As a small business owner, if you want to succeed on social media, you need to have a good understanding of the different platforms, and a comprehensive strategy and content plan, not to mention great perseverance. Here, we reveal the Best Social Media Tips for Small Businesses, and conditions for success on social media today.
As a small business, your marketing department is likely to be relatively small or even non-existent, so the world of marketing and social media can be overwhelmed. Not only that, time, staff, and funds are often in short supply, making it difficult for companies to create online businesses and have a strong social media presence.
However, to stay relevant in today’s digital world, you need to get your business into the social space. A report from We Are Social and Hootsuite shows that there are now 2.8 billion active social media users around the world – so tapping into its benefits has never been more important.
As consumer trends shift focus from traditional media to digital and mobile, social media is gradually seen as the ultimate tool to promote your brand, raise awareness and connect with your target market – but how can you succeed quickly? Follow these social media tips to start your social media business.
Table of Contents
Choose Your Social Media Platforms Wisely
Consistency is the key to doing social media work for yourself and your business, so don’t assume you have to have profiles across all social media platforms.
Adding more platforms than necessary will result in sporadic and inconsistent performance, so focus on one or maybe two to three platforms that work best for your audience.
Think about which social networks will bring the best results for your business? Here is a short guide to the main social media platforms:
Twitter is widely regarded as the best engagement platform and is becoming increasingly popular as a tool for social customer service.
Twitter is a fast paced platform and allows fast response. Users of the platform can post tweets of up to 140 characters, share photos and videos, create custom polls, send direct messages, and a lot more.
You can also use Twitter cards or paid promotions to promote content organically if you choose to do so.
Instagram is a visual social media platform entirely based on photos/images and video posts. Although the demographic is shifting towards younger users, older generations are starting to embrace it a lot more. Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is almost completely mobile, and although there is a website version, you cannot take photos or create new posts on it.
YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing platform with more than 1 billion users, where people can view, upload, rate, share, subscribe and comment on content.
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network. LinkedIn is a business-centric network where users can add contacts, share links, join groups, write recommendations, and search for contacts by company, location, industry, and skill. Paid advertising is also possible on this platform.
It’s not for everyone, but Facebook is a popular social media channel with the largest user base. Users of this platform can connect with their friends, share posts that include links, photos, videos, events and you can create ans join private groups. You have the option to promote your content organically and through paid promotions.
Have a Plan and Follow it
Social media should be treated like any other business function. There needs to be a goal, and you need to establish what your goal is, as well as what you want it to achieve for your brand.
- Do you need to increase sales?
- Looking to increase brand awareness?
- Want to increase engagement with your customers?
Once you’ve set a goal, keep it in mind when planning your social media strategy.
Take the time to review competitor profiles, research relevant content, and create a posting schedule for each social media platform you use.
Think of large campaigns that can be run across multiple platforms, such as launching a promotion or contest, rather than posting systematically. Brands can also take advantage of seasonality with their content, so think about what’s happening on the calendar and organise your posts accordingly.
There are tons of tools out there that can help you shape your content and make regular posting much easier. If you create a business profile on Facebook, you have access to free posting and insight tools, and for other platforms, SproutSocial, HootSuite, and Buffer are examples of free tools you can use that will help you get started with content planning.
Remain Social
Building an audience requires you to interact with other users, so while content planning and strategies are very important, reacting to current conversations and engaging with influencers is essential if you want to make your mark, Share, repost, join groups, follow key individuals in your industry, and comment on posts relevant to your brand.
It’s a good idea to keep track of what is going on, what are people talking about?, what are popular topics being discussed on social media? and think about how you can join in on the conversation – whether it’s giving your opinion or starting a new conversation, maybe you’re seeking to establish a new relationship? the opportunities are endless.
Building new relationships with influencers can open new doors giving you the potential to gain new clients, make more sales and build a following of users interested in your services or products.
Become a Valuable Contributor
One of the key factors to social media success is commitment. Once you’ve identified your target audience and the platform that is most suited to helping you reach that target audience, you need to provide valuable content that resonates with your audience.
Sharing your experience and knowledge, providing solutions, and valuable market insights will inspire your audience and prospective customers to keep them engaged with your brand.
No matter how you choose to expand your social influence, preparation is key-once the foundation is in place, you can start having fun and build your following.
For instance, a recent social media survey showed a majority of business owners used Twitter and Facebook more than other platforms available,
Twitter is not only a great platform for conversations, it’s also simple to use, but also easy to search and network on. Twitter is also easy to build a presence on becoming a trusted source in your industry.
However, those who are using the platform for professional purposes need to bear in mind that they will need to put themselves out there when it comes to being a specialist in your field.
Every social media marketing specialist has their own way of doing things, and as long as you have a clear understanding of how you’re running your business and helping it deliver results, you can build a loyal following who eagerly await for what you share.
But also be sure to speak to your audience. No one wants to follow a person or brand who thinks they are better than the audience they serve.
Facebook is constantly evolving. So the way businesses should be using it now is not just by posting on their company page but engaging more with users in private groups.
Facebook groups are now a big “thing” that businesses should be making the most of. There are many business groups and networks that professionals can join to ensure that they market themselves without selling.
The way to build a network with a Facebook group is to be helpful, respond to members questions and make recommendations to them.
When the time comes where a member of the group decides they need your product or services, you’re in a golden position to act on it and hopefully you will be socially backed by other users who you have helped and supported in the group also.
Conclusion
You first need to find out what social media networks are going to be best suited for your business and stick to those platforms. Create a social media plan and strategy moving forward. you cannot afford to, slack when it comes to creating engaging social content.
When it comes to creating content, you can create daily or weekly blog articles or videos, share case studies, write a newsletter, share it to attract and build up your sign ups.
Remember to be consistent and brand your imagery, ensure you’re part of the right conversations, referrals and website traffic you can gain from social media alone makes the extra work worth the investment.
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