There are 3 groups of small business owners when it comes to social media: the ones that are way behind the curve, the ones that are trying to do it themselves but not quite getting it yet, and the ones that spent a lot of time keeping up with it but don’t have enough time to do it themselves. In which group do you belong? Reply to the questions below and find out.
You can only choose one answer for each question: yes, no or non-applicable. You should reply the questions keeping in mind your Business’s pages, not your personal profile.
Do your business social media pages need help? What areas should you be focusing on? This quick social media assessment will help you find out.
- Do you have a business page on Facebook?
- Did you claim your Google page?
- Did you claim your Yelp page?
- Does your Facebook page have a cover photo?
- Is Facebook cover photo in high resolution (not blurry)?
- Does your Facebook profile photo fit correctly in the space?
- Do you use your logo as your Facebook profile photo?
- Do you have custom tabs (apps) on your Facebook page (like menu, coupons, services, etc)?
- Does your Facebook tabs have custom images to match your branding?
- Do you post on Facebook 2-3 times a week?
- Do you get at least 3% interaction in almost all posts?
To calculate how much interaction you get, do: number of likes + comments + shares in the post divided by the number of fans the page has. Then get the result and multiple per 100 – you’ll have the percentage then. See example below:
- Can people find information about your business (like locations, hours, menu) without leaving Facebook?
- Do you reply to comments within a day?
- Is your business information 100% complete on Google?
- Is your business information 100% complete on Yelp?
- Do you have a cover photo and a profile photo (logo) on Google?
- Did you add photos of the location, products, and logo on Yelp?
- Do the photos have good resolution (not blurry)?
- Do you ask customers to leave reviews?
- Do you reply to all your reviews?
- Do you post often on Google?
- Did you setup a check-in offer on Yelp?
- Do you ask customers to check-in at your location?
- Do you motivate customers to take photos and post them online?
- Do you use a hashtag for your business?
Now, count how many “yes”, “no” and “non-applicable” you have. Here is how you score:
- For every yes, you get 1 point
- For every no, you lose 1 point
- For every non-applicable, you get 0 (zero) points.
If you scored 21-25 points: way to go! You have your social media basics covered! While that is great news, the questions only covered the most elementary items. If you want to take maximum advantage of social media, you need to make sure that you are using the correct networks, you are listening the customers’ feedback and you are building up the relationship with them – it is all about creating conversations. Make sure you have a personality and get everyone in the business (including staff) involved in it. The more people get excited about your pages, the more visible you will be to prospects.
To take your pages to the next level: make sure you vary the Facebook posts between images, text, links and videos to increase the page visibility. For Google and Yelp, keep your information always updated and always ask happy customers to leave reviews. Try to use other networks that might be interesting for your customers or are popular in your industry. You don’t need to be in all sites, but make sure you cover well the ones you are in. If you need to promote a product, service or event, plan ahead to ensure your strategies are well aligned to make the most of your online presence.
If you scored 13-20 points: you’ve got some stuff right and that’s much better than nothing. To make sure you keep going in the right direction, use the questions as a guideline and fix anything you need to. It is very important that all your pages are setup correctly or you won’t get anything out of social media. This list covered only the most basic items, so you have some work to do!
To take your pages to the next level: make sure your pages look nice and your posts are interesting for your customer (not you!). If people don’t find anything valuable or interesting on your pages, they’ll move away from it, and you’ll lose the opportunity to make more business. Also, make sure you vary the Facebook posts between images, text, links and videos to increase the page visibility. For Google and Yelp, keep your information always updated and always ask happy customers to leave reviews.
If you scored 12 or less points: ooops, you are behind the curve, my friend. Your competitors might be stealing customers from you just because their social media pages are setup correctly. Don’t waste time using only traditional marketing – if you want to get more customers, you will have to be stronger online too. This list covered only the most basic items, so you have a lot of work to do!
To take your pages to the next level: To start, make sure your Facebook page looks decent, and your posts are interesting. Claim all your pages on review sites and update your information. Once that is done, use the questions as a guideline to optimize your pages.
