Three ways that WordPress consultants can use social media to help promote their business

Like Google, social media has changed a lot in the past few years. Many business owners love the approach of set it and forget it, but the owners of various social media platforms are also using algorithms to leverage getting paid advertising.

This has been tragic for folks who have built a business off of one of the social media platforms. We know quite often that for whatever reason, a business can be cut off from any of the platforms for any reason without warning.

This has made social media a bit of an enigma for WordPress business consultants. Should you take advantage of social media for business? Should you drop it altogether? Should you use it for something other to than business? Should you change your expectations?

If you are a larger company with budget and resources, you can definitely afford to execute a robust social media marketing plan. However, if your team is smaller and you don’t have as many resources, there are still some things you can do to leverage the use of social media.

Today, we are going to discuss three things you can do as a WordPress consultant to leverage the use of social media.

Promote good content which helps build authority

What happens when you share good content on social media? It is kind of interesting really.

Once you are known for sharing good content your account becomes one of those that is a source for good content. Ultimately, that means you become an authority.

Where does this phenomenon come from?

When is the last time you went to a library? The librarian is a highly trained person who knows how to research and how to interact with lots of information. Even more, the librarian knows if a piece of content is a good source or not.

Do you know that to be a librarian you need to have a master’s degree?

The digital version of a librarian is called content curation.

Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme. The work involves sifting, sorting, arranging, and publishing information. A content curator cherry picks the best content that is important and relevant to share with their community.
Beth Kanter,

In some ways, Google is a content curation source because when you search for a word like “content curation” it will provide you with a little box at the top telling you a valuable source for the term.

We can serve as a content curator on social media which is why it is important to vet content before sharing.

When you can assess content and promote the best content you showcase your authority. Sharing the best content is one of the best ways to use social media and show your authority as a thought leader.

Wait, there are other ways to use social media? You betcha. Hold on.

Engage with your audience to make connections and build your tribe

I see it quite often, especially with bigger brands. They just tweet out stuff or share stuff on social media but fail to engage their tribe at all.

What happens when you are in a one-sided conversation? After a while, you get tired of not being heard. You decide it is no longer for you.

Big brands that bring people into the front door might be okay with watching people leave, but smaller companies are not. We have to build a relationship and one of the best ways to do that is with consistent conversation.

Consistent conversations are important whether answering support tickets, emails or any other form of communication.

Two examples of Twitter engagement

Wendy’s is a big brand and they understand the value of engagement on their Twitter account. Check out the replies in this tweet,

Many of us use Slack for our digital communities. They do a great job of engaging their tribe on Twitter. See how they responded to a request for a “Dark Mode” with this user.

When a company or agency responds to those who are trying to engage, it helps build a bridge and nurtures the relationship. You build a community of friends and champions.

The best part is that it doesn’t take anything extra, just a little time to check your social media profiles.

Attract visitors to your website so you convert connections to community

Too often I see people use social media, especially Facebook, as a substitute for a website. This, of course, is the equivalent of digital sharecropping.

I first came across this term at Copyblogger. Sonia Simone breaks down exactly what it means and who first coined the phrase.

I often tell business owners the first rule of digital marketing is to have your very own digital real estate. That leaves your social media to serve as a channel driving traffic to that real estate (your website).

In recent years, people put their entire blog on Medium and found that to be a problem when they changed their model.

As Simone says in the Copyblogger article,

The landlord has all the control. If he decides to get rid of you, you lose your livelihood. If he decides to raise his fees, you go a little hungrier. You do all the work and the landlord gets most of the profit, leaving you a pittance to eke out a living on.

It is imperative that when you have a business you own your own real estate. Social media becomes a great channel to drive traffic to that piece of real estate.

When you own your own piece of real estate, you can set up funnels to convert leads. Leads become customers and the beat goes on.

Use social media as part of your entire digital marketing strategy, but don’t substitute it for everything else.

Wrapping it up

It is easy to get caught up in shiny objects and the latest social media platform can be that if we let it. Social media has become a critical piece of the digital marketing puzzle.

For smaller businesses and consultants, it can be a big help in promoting our companies. However, it is easy to let social media become the only thing we use rather than something that aids in our efforts.

Promoting good content, engaging with your audience, and attracting visitors to your website are three ways you can get the most out of your social media efforts.