Social Media 101 for Affton Businesses

Are you still figuring out Facebook? Not sure what to do on LinkedIn? Not a tweeter?

You're not alone.

hosted Melissa Wilson, a social media expert and owner at Wilson Monnig Creative, at this month’s meeting to help local businesses interact with their customers online.

Wilson addressed the basics for Facebook and LinkedIn, two of the most popular social media outlets.

Facebook

In the 63123 area code, which includes Affton, 32,000 people are on Facebook.

Here are some of the most popular questions about Facebook—and Wilson’s answers—from today’s meeting:

• Why should I be on Facebook? Facebook is a place to “have conversations that get people involved,” Wilson said. If your business’ clients or customers are using Facebook but you don’t have a page, you are missing out on those conversations. “If your demographic is there, you need to be there,” Wilson said.
• How often should I post? This depends on how active your customers are. If they are checking in with you daily, you should be on Facebook each day. Wilson suggested posting at least once a week.
• Do I need to be on Facebook for my business to be on Facebook? Yes. Well, sort of. Someone in your business needs a personal page in order to create a business page, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be you.
• Do my followers need to “like” my page in order to see it? No. But if they do “like” it, they’ll see your updates automatically.
• What are impressions? Every time your Facebook status updates, photos or advertisements pop up on someone’s Facebook page, that counts as an “impression,” Wilson said. Get more impressions by interacting with your Facebook followers. “The more people interact with you, your reach is going to get bigger,” Wilson said.

Follow Affton-Shrewsbury Patch on Facebook.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social media platform that connects professionals across industries and around the world. In the greater St. Louis area, more than 622,000 people are on LinkedIn.

Here are some of the most popular questions Affton Chamber of Commerce members had about LinkedIn:

• What should I post? LinkedIn is all about business. “On LinkedIn, I wouldn’t talk about food. I wouldn’t talk about my kids,” Wilson said. “It’s expected you are going to say something business related.”
• Who is on LinkedIn? Mostly men, especially in the finance, sales and technology industries, Wilson said.
• Should I use the free LinkedIn account, or should I update to the “Pro” account, which costs money? For most people, the free account is enough, Wilson said. But a pro account brings more information, like the contact information of people looking at your page. Human resources or sales professionals could get a lot of use out of a “pro” account.
• Should I ignore my competitors on LinkedIn? Probably not. LinkedIn isn’t a place to share personal secrets. If you need tips or advice from professionals in your field, LinkedIn is a great place to go.
• Should I post the same information to Facebook and LinkedIn? No. The audiences and missions of these sites are very different. “You want to talk differently on different social medias,” Wilson said. Facebook is mostly women and is for personal conversations. LinkedIn is a largely male, business-oriented audience.

For more from Melissa Wilson, owner of Wilson Monnig Creative, find her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Or follow Affton-Shrewsbury Patch on Facebook and Twitter for more social media tips.