Social Media Advice

[Broom80]

Hi All,

I am in the stages of setting up a small business providing education courses to students.

I would like to set up a facebook page and was wondering whether anyone had advice or steps of how to build one? Can you set one up separately or do you have to link it with a personal account?

Also would you recommend setting up an Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter page?

Look forward to all your replies.

Regards,

Mike

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Hi Mike,

You should only set up social accounts of that is where you customers will be 'hanging out'. If they are not on any of those platforms then it will be a waste of time.

Focus on being active on the social channel where your customers interact and spend time. That way, you can get on their radar and create content that ads value and interests them.

Also, social media requires a well-thought out strategy. It's not just a case of post any old tripe and certainly NOT TO SELL. You should use it to build a relationship and trust with your customers.

I've seen many businesses spread themselves across every social media channel going and bombard it with constant sales message. People switch off and the owner is simply wasting their time.

Finally, the actual reach of social media is in fact poor unless you create content that goers viral (a.k.a shared by lots of other people). Facebook cut everyone off at the knees a few years ago when they reduced organic reach of a regular post to about 5% which means you now have to 'pay' to reach the very audience that you've worked hard to build. They want ad spend and lots of it!

If you don't need social media, my opinion would to focus on build high-quality content on your website to make it an authority. Your website is something you own, you can control and you can use as a tool to bring in new business. It will rank better in Google.

Use your blog to create articles to:

• Solve customer problems
• Comment on new developments in your industry
• Inspire your customers with new ideas
• Share behind the scenes of your business (be personal)
• Share customer stories
• Share research

All the time, talk to your customer like they are your friend, not like you are a stuffy corporate (unless you are and work in finance)

You should also focus on building an email list. This is huge and essential if you want to scale your business. Collect email addresses from visitors and send them regular, valuable content that will help them. Again, do not send endless sales messages.

I hope that helps.

Matt

 

[antropy]

Quality over quantity every time. Too many businesses try to focus on blog spam and posting irrelevance in order to get something out of the door. I always imagine if a company in the same sector were to post this, would I be interested and read it? If the answer is yes, then post. If no, then don't post. Alex

 

[Marketing_Guru]

Hi Mike
Social channels are crucial to business success so its great that you are going down this road. It should serve your target market well too. I would defo recommend Insta and Facebook.
Content is king and your posts need to be engaging to attract a solid following.
I would recommend you post everyday on Facebook (or at least 4-5 times per week) and around 3 times per week on Insta...

 

[fisicx]

Social channels are crucial to business success...

It depends on the business. I do just fine without facebook, twitter, instagram or anything else.

 

[Bhavesh Nardani]

Hi All,

I am in the stages of setting up a small business providing education courses to students.

I would like to set up a facebook page and was wondering whether anyone had advice or steps of how to build one? Can you set one up separately or do you have to link it with a personal account?

Also would you recommend setting up an Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter page?

Look forward to all your replies.

Regards,

Mike

Hi Mike,

You need a personal account to setup a business page.

To create a Page:

1. Go to facebook.com/pages/create.
2. Click to choose a Page type.
3. Fill out the required information.
4. Click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions.

Currently, Facebook offers 6 page types. These are:

• Local Business or Place
• Company, Organization or Institution
• Brand or Product
• Artist, Band or Public Figure
• Entertainment
• Cause or Community

You need to select "Company, Organization or Institution"

Bhav

 

[Calvin Crane]

If you hoping for getting in front of people with organic social then it will be dribs and drabs. Really does annoy me (hence my angry short post here) that this is the goto for anyone wanting to get out there..Not the OP fault of course. Also how much money businesses waste on social media posting via agencies. Put that money to use properly with your own blogs on your own site that can be found on the internet not social media.

I do agree that you can get found on social media and it is a sub 'net' but it is not the first one for most businesses. Not everyone likes social media and the search will never be as good as regular internet content.

 

[NickGrogan]

education courses to students.

I would like to set up a facebook page

Are students on Facebook? I know that universities use it and that forces a certain level of interactively, but my understanding is that young people/students stopped using facebook about the time their grandparents discovered it.

 

[Adam Jennings]

The majority of Students no longer interact properly with Facebook. Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are the platforms that students use the most. It is important to use your time wisely.

 

[NickGrogan]

Twitter? Nope.
Snapchat? In steady decline.
Instagram? Popular, but no one is looking for educational courses on Instagram.

 

[Prihoda UK]

Twitter? Nope.
Snapchat? In steady decline.
Instagram? Popular, but no one is looking for educational courses on Instagram.

I agree. While most students will be using channels like Twitter and Instagram, it's doubtful that this is where they will be looking for educational courses..

 

[Mark S Elliott]

Hi Broom80,

I concur with most of the comments above and yet advise a slightly different way to make your decision on 'which social media'.

Relative to the demographic (age particularly) of your target audience of Students I recommend researching which social media channels they use the most and focus your efforts there. This will reduce your time and effort, compared to starting with multiple channels. Research (either online or by setting up focus groups) where they tend to search for information or advice online. Then engage in those areas, forums, groups. Being helpful, not selling.

Are there forums or Groups that you can join legitimately, that has an audience already built? Where you can then interact? That will help accelerate your awareness and growth potential.

IF Facebook turns out to be a relevant channel, then perhaps set up a Group page, as a discussion forum. This way you can help to build your audience, trust and engagement. Instagram is great for raising awareness, but I agree may not be so easy to convert from.

So, focus on one channel, relevant to your audience and reach out to others. Social media is a two way street so ensure you 'give' (by responding to others' content) as well as publishing.

 

[CharlotteS]

Hello Mike,

So for starters - what type of education courses? One's to help prepare them for the world of work? Something to assist with their studies? The reason I ask these questions is that, depending on what you offer, the students themselves may not be your only target audience and will be using different platforms in different stages of their student life.

Facebook use is declining within younger generations - however, if you are also looking to reach their parents (very standard for a lot of student offerings), it's still a pretty good platform. Additionally, if you want to do Instagram advertising, you're going to need a FB page anyway.

If it is a work preparation type course, LinkedIn may be helpful, if you basically targeting those who are starting to look for jobs. If not, then it's probably not the platform for you.

Be aware - Facebook isn't really "free". To get your content in front of anyone, you will need to advertise (am sure someone will come along and argue - but 99% of the time, this is the case).

It's better to focus on one platform and get it right, rather than several and get it wrong.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Just to add to the above ‘mostly’ good advice

have you questioned who your actual customer is?

is it the student?

is it parent / guardian

is it some other recommending/referral organisation?

 

[StevePoster]

In your FB account try to create a page for your small business education courses then post some of your main website's fresh content about the benefits of your courses so that many audience and target audience will follow your page for every updates.

 

[sundaresh]

Create facebook page also group. First you have to invite your friends circle. it should be atleast worth for minimum 20% users. if it really works you can easily reach right audience. But it will take some time