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The days of standing behind the counter and waiting to hear a bell ding over the door to signal the entrance of a client are long gone. Today, if you want to reach clients, generate business, and make a name for yourself, you need to go where the clients are—social media platforms.

Social media isn’t just where the kids upload TikTok videos or the neighbors gossip about a barking dog or suspicious vehicle. It’s where everyone turns to ask for recommendations, advice, assistance, and where to spend their time and money. Whether your business sells goods, services, or ideas, you need to stand out online. Below are several tips for how to find the right clients at the right time and in the right place.

Be relevant

The key to using social media as a business tool is to narrow your focus and have a goal in mind. Find out where your typical client is scrolling or posting and target that app first. Use keywords and invest in targeted ads for your region or age group. If you post or advertise on every app or platform, you’re wasting time and money.

Be consistent

Social media is filled with millions of users every minute of the day. You have to be a consistent presence on their screen. You must post again, and again…and yes, again. The way to get and keep followers and stay fresh in the minds and wallets of users is to devote the time and creative energy to posting and sharing fresh content daily if not more often.

Be responsive

Today’s customer is not glancing through the newspaper, coming across your ad, and stopping in next week to ask details. They will comment, message, or email immediately after seeing a social media post or ad. You need to be connected beyond business hours to answer those messages or comments. We are a society that’s used to immediate gratification and a text back within minutes. If you don’t respond quickly, that client scrolls down to the next provider. Whoever can give them the information they need the quickest, gets the job.

Be adaptable

It’s important to acknowledge social media is a fickle beast. Once a client base regards one platform as obsolete, you need to adapt accordingly. Once a new platform takes off and declares itself the next big thing with millions of users overnight, you need to get on the ball and master it. The world, especially technology, is changing much faster than any of us can predict or keep up with. You have to adapt to what’s useful now and be ready to adapt to the next big thing.

Overall, regardless of how you feel about social media, it’s not going away. Sure, some platforms fade away, ala myspace, and others take hits on the market or become unpopular with certain demographics, but in some form or another, it’s where the clients are. By being on top of the social media game, being a relevant and consistent presence, responding to those who reach out, and being poised to adapt to the next big thing, it can be the most profitable tool in your marketing plan.