There are many different social media channels today that small business owners like yourself can utilize; use these social media marketing tips to start using them to your business’ advantage.
The popular social media sites you may have heard of, or tried using, include Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Reddit. Each of these sites has its own features and each has its advantages and disadvantages. So, when choosing a platform to start marketing your small business, always consider these things first. Not all of the platforms will be good for your business, so take the time to test and see which ones work best for you.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.
Peter Drucker
Social Media Marketing Tips to Get You Started
Many years ago, social media was a strange world to many business owners. Today, almost every business, from micro to large, has its own social media channels. Even self-employed individuals now engage with e-commerce through social media. Social selling has become a norm.
How do you get the best results out of social media marketing? Here are a few tips:
Set Your Goals and Objectives
These two are often used interchangeably, but goals mostly refer to the bigger picture while objectives are short term action steps that will take you to a goal.
So, if your goal is to increase your Instagram followers to 10,000 in 3 months, your objective may include hiring a social media content creator or manager to create compelling content (images, videos, and captions), choose the right hashtags, and schedule or post the content on optimal times to get the best results.
Do Your Due Diligence
Research and understand your target audience. You cannot look at social media once and then assume you know everything the people want or need. Research may take time but it is one of the most important steps in creating a successful business. So, do your research and understand your target audience. Some of the questions to ask are:
- What do they want?
- What do they need?
- What are their pain points?
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
It is better to post quality content thrice a week than post low quality content twice a day. Remember that what you post on social media reflects the kind of business you run and the kind of business owner you are.
Share Relevant Content From Other Trusted Sites
Admit it or not, you’re not the only authority in your niche, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You can share content from other authority sites that truly resonated with you. Share content that you know will also teach something to your audience and that is relevant to what you offer.
Include Visuals in Your Content
Social media is a visual world. Adding visuals to your social media marketing posts can go a long way. You can vary them from creative images or illustrations to memes and videos. Images tell a story so make sure they are relevant to your post.
Automate Your Processes
There are many different automation tools online for social media marketing. You will also find that some social media sites like Facebook and X have their own scheduling tools that allow you to schedule your posts in advance. You can also automate appointment booking through social media.
Track Performance and Adjust
It is important to track the performance of your social media content so you know what’s working and what’s not. Each social media platform has its own analytics tool that you can use. If you want a data analytics tool that can store all of your social media insights, you can use Google Analytics, Hootsuite, or Hubspot, among many others.
These are seven social media marketing tips that you can start paying attention to when working on your business strategy.
