How to become an expert on social media?

Well, well, well. First of all, you have to be registered! But who isn't already on social media these days?

Anyway, if you're not, you're about to create your first page.

So why do you need to be on these social media? Well, because Facebook is used by over 1.55 billion people and Instagram by 1 billion. If you don't use it, you're really missing out on something.

In order not to miss out on all these great opportunities, follow these basic (but often misunderstood) tips to increase your notoriety on social.

Step 1: Creating your business page on your social

Creating a business page on social media is essential for any type of business, from the largest to the smallest!

So, do you really know about social media, their potential and benefits? We will see here why you should use them.

So why create a business page? Simply because you can do everything (or almost everything) on social media. It's no longer just about posting your holiday photos and chatting with your friends. It has become a real marketing strategy that most brands use and perfect over the years.

If you don't have a business account yet, here's a link to create a Facebook Business Page, and a second one for Instagram business accounts. Having a professional account will allow visitors to know your contact information, you can analyze and promote your posts, but we'll talk about that in a few moments.

Step 2: Make your social media an extension of your shop with YOUR content.

Thanks to social media you can be and stay one step ahead. Become THE shop of reference in your neighborhood, in the jargon we call it "top of mind". If you are, you'll oust your competitors for years to come. Create, shape and perpetuate your brand image so that your store is the one you instantly think of when looking for a product you sell.

To become and stay that way, you will need to create a link and here are a few notions that will help you.

First of all, there is the content itself. The tone that you will use, the visuals that you will show, all this is your choice (even if sometimes you have to bend to your followers’ desires), so if you want your personality to become your own brand image and it can work very well.

Your social are part of your showcase so enhance them, perfect them as if they were physical and visible to everyone. Social media are part of us and our everyday life so there is no distinction to make between the real world and the virtual world, it's the same thing. It's like a second shop, a solution to show your products, your store, your brand, your spirit.

You have ambition, so be ambitious on social media. They will bring you a lot and will increase your turnover in a consequent way.

Creating content isn't that difficult. For YOU, business owners and entrepreneurs, using social can be a source of inspiration. Don't be afraid to "copy" your competitors' content! After all, as my dear Lavoisier would say "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed". You need to use content that speaks to everyone, so being inspired by companies that have a good content strategy and similar to yours will be a great help. But despite what I just said, also try to think outside the box to amaze your customers. It's (slightly) contradictory, but the two ideas can and should complement each other, believe me, you just have to find the right way to do it. There are dozens of sites like (Canva)that will allow you to create beautiful visuals without too much effort.

If you manage to "target" your customers and give them what they want, they will come back and prefer you over others.

Social media make possible to listen to your customers who are now loyal subscribers. They are a bridge between the company and the consumers, and since the customer is king, you must learn to understand him well in order to offer him what he wants on a platter. Note that 71% of Facebook users are more likely to buy a product from you after a positive social experience. So, smile and even behind your screen.

In order to build loyalty, you need to have a brand identity that is specific to your company and differentiated from your competitors (it always comes back to the same thing).

We often bound with people who have the same "tastes", so don't hesitate to affirm some of your tastes but be careful not to overdo it. Information on social media can circulate very quickly and sometimes they don't do us any favors.

In this way you will create a link, a real community and this is your only goal.

Managing your community is therefore important for your business. Answer questions and clarify your customers' doubts or just have fun with them. Every interaction is important, even when you are confronted with HATERS (And you will encounter some of them...). As the name implies, they are not the nicest, but you will manage to face them. 💪

In addition to the "community management" missions where you will manage the returns, you will also have to visualize who your audience is. Analyze the feedback from your customers and observe (thanks to the different downloadable statistics software or directly on your applications) what worked, it will be of great help to you. If a majority of your customers see themselves in a certain type of post/content, you will be able to identify and reuse what works to get the most out of it. You have to stay alert. With trends changing all the time and with differences in your customer base, it won't necessarily be an easy task but you'll get there.

For Facebook go to your Business Manager page then the Drop-Down Menu on the left, scroll down and BAM! (Only on computer)

(Sorry for the French version)

For Instagram it's directly on the application, access your profile then insights and ta-da!

Step 3: We’re taking every opportunity and we take center stage

Now let's move on to the more technical optimization of your social. So, you have your visuals, a tone, a real way to communicate, you know your audience and their preferences. Now you're going to have to think about OPTIMIZATION.

You now have brand awareness, but in order to attract even more people to follow you (and therefore make money) follow these next tips.

Even if 60% of Instagram users discover new brands totally by chance while surfing and getting lost on this social, start from the fact that you are part of the remaining 40% and that you will still need to boost and increase your visibility with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization) techniques and software.

Become the top of the list on search engines with these 3 (main) SEO techniques:

What will mainly interest us will be the editorial content but also the keywords. Web writing is mainly common sense, plagiarism is prohibited (most known and visited sites are checked by Google's AI) so once again think of a content specific to your brand and it will roll by itself.

To choose your keywords, think about what your future customers will look for to find you, there are also tools to find the best keywords for your SEO (here). You can now reference each page of your website as well as possible.

Then comes the "exchange" of links (the netlinking), it is a technique to develop the number of links to a page or a site (for a blog article it's great). So, it's an exchange of good social practices. Everything we like! 👍

As we're talking about social media, you will also have to think about SMO, it's about the same thing with a rather similar operation but this time dedicated to social media, so the number of Likes for example will be taken care of for your SEO. Don't hesitate to read up and train yourself on all these techniques, it's a full-time job but you'll be happy with the results.

So, here are a few ways to stay top of mind by being kind and at the service of its customers and future customers, by having content adapted to what they are looking for and by imposing and optimizing your sites and social through SEO and SMO.

Step 4: You have become the reference shop in your neighborhood.

Now that you know how to manage your social, use them to make some money.

Registration on social media is free so you don't have the right to hesitate! And on top of that, it pays. If you are present, your community will become your best-selling point, thanks to social they will talk about you and will make you a credible promotion against your competitors (comment/story/post). 97% of consumers aged 18 to 34 read online reviews before going to a local store.

One of the biggest assets is that social media have themselves became a unique search engine, so think about corporate or friendly content (please yourself), but above all creative and attractive. And keep in mind that people have 57% more chances to buy from a local company they follow on social media.

Don't be afraid to create an account on every platform, on the contrary! That way, every time people search for your store/company on the Internet, they will find your different accounts. This will prove them that you are doing the right things. Show them your business and news, your brand image and if they identify with it, you will have loyal customers, and a loyal customer pays more than you think.

Now that your customers can find you on the net, you will see an increase in visits to your site or shop of almost 75% and on this percentage and 3 out of 10 people (out of these 75%) on average will buy. But first of all, think about the "shop" functionalities of social media, it suits a lot of people to be able to order even if your shop is just 1 mile away. So, if being on social can bring new visitors (and thus revenue) adding this feature will bring you even more new customers (and revenue 😉).

Yes, because you can now buy your favorite items on social media, so, once again, your existence on them is essential. Especially if you have an e-commerce activity, no more need to order on your site, your fans will be able to buy directly on your social. Increase your sales by adding your products on social, if this is not done, stop reading and do it now!

For Facebook you have an article that explains all this (here)

For Instagram, it's again detailed on the Facebook blog : (here) and (here)

Do I really need to spend more time on how best to use social? Probably not, I'm sure you already knew all that anyway.

But maybe seeing these few lines will push you to do even more to attract the attention of your customers and keep them loyal. There are still a few things you need to understand, like the use of hashtags or the wording all this marker stuff. You can easily find these rules and tips on the Internet but starting with the basics I just mentioned will be a good start.

One last advice, don't be afraid to think big for your shop! 😉