Still not sure about the power of social media? Wondering what are the benefits to your small business?
With over 2 billion customers worldwide, your customers are already there. This makes social media an important part of your brand’s marketing strategy.
But when you need to be on social media, it’s easy to know where to start.
Below we look at 10 ways you can start using social media to expand and grow your small business.
Table of Contents
1. Learn the best practices
Social media is a crucial time in learning the best practices for each of the different platforms. Using social media marketing to grow your small business does not happen overnight. Each platform has its own set of rules (both written and unwritten) and ways to connect with your audience. The best way to learn these rules is to look at what your competitors are doing and what brands in similar industries are doing. Give yourself time to figure it out.
Keep in mind that what works for another audience may not work for you. Make a plan, evaluate your results and adjust along the way.
Remember, social media marketing is an ever-changing world, so it may take some trial and error to find your groove.
2. Set realistic goals
It can be difficult. Sure, you want to have 100,000 followers on your Instagram account in the next six months. But is it really possible? And do those followers equate to real success?
When you start using social media marketing to grow your business, it can be difficult to predict what will happen and what the pipe dream will be for followers. You can avoid ***** by creating valuable content that you can only get one share or two of. You rarely spend time in a tweet or Facebook post‌ and see tons of engagements.
Do not spend too much time and energy worrying about the number of your followers. The 100 followers who are engaged and enthusiastic have more than 10,000 random followers and bats. This is especially true if your business is highly local, such as a real estate agent or retail shop. Focus on getting relevant followers living in your community rather than just anyone on the platform.
Speaking of bots or “fake followers”, buying followers to increase your numbers is a quick solution to seeing large numbers, but it’s not a long-term solution. This is a bad way to point out your brand and it often leads to brand pages and social platforms that punish businesses.
Let your brand grow organically and get the right kind of followers.
3. Choose the right platform
If you are interested in using social media marketing to grow your business, be aware that not all platforms are created equal. Each serves its own purpose and they all have strengths and weaknesses. The social media sites you use should be determined by your industry and audience.
For many small businesses, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are the right networks to invest in.
Facebook is a great way to connect with local community groups and your personal network. Connect with them by commenting on posts related to accommodation or local events.
You can also advertise your public meetings and other personal and virtual events.
Consider sharing news from major neighborhoods to establish yourself as a thought leader.
Fully visual media, Instagram is the place to share your most interesting photos and videos. This makes the platform a great opportunity to enhance the authenticity of your brand.
Target specific buyer groups by tagging high-priced points of interest in or near your listing. Use Instagram Live for tour properties and answer questions in real-time.
LinkedIn is best used for networking and enhancing your industry reputation, but you can also share photos and videos here.
Make sure you are joining and participating in groups related to your industry and connecting with VIPs. You can also post-professional tips, share interesting thought leaders, and any information your audience likes.
If you are not sure which platforms are right for your business, look at your competitors. If they all use Pinterest or Twitter or TikTok, include them in your attack plan.
4. Create a brand identity
Raising awareness is a major goal for any small business.
We know that people generally like to shop from the brand they recognize.
This is where social media comes in.
Compared to traditional media, social media can put your brand in front of your target audience faster and easier. Additionally, it makes you think about your company even if it is not your target audience.
Spend your time creating and posting relevant content, cover images, and profile photos on social platforms. Keep your logo strategic so that it makes a lasting impression on the minds of the pros.
Do not place your logo in a distorted or bulky location. Also, do not forget to focus on the visual elements of your brand.
For example, when you look at Nike’s Twitter profile page, you’ll notice that it is clean and crisp. The pictures are simple. Learn about social bookmarking
He added his logo as his profile picture and his cover photo was his famous tagline.
5. Build trust with customers
Social media is more than just a platform to promote and sell the services or products of your small business. It gives you the opportunity to build trust with customers and develop loyal customers.
In a survey conducted by the Social Media Examiner, almost 79% of marketers agreed that social media is an effective way to increase loyal followers.
Now that we know that social media can be used to increase the number of loyal fans, let’s see how to do it.
All content you post on your social media profiles should be authentic, unique, relative, and engaging to your audience. Social media marketing tools.
One way to make sure your content has these features is to collaborate with Influencer to promote your product or service.
6. Establish your brand gradually
Social media platforms can help you occasionally empower your small business. Meaning, in your niche, your brand becomes a reliable source of information.
But how does social media help you in establishing topical authority?
You need to post content related to your niche regularly.
Then search engines will start recognizing your right to that place. It helps your brand to become a go-to authority for any topic.
If your page has too much authority, it will also generate high-quality traffic to your website.
If you are looking for content that is the source of your writing, you can use the tool to find a reliable source. Remember, the higher the number, the more reliable the page.
7. Track and measure progress
How you measure your progress depends on your goal. Using social media marketing to grow your small business is, as we have already discovered, very personal. Learn about brand awareness
And as we discussed earlier, the number of followers alone is not important. You should also note:
- Liked
- Mentions
- Attach
- Click
- Share/Retweet
- Notes
- Direct message
You can choose one of these criteria and set growth goals or you can take a look at them all and see if you are moving in the right direction. Whatever your goal, make sure you check in regularly.
8. Create content
This is one of the most important and time-consuming tasks of using social media marketing to grow your small business. You need to understand what your audience wants. Then you have to spend time researching, writing, sharing, and promoting that content.
Martek Advisor found that 56% of customers will be rewarded with relevant content by purchasing from a brand. They also found that 74% of users were frustrated with irrelevant content. Absurd means a lot more self-promotion, so we recommend following the 80/20 rule when deciding what to post. The way you cut it, the content you write and share can have a powerful impact on your business.
If maintaining a simple rhythm of interesting posts seems to take a lot of time, OutboundEngine can streamline the content creation process for you. We create content for you and publish it where it matters, so you have more time to focus on capturing all your new leads or selling more products.
9. Share & Participate
You can work with social media marketing software which you can explore from here. or you can take the DIY approach. If you are posting your own content, you will also need to take the time to participate.
Most people think all you have to do is reply to the comments. The truth is that the focus of every social account should be on building a community. This community should allow people to connect with your brand and with each other.
It’s up to you how you do it, but the first step is to make them find each other. Your audience may be car enthusiasts who want to trade upgrade tips with industry experts or first-time homebuyers who need mortgage advice.
Whatever they are, make sure you take the time to get to know them as individuals. Find new ways you can help them, and then create the content they are looking for.
If you do all of these, over time you will build a consistent fan base that will love your work and use social media marketing to grow your small business.
10. Get to know your audience
One reason why using social media for business can be so effective is that you can subtly target your audience. But first, you need to understand who your audience is.
Get started by compiling data on your current customers. And then, take a deeper look at social media analytics. You will soon understand who is buying online and who is interacting with you.
The Hootsuite insights provided by the brand watch will help you find detailed information such as top hashtags, referral sites, and specific social authors for terms relevant to your business.
Once you have defined your audience, you can create buyer people, which will help you understand the best ways to talk to your audience. We have a free buyer template to help you get started.
Bottom Line: Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
It may seem overwhelming at first, but by breaking down the process step by step, you will see how social media marketing can grow your small business. Lastly, keep in mind that Mixwitmarketing’s marketing experts will be available for advice and marketing support when you need it.
