Are you trying to take your business to the next level, but your social media game is seriously lacking?

There is a big difference between using social media and winning with social media. You don’t want to spend time and money just to find you’re not making any real progress (or any real profits!). If you haven’t the faintest idea how to get started with your Shopify SEO strategy or whether your content is optimized for Instagram, it’s time to start focusing on how you can increase your impact on social media. Here are just a few things to keep in mind as you work to start winning with social media.

1. Be Social

Like many business owners, you may be talking about how much your company uses social media instead of talking to your target audience through social media. Here’s the thing — social media is not meant to be used as your personal platform for broadcasting your business (bummer, I know). Social media is meant to be a place for people to connect and engage, which you’re not doing if all you ever do is post and monitor your page.

According to Mashable, there are more than three billion global social media users — nearly half the world’s population. Movies like People You May Know point to the irony of how “connected” we all are to one another, but how little we actually engage, and this is a point worth noting for your business model. Stop scrolling. Like, comment, and share the posts of others to create a community and establish a dialogue that makes the most out of the social part of social media.

2. Used LinkedIn to Build Your Network

Many small business owners immediately turn their attention to Facebook and Twitter, which seems like as good a starting place as any, since they tend to be the most familiar platforms. While social media platforms like these are perfect marketing tools for many businesses, not all brands can benefit equally from these systems.

If you’re a service-based business, like a company that helps couples consolidate debt through a balance transfer, or a B2B dropshipping company, for instance, you’ll want to spend plenty of time on LinkedIn. According to Fortune, LinkedIn has more than 500 million users, and the majority of these people are on the site to connect with other business professionals.

3. Know When (and What) to Post

It’s safe to assume you want to get as much mileage as possible out of every update, so spend some time analyzing when it makes the most sense to post new content to your audience. According to CoSchedule, you will get the highest click-through rates between the hours of 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm, but you don’t want to publish new content before 8:00 am or on weekends.

Of course, since every business is different, you need to experiment with a variety of days and times and compile real data to determine when your audience is available and engaged to drive maximum exposure and interaction on your new posts.

It’s also critical to optimize your posts for each platform, since no two social media systems are exactly the same. You may not need to use hashtags for potential customers to find you and interact with your brand on Facebook, but you won’t get very far on Instagram without them.

4. Use a Social Media Dashboard to Track Everything

Even if you are having good luck with social media, you need to keep close tabs on everything you’re doing. This means using a social media dashboard to track all the key metrics associated with your social media strategy.

For example, you can track which Facebook posts received the most engagement or get a better idea of which Twitter updates have had the greatest reach. There are a variety of social media dashboards you can use, with Dasheroo being among the best. In addition to its hundreds of integrations, Dasheroo has a free plan for those who are just getting started.

You don’t want to use social media and hope you’re making all the right decisions; you want to track everything so you know you’re on the right path.

There will always be small business owners who don’t take the time to learn more about social media, and while there is no rule saying you have to use social to become successful or grow your business, it is hard to ignore the power that social media wields over our everyday lives. If you want your business to have the largest impact possible, it may be time to step up your social media game.

What social media strategies are helping your business become more successful? Share you experience in the comments.