Social media–you either love it or you hate it. There are few in the middle of this one! Starting a business is already a huge endeavor: perfecting your service or product, setting up financial processes, and protecting your intellectual property. You may already have been sharing your passion and small business story on your personal page. A fundamental part of starting that business though, is building a small business social media page. 

Why can’t I just keep using my personal page? 

Well, you can–to tell your story and your personal journey, but there’s a glass ceiling there. On a personal page, you won’t be able to dig deep on audience interactions beyond the like, tag, and share functions. On a business page, you can:

• Target an audience for advertising
• Test ideas for products or services
• Build a strong brand with a loyal following (that’s right, y’all–ask those friends on your personal page to like your business page)
• Schedule posts ahead of time so can have a stronger work/life balance

Those are just a few of the advantages of using a small business social media page. Start by picking one or two social media platforms that you are the strongest in, and start small. Build a page with a few great pictures and then commit to a realistic schedule. If posting once a week at first is what you can do, then go for it! 

Be sure to include all of your information. For example, fill out everything on your About page on Facebook including your website, phone number, email, hours (if applicable), etc. On Instagram, use that link in your profile to showcase your website. If you have multiple links, use a service like Linktree to showcase multiple links, such as your website and other social media platforms. You do not want someone to look you up on social media and be unable to find any information about you. 

Maintain consistency so that people know you are a reliable brand-a dependable company. You can schedule posts on some social media platforms, or you can use a scheduler like Buffer (it has free options!). You can even set an autoresponder for your messages in some apps.

Be playful but professional. Encourage your audience to interact with your posts, but maintain a polite, professional demeanor, even to the occasional internet troll. You can hide or delete a rude comment, but do not engage in rude behavior on the public page.

Finally, have fun with it! Test ideas with videos and reels and remember that shorter is better. Have a friend that has a small business, too? Share each other’s posts and double your network. The possibilities are infinite!