How to Use Social Media for Your Small Business

In today’s digitalized world, social media marketing is a must for businesses of all industries and sizes.

Small business owners often think they don’t need social media marketing because they have already built a solid customer base, but that’s not true.

In addition to helping you acquire new customers, social media marketing can help you earn more money from your existing ones.

But in order to see results, you need to follow the latest trends in social media and find a way to apply them to your business.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 5 essential tips that will help you develop a solid social media strategy for your small business.

As you might already know, Facebook leads the way when it comes to social media marketing. So, if you already have a Facebook page for your small business, you’re down the right path.

However, Facebook isn’t enough if you want to reach a broader audience. You’ll need to be present on multiple social platforms.

Here’s which channels small businesses use the most:

As mentioned before, Facebook is the most used platform, whereas the other social platforms – Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube – are used by less than 50% of small businesses. In addition, less than 30% of small businesses use Snapchat and LinkedIn.

Now, before you create profiles on the above-listed social platform channels, you need to understand your target audience.

For instance, if your target audience is Gen Z (the generation born between 1996-2010), you should focus your efforts on Snapchat and/or Instagram. If you decide to give Instagram a try, start off the right foot with these Instagram bio ideas with emojis.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, is more suitable for B2B companies due to the fact that 80% of B2B lead generation comes from this social platform.

Still, Facebook is the best option for those that are just starting out with their social media strategy. With 2.50 billion monthly active users, it’s safe to assume that your target audience is present on this social network.

You should also consider creating a YouTube channel. The videos you upload to YouTube can be easily repurposed for your other channels.

2. Set Clear Goals

Posting random content on your social media profiles isn’t going to get you anywhere; you have to set clear goals.

The top goals that small businesses are trying to achieve with their social media marketing strategies include lead generation (70%), building brand awareness (53%), and engaging customers (50%).

No matter what your goals are, you need to ensure they’re clearly defined. Once you determine the goals of your social media marketing strategy, it’ll be easier to figure out what type of content to post.

Once your profiles on different social media channels are set up, you need to ensure they are active.

If you post something and then disappear for weeks, people won’t follow you. Simply put, nobody wants to follow a brand that isn’t there.

You also need to think about the people who are already following you. They won’t just decide to return to your page; you have to post new content that will show up on their timelines and homepages.

In other words, you need to post fresh content every day. Considering the fact that only 52% of small businesses do so, this will give you a chance to stand apart from the crowd and make it easier for you to reach your customers.

Every time you post something new, your customers will be reminded that your brand is out there. So, when they need the products you’re offering, your company will come to mind.

When it comes to the type of content you should post, the choice is wide (but still, it largely depends on your goals). You can post promotional offers, share content from your site, repurpose previously published content, post user-generated content, etc.

Besides posting content on a daily basis, it is also very important to reply to your customers’ comments and direct messages. Nearly 50% of consumers have stated that purchase from brands that are responsive to their customers.

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4. Make Your Content Worth Following

If you want your social media strategy to be successful, you need to gain a lot of followers, i.e. people who are going to see the content you post.

Some of the reasons why people would be following your business on social platforms include:

you offer exclusive promotions
their friends or family follow your brand
they want to know about your products and services
your content is valuable and interesting
you offered an incentive
they need to speak to a customer service agent

Once you grow your following, it’ll be easier to convert followers into buying customers. This is because consumers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media.

So, your job is to ensure you post content that is worth following. Some of the most efficient types of content for this purpose include contests, giveaways, discounts, and flash sales. Take advantage of micro-influencers and use them to create authentic and engaging content that you can repurpose. This content is evergreen and tends to generate much higher engagement than brand-curated posts. Use an influencer database platform to find the right influencers for your brand that fit your budget and niche.

However, posting too much promotional content can appear spammy and annoy your followers – nearly 50% of consumers say they will unfollow a brand that posts too many promotions.

If you want to beat your competitors on social media, you need to know what they’re doing.

Competitive research tools let you see how your social media marketing strategies compare to similar businesses.

By tracking your competitors’ social media activities, you’re gaining valuable insights that will help you make the necessary improvements and grow your business. You’ll be able to see how other businesses represent their brands, how they engage with their audience, what type of content they create, etc.

The goal is to create an outstanding customer experience with the use of social media. However, most businesses use multiple channels to market their products or build brand awareness.

Tools like Competitors App monitor Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and help you track updates to blog posts. When the monitored social media page is connected, the app will pull all the posts along with the engagement counts (shares, tweets, likes, etc). You’ll be frequently alerted to all the posts in the monitored resource. This will allow you to stay updated with all your competitors’ activities and marketing campaigns.