Social media FAQs

You probably have questions about social media marketing. Here are some of the most common — but if yours isn’t here, that’s fine. Just pop it into the message box.

A social media strategy is a straightforward plan which answers the what, when, how and why for everything you post.

Setting goals is a crucial part of your strategy — and it’s fine to have several. It could be lead generation, brand awareness, sharing information about your services, expanding your audience, or anything else which helps you connect with your ideal clients.

For a successful social media strategy, you must understand your audience. Who are they? What do they need? How do your services meet that need? Why should they choose you?

Beyond that, it’s about planning and creating a good mix of content for them. It should attract attention, build trust and credibility and ultimately, draw people to your business.

Remember, people don’t buy brands. They buy people. Social media works best when you’re being yourself. It builds trust because you’re a real person, just like them.

You’re busy, and your social media strategy will save time. It gives you a clear direction, and a realistic roadmap which fits easily around the demands of running a business.

Rather than a hit and miss approach, you become consistent. You no longer `post and hope’ because you’ll know the kind of content your audience enjoys and shares.

Only as much time as you can reasonably afford to spend. You’re busy running a business.

It’s all about planning. Try scheduling set times for social media during the week — just 15-20 minutes works for some people — and have one clear objective in mind each time. Replying to comments, creating posts, scheduling content… Is there content you can repurpose?

With a clear strategy, social media starts bringing in new clients. Given the financial return on the time investment, you’ll probably want to spend a bit more.

You’ve probably had fantastic engagement with some of your content. That occasional one-off superstar post is great, but the goal is consistency. How do you replicate it?

Dive into your data. Social media analytics is the only way to find out what your audience needs, the kind of content they like, and when they want to see it.

Data is a goldmine of information. Once you know how it works, you can use data to your advantage. You’ll get consistent, measurable engagement.

The short answer is… there’s no right answer. It’s about quality, not quantity. Post as often as you can consistently provide useful and engaging content.

Consistency is key. Regular, twice-weekly posting is far better than a splurge followed by `crash and burn’ — nothing for several weeks.

Also, bear in mind that your posting frequency depends on the platform.

On Facebook and Twitter, for example, posts have incredibly short lifespans. Twitter is just 15 minutes, Facebook around 6 hours. LinkedIn and Instagram posts are longer — around 24 hours — although Instagram Reels is the winner at 2 weeks.

If you enjoy making videos, absolutely. They’re a great way to drive engagement. Remember, your videos don’t have to be perfect. Just be yourself.

However, if you hate the idea of appearing on video, that’s fine. There’s no need to put yourself through it.

If you’re in two minds about video, try it out. Start with baby steps — perhaps the story of why you started your business —test it, see what happens, and go on from there.

Yes. Your social media audience don’t expect you to be supermodel material. They want to know who you really are. They’re interested in you.

Each photo gives them an instant, scroll-stopping glimpse of the real person behind the business.