Social media is useful for establishing presence, for communicating personality, and for connecting with others, whether or not you use social media for business. The highest use of social media, however, is to be of service to others. As a business, you can help yourself and others by announcing and promoting events meaningful to your community and to your market.
A strong word of caution from from the get-go. If you use social media to promote 'events' that are really just sales promotions for your business, the net effect will be negative and you can quickly lose followers and friends. Indirect self-aggrandizement is fine and occasional mention of a special sale or event is acceptable, too, just don't confuse social media with advertising. If your posts look like ads and exhortations to buy or use your services, people will flee, and many will consider your posts spam.
OK, so if you can't (or shouldn't) just post notices about your next big store sale or special discount on your services, what can you post?
If you want to focus on your community, post notices of events in the community that will appeal to your market. Any community of more than 100 people has plenty going on, so there will be no shortage of events to post and promote. It's not advisable to try to use social media as a full community calendar - you can do it, and some will appreciate it, but you can wear yourself out, plus, that's not being selective and targeting your desired market.
So pick local events your clients and customers would likely attend and support. Post notices about the events, in advance, and include links to more information. When you provide this service, the event promoters and organizers will appreciate it and so will your market. You'll be providing a helpful service and that will gain you positive points. Then if you include an ad or personal promotion once in a while, people won't be turned off.
Another event category to promote is events in your field of business or industry, but not ads for your particular business. If you post notice of events or gatherings concerning your field of business, not only will you be giving service to others in your field, you'll also be taking a leadership role, which will serve your own business well because people like to do business with leaders.
So it's simple. Pick some events your market or your colleagues will find of interest and post notice of them, perhaps two weeks, one week, and 2 days in advance. You'll find this tip a relatively easy way to find content for your social media postings and a nice way to provide service to others.
