so include a short description of what you do, what areas you cover and how long you’ve been in the industry.
- Contact Details – Finally, if you’re using your social profile to boost business, include a link to your company website and phone number.
4. Join The Community
Now your profiles are up and running, it’s time to use the platforms.
Thousands of tradespeople share their work, tips, tricks, tool reviews, and more on their social media platforms. We’ve shared our favourite electricians, gas engineers and plumbers that we think you should be following if you’re looking to get started.
Regardless of your industry, you’ll find a community of people who will welcome you.
The most important thing is to ensure you’re engaging with other people’s content. Tell people when you’ve loved a post or ask why they chose a particular tool. Organically Growing your social platforms will help increase awareness of your business which, in turn, should increase work.
5. Get Posting On Social Media
This is where you can have a lot of fun, sharing your expertise and being creative. From reels and videos to photos and stories, there’s a lot you can do across all social platforms.
Think about what content you like to see that you find informing or entertaining. Then, consider creating similar content but putting your own spin on it.
And it doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need photo editing software or professional camera setups; you can do it all on your phone!
6. Quality Over Quantity
If you’re looking to make something of your social profiles, e.g. grow your business, you need to get serious. That’s not to say all your content has to be perfectly produced, with captions written professionally, but what you create should be of good quality.
And the same goes for your follower count. It’s much better to have 1000 engaged followers than 10,000 followers who barely even like a post.
7. Schedule Time
Marketing is vital to your business, so you should set aside time for social media.
Of course, how long you spend on social media will depend on how busy you are, but even 15 minutes each day to post, share and engage with other content can soon add up.
8. Learn, Evolve and Adapt
We often mention that you’re never too old to learn a trade to those who inquire about our courses, but the same goes for anything. You should never stop learning, and that includes social media. Platforms evolve and introduce new features while audiences can change.
You must be flexible and experiment with new ways of reaching and engaging your audience.
Why Use Social Media?
There are a whole host of reasons why you should be using social media – from having somewhere to share your creativity to building a work portfolio and growing your business.
The most important thing to remember when using social media is to have fun with it – and don’t forget to follow us while you’re at it!
See our article ‘10 Marketing Tips For Tradespeople‘ to learn how you can improve your business efforts and find more work.
