Social media is a powerful tool for your business. Not only can it provide you with free marketing, but it can help you connect with people on a wider level than ever before.

However, for many businesses, social media is neglected. From inactive accounts to poor content, your social media accounts could be letting your business down.

With a lot of potential to explore, it’s time to get serious about your business’ social once and for all. Here are five tips to get you started.

1. Give your profiles a makeover

When was the last time you updated your social media profiles? If the answer is ‘never’ or you can’t remember, then it’s time to make some changes.

It’s easy to give your accounts a social media makeover. Start by making sure that all of your information is up to date. Then you can work on the visual elements such as updating logos, cover photos, etc. It might seem like a small difference, but as people judge based on what they see online, it might just help people stick around a bit longer.

2. Start planning your social media content

Having a social media plan will make your life much simpler. It helps you to decide what your priorities are for the coming weeks, informs your content and means you can schedule everything in advance.

Seeing it all laid out in front of you will allow you to make sure you’re planning enough content to keep your account active, while also helping you plan content around the time of year.

Drafting social media plans will take a couple of hours a week, which will then free up the rest of your time to focus on other business tasks. Using a scheduling tool can make things much easier for you, especially if your time is already tight for putting those social media posts out into the world.

3. Engage with your followers

To be able to grow your following, you’re going to have to start engaging with your audience. From answering messages and comments to using stories, you stand to gain a lot by increasing your engagement.

Get started by looking for people to follow who are either within your industry, or individuals who could have an interest in your business. Start interacting with those followers and watch your accounts grow over time. Returning likes and comments to those who’ve interacted with your business is important.

It’s a good tactic for boosting brand loyalty, while also helping your followers to develop a deeper connection to your business.

4. Create content that people want to see

Do you know the type of content your followers enjoy? Perhaps it’s time to try new things. Some of the social media content that converts includes interactive content, content with strong visuals and positive content. If you can create content that resonates with the viewer, it stands a good chance of gaining some traction.

If you’ve created something that has performed well, make a note of it to create similar content. If your content hasn’t done so well, perhaps it’s not what your audience was looking for. A lot of social media content comes down to trial and error, but as it’s such an instant form of communication, there’s plenty of room to experiment.

Focus on delivering high-quality content. From video that’s been edited well to professional-style photography, you can gain a lot by putting time and effort into your posts.

You’ll learn a lot creating content for social media, but the more creative you can be and willing to try new ideas, the better the results will be.

5. Analyse your performance

To be able to get the most out of your social media efforts, you need to analyse your performance. If you don’t know how your posts are landing or what their impact is on sales, your efforts could be wasted.

Using social media analytics tools can be a great way to find out how you’re doing on social, who your audiences are and what the impact of your activity has been over time. Making light work of data, you could be surprised by the capabilities of these tools. Regular analysis can help inform your future campaigns, which will enable you to get the most out of your time and money.

If you’re serious about growing your business, then it’s important that you get serious about social. It’s a simple way to improve your marketing methods, without increasing your budget. Social media channels are where the conversations happen, and you’ll want to get into the heart of them to make sure your business is recognised. Start improving your social media by getting setting some objectives and putting a strategy in place.