Social media tips and tricks for small business.

1. Tips for Facebook
Try to post on your page and check it
every 1-2 days to see what’s getting
attention and comments. You should
A Facebook page is linked to always respond to comments, never
one specific Facebook account, erase them (unless they’re offensive).
but you can add additional
administrators.
Social media is best for two-
way communication. When one Once you have 30 “Likes,”
of your followers engages with Facebook provides feedback
you, that’s an opportunity to called Insights about your
acknowledge their input with a total weekly reach and who’s
“Like” or start a discussion. talking about your posts.
This is a good way to gauge
the best time of day to post
and the topics that are best
received.
Make sure writing is
conversational and to-the-point.
Buddy Media research shows
that Facebook posts with 80
characters or less receive 66 Time-Saving Tip: Create a
percent higher fan engagement, monthly schedule of posts.
and posts that are less than 40
characters in length receive 86
percent higher engagement.*
Tell your audience what to do.*
Like this post if you’re excited
for the weekend!
If you want another
Ask questions. People are organization or person to “Like”
twice as likely to comment on you, then “Like” them to get
a post that poses a question.* their attention and show your
support. You can also share
their content on your page.
*Facts and tips found on PRDaily.com

2. Tips for Twitter Some organization’s choose to link
their Facebook and Twitter pages. I
Check regularly to see if anyone recommend that everything you post to
is talking to you or about you. Did Facebook goes to Twitter (but be careful
someone tweet a photo of one of of character counts!) and posting
your products with a testimonial? additional content directly to Twitter.
retweet it!
Follow pertinent people
and organizations, like
businesses similar to
yours, reviews/reporters/
publications that cover
your topic (especially Every tweet should have at
blogs), or general TP/DC least one hashtag, handle
information sources. or link (or all of them!)
140 characters or less!
Many organizations choose to
follow anyone who follows them,
but that can mean a very crowded
Create your own hashtags. If
newsfeed. One way to manage that
you have a holiday sale, use
is through lists. You may want to
#HolidaySale to talk about
create a “Takoma Park Businesses”
it. And to particpate in an
list, a “Washington, DC” list, a
existing conversation, use the
“Friends” list for customers, etc.
hashtags that already exist.
Change your background by
clicking on the icon next to the Retweet content from
search bar, selecting Settings and your followers to show your
then selecting the Design tab along support for their initiatives!
the lefthand side. Upload an image
of your logo, your best-selling
product, or something else eye-
catching that gives consumers a Quick Glossary
feel for who you are. Hashtag: #, used to aggregate related tweets by a topic (ex.
#TakomaPark)
Handle: how an entity is identified on Twitter (@laurenrutha)
RT: retweet
Don’t have time to spend the whole
MT: modified tweet
day Tweeting? Use a management
DM: direct message
tool like HootSuite, which allows you
.@ will go to all of your followers
to schedule your Tweets, or Bufferapp,
@ will go to the common followers you have with the entity
which schedules them for you as you
you’re tweeting at
enter them. But, still keep an eye out for
FF: Follow Friday (suggestions for who to follow)
consumer respones at least once a day.

3. Tips for Pinterest
Pinterest is most powerful when
it comes to photos. Keep your
text very light. Descriptions
should be just a few words and
Keep track of what your include key search terms.
followers are repinning so
you can know what’s most
successful.
If you link your Facebook
account, Pinterest will find
your Facebook friends who
have their own Pinterest and
Facebook accounts linked.
You can pin photos directly
from your website, so when a
follower clicks on your pin, it
takes them right to your site.
Start developing your
boards and pinning to
Create boards that will them before you make a
allow you to showcase your major push for followers.
own products and interact
with your followers.

4. Tips for Instagram
• Like Pinterest, Instagram is a very visual platform.
• Instagram can only be used through smartphone apps (iPhone and
Android).
• You can link an Instagram account to Twitter or Facebook, making it
easy to share content on those platforms.
• It’s a fun way to play with photo treatments and take on-the-go
pictures that express the personality of your business.
Tips for QR Codes
• Stands for “Quick Response” Code.
• Great for boosting traffic to your website, Facebook page, Twitter page,
or anywhere else you want to direct consumers.
• Can be included on printed materials (like advertisements or business
cards) when there is more information to communicate.
• Can be accessed by a smartphone scanner.
• There are many easy-to-use websites that will help you build a QR
code to link to your website.
Tips for Yelp
For local small businesses, Yelp isn’t just an option — it’s a neces-
sity. People in urban centers use it to choose where to go to dinner,
where to buy clothes, and where to be entertained. Users decide
where and how to spend their money using Yelp, so if your busi-
ness is local, you need to curate your Yelp page.
— “Yelp for Business: 4 Steps for Success” on Mashable.com
This article suggests:
1. Including all of the request information on your profile
2. Monitoring and responding to customer reviews
3. Making offers and announcements regularly
4. Displaying “Yelp Badges” on your website, which can display your
customer ratings.
And remember to “unlock” your business page on Yelp. You will have
access to the number of views your page is getting, how many people
are clicking through to your site and getting directions to your business.
Prepared by Lauren Anderson, Fifth Estate CI
Phone: (202) 525-1945, E-mail: lauren.anderson@fifthestateci.com