A lot of our Tips on Tuesday are about how you can use social media to promote your online presence, but it is always worth thinking about the mechanics of social media and more generic online matters.

Today’s tip is a really simple one. Think about your online security. Make sure you don’t have the same password for all your social media accounts and make the password something strong and difficult to crack. After all you wouldn’t have the same PIN for all your bank cards would you…WOULD you?!

It is important to maintain your social accounts as professionally as possible – and by having strong and secure passwords you are minimising the risk of hacking. 

Have you thought about setting your social media strategies seasonally?

Whilst it may seem obvious if your business offering is seasonal, for those who aren’t in a season-specific industry you might like to try changing your strategy by setting some season-specific goals or creating a marketing theme for each season. How can you use summer for example to create a relevant and innovative new theme of posts for your business?

You can even take this further stylistically by giving your social media channels a distinctive look in each season by use of carefully planned image and colour-scheme.

Never be afraid to have fun – and this could be a wonderful way of creating interesting content or themes whilst staying true to your core ethos.

It is no secret times are hard, so here are some easy ways you can help small businesses grow on social media: –

1. Give them a follow/like.  A very easy one but important.
2. Share their content.  If you see something you think your friends might be interested in, share the love!
3. If you’ve bought a product or used a service, why not tell people? Leaving a review takes very little time but means the world!
4. If you see something that interests you on their timeline, comment on the post and tell them so!
5. Check in to their premises.  People will remember where you’ve been!
6. If you’re a member of a local group on social media, people often ask for recommendations; word of mouth is still so important!

Give it a try and spread the love; who will you help out today?