First off, to be perfectly frank, there is no better way to promote your business on a budget then through a business blog (business blogging), so if you’re not blogging for your small business, start right now!
Okay, now that that’s out of the way let me answer one of the most common questions we here at New Prodigy Marketing Group field ยป How often should I be posting?
I guess before I answer that question I want to make sure we are all on the same page with respect to where we should be posting. In other words, what social media destinations are good for my business, and therefore, I should be active on them?
There are essentially 3 primary social media destinations that every small business should be active on (Business Blog > Facebook > Twitter). One is Facebook, the other is Twitter, and the third, is your business blog. Yes, there are other key social media destinations, LinkedIn comes to mind, but you must strike the right balance between time committed to social media activities, and time committed to the day-to-day business of running your business. If you have the time then yes, include LinkedIn as a primary social media destination.
So how often should you be posting?
There is no definitive formula that will ensure you get proper traction out of your posts in terms of capitalizing on things such as enhanced search engine rankings, increased social-sphere awareness, and targeted traffic driven to your website however, here is a simple guideline to use.
Your blog should be the center of attention for your posting universe. Every legitimate, and therefore, important piece of information that you post about should have a home on your blog, and that home should be full of important, relevant, current information. In other words, make sure your blog posts are chalk full of useful content. Try to blog at least once a month; never less then once a quarter.
Facebook Frequency
Next, whatever the frequency with which you post on your blog, increase that frequency by approximately 1/3 to determine your Facebook post frequency (we’re talking about your Facebook Business Page here, not your Personal Page).
Your Facebook posts are less meaty, if you will, then your blog posts, so you can increase the frequency without becoming derailed from the primary focus of running your business. Keep in mind though that your Facebook posts should still contain relevant, insightful, accurate information about whatever wonderful things your business is doing, and they should direct your readers to your website for more information wherever possible (don’t use your website to drive people to your Facebook page, use Facebook to drive people to your website).
Twitter Frequency
Finally, whatever the frequency with which you post on your Facebook Business Page, increase that frequency by approximately 1/3 to determine your Twitter post frequency (your Tweet frequency).
Again, we’re talking about your Twitter business account, not your personal account (Twitter does not distinguish “business” from “personal” accounts, you must). Twitter restricts you to 140 characters so keep in succinct, and make use of shortened (bit.ly) URL’s to redirect your readers to your website.
Don’t Get Tied-up In The Numbers
Now that you have a rough formula to follow regarding the frequency of your posts (1/3 : 1/3 : 1/3), don’t get hung-up on the numbers. What I mean by that is use your best judgment when posting — if you have something to say, say it, but don’t force it to maintain a numbers game.
As a side tip in case you’re stuck on where to start when it comes to business blogging, start with your blog post to flesh-out your content, then breakdown that post into smaller posts that can be dropped on Facebook and Twitter (that’s your starting point). Keep in mind though that you’ll also need to drop some posts on Facebook and Twitter that won’t necessarily have cross-posts home on your blog.
Twitter – Don’t Bore Us With What You Had For Breakfast
When talking about frequency of posts on Twitter, it is particularly important not to get hung-up on the numbers. If you have something to Tweet about then of course, do so. But don’t tell the world about what you had for breakfast just because you can’t think of anything better to Tweet about. I assure you, no one, I mean no one, cares.
Once you get a handle on converting your every day activities into meaningful insight about your business, and subsequently writing about those insights on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter, then you’ll have plenty to talk about.
Who’s Listening?
This is just a teaser for a future blog post that I’ll write in the coming days or so but it should get your wheels turning. A common misconception that people blogging for business have is who is listening (i.e. who’s reading your posts)?
There are always a minimum of 3 people reading your posts, or to put it another way, there are always a minimum of 3 people you are writing for:
- Your Target Market
- Your Competition
Most people only realize #2, some #2 and #3. Guess what, the only one that really matters is #1, Google!
I’ll save the rest of this post for another day. You won’t want to miss reading that one!
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