Social media marketing is a key ingredient in the overall marketing strategies for companies around the world. What are some key ingredients in the infamous sourdough bread that everyone has been making during COVID-19? Yeast? What about flour? What would the bread be without baking soda? 

All of these ingredients work together because they are all meant to be together. The same thing can be said for social media marketing, SEO and traditional marketing strategies. With that being said, getting social media marketing started is one of the hardest things for companies, especially small business owners. This is true because small business owners are oftentimes more involved than the corporation’s owners and decision makers. 

We recently had a digital marketing meeting with one of our clients and she said, “I don’t know how you guys do this all day every day. I just overthink this and think everything has to be perfect.” That is one of the most common things that our digital marketers hear about a company’s or small business’s hesitation regarding Denver social media management for their operations. 

What are our top six tips for getting Denver social media management up and running? 

1. Get branding in place

The first thing that anyone should do before starting social media marketing is to make sure that branding guidelines are set in place and easily accessible. This is especially true for those companies and small businesses who will have multiple people and franchises working on their own social media marketing strategies. Without having a single, cohesive branding guideline in place, it starts to look messy and it happens faster than a company will realize. Branding is also one of the most important aspects of starting social media marketing for many companies and small businesses. 

In a research study, companies were asked their biggest goals with social media marketing and 76 percent said branding. Branding is what your company is known for, its reputation and its perception in the public eye. In the digital world, this all matters because more people will be associating with your brand on a daily basis. Make sure to have branding in place before you start brand awareness on social media. 

2. Skip stock if possible 

Even our company uses stock images! The thing is, stock images aren't’ all bad, and can be utilized to their fullest potential. The issue lies in finding decent stock images that are free. There are hundreds of websites out there that provide free stock photos, but sometimes, the best thing is to use an original image that your office takes. 

Whether that be of your products, inside or outside office space, storefront or employees working, it all is better to use because humans want to see other real humans at your company! 

3. Get a Canva account 

Now that you have images for social media, it is important to make sure that these images are sized for each different social media platform! This helps to make sure that the pictures look more professional and clean. Canva is a great way to make sure images are sized correctly, have the logo in the same spot each time and it is free! It’s not one of those things where free isn’t worth it, this is one free thing that is worth it! 

4. Never set up social with personal accounts 

This is one of the biggest rookie mistakes that happen in the Denver social media management world. Time and time again, a personal account was set up with a Facebook, which verifies the Instagram account, but employees leave or personal content gets shared to business pages. We suggest that only those who are growing their own personal brand do this, not a business. 

5. Get a content calendar in place 

A content calendar is by far one of the most important tips on this list of items because this is the content that is being published on digital and print media! A content calendar saves a company or small business the hassle of posting on the fly or keeps them posting on a regular basis. A number of times, a company starts their own social media, and within four to six months it fizzles out. 

This is because there is really no strategy behind all of it and the person who is managing this content more than likely already has a full-time position within the company. It is best to create a weekly, biweekly or monthly content calendar to help keep the social media campaigns smooth and avoid rookie mistakes like grammar errors. 

6. Find a scheduling platform 

If you are rocking it on the consistency game and content calendar, you will start to grow tired of having to login to each individual account to post the content each and every day. 

A social media management tool will allow your company to automate a part of the social media marketing process and even have reporting depending on the tool. 

The only issue with these is that they are expensive, and remember when we said some free items weren’t worth it, yeah a free social media management tool is not worth it. Don’t worry, our Denver social media management experts have  software of our own that allows for plenty of customization!