Social Media for the Busy Professional

Howard K. KurmanPrincipal, Offit│Kurman

As published in GGI BDM News, Autumn 2019

Globally, 28% of the average online user’s time is spent on social media, so it makes sense for busy professionals to join the crowd. There are many reasons for this social media craze – it’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s global, and it’s scalable. Professionals can use social media as a tool to network, stay informed, create and share content that demonstrates expertise, boost search engine optimization, research prospects and recruits, and most of all to help build their reputation and their brand. Here are some helpful hints for busy professionals to achieve some level of success engaging with social media:

1. Set your goals:

a. What do you want to accomplish?
b. Who is your audience?
c. What is relevant to your audience?
d. What problems are your audience dealing with and how can you solve them?

2. Build your strategy for implementation:

a. How does social media fit into your overall marketing plan?
b. What social media platforms will you use?
c. How much time will you allocate to your social media strategy?

3. Create a system and a calendar:

a. Subscribe to inbound news and articles.
b. Write original content that is relevant to your audience and your personal brand.
c. Take photos when you attend events.
d. Organize your posts in files for easy access.
e. Create a schedule for your posts, following best practices for frequency and what days and times are best for posting.
f. Consider using plugins and apps to help automate your tasks.
g. Measure your results so you can focus on the strategies that are working.

Social media alone doesn’t do everything, but it needs to be a part of an all-inclusive business development and marketing plan. Most professional services firms are using it with good success, considering its broad reach and low cost. To grow and increase market share, you need to be where your clients, prospects, and referral sources are, and that includes social media. If you’re not there, you can bet that your competitors are already there, so what are you waiting for?