Information for this blog post was obtained from Sproutsocial.com.
As a small business owner myself, I often wonder about the power that social media has. I also wonder what advantages it might have for my business. When looking at other larger businesses and even small ones, we have noticed a tremendous turn to using social media as a marketing tactic. In this day and age, social media has become a necessity for small businesses to use. Today, I am going to talk about the top 10 best ways to help enhance marketing your small business through social media.
1. Set Goals
Goals are super important for any business, as they help you decide what you want to focus on. Creating these goals not only gives you a look at what goals you want to focus on and accomplish, but it also helps you lay out what steps need to be taken to achieve your goal(s). When creating your goals, you want to make sure they are SMART. SMART goals are:
· Specific: Stating exactly what needs to be accomplished
· Measurable: How the action will be measured
· Attainable: The goal is challenging yet achievable
· Realistic: Goals are consistent with other established goals
· Time-Based: Include a time limit for achieving the goals
Example of a SMART goal: Increase our Instagram followers by 30% over the next 3 months by posting daily engaging content and running a targeted ad campaign.
2. Define your target audience
The next big task is who are you going to create content for and who do you want to target? Depending on the products your business has to offer, you will possibly have a different target audience than other businesses. Deciding who your target audience is, can help you decide what platforms you want to use and what are the best approaches you will take in marketing your products. When defining your audience you want to consider:
· Age
· Gender
· Job Profession
· Location
· Education
· Salary and purchasing power
· Types of Consumption
· Interests
3. Choose your platform(s)
Choosing your platform can have a major impact on your target audience. Depending on your target audience, it might help decide what platforms you most want to use for your business. Some popular platforms that businesses use include Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more. You also want to keep in mind that if you have multiple target audiences on different platforms, cross-posting might not always be your best option. I’m not saying that you should eliminate cross-posting but looking back at what target audiences are using and what platforms will be beneficial in helping gauge what to post and where.
4. Customize and optimize your profile
Customizing your profile helps it not only look better but also stand out to customers. After setting up your account, make sure to take an analysis of your profile. This can ensure that you have all the essentials for your profile and help you understand the features that the platform has to offer. Some essentials include profile pictures, an up-to-date bio, hours, location, and methods of contact. Even though you might think you have everything figured out, this Sprout article mentions that new features and settings are changing all the time.
5. Brainstorm and generate content
Creating content can often be a struggle, which is why you should always keep tabs on trends and what products might be selling best. As mentioned in the beginning I am a business owner myself, and to figure out what content to post, I like to look at what others similar industries are posting. Taking note of what others are posting can help showcase what is working and not working within the industry. Adding onto that, don’t be afraid to reach out to your audience and see what kind of posts they would like to see. Engaging with your followers and audience not only shows that you care about them, but they are more likely to engage with content that surpasses their expectations.
6. Use highlights to showcase products and what your business is about
Highlighting helps your audience understand more in-depth what your business is about. Some ideas include stories, reviews, and product features. Having seasonal products can also be a highlight, as it allows customers to have a “once in a lifetime” kind of offer. For instance, let's look at Starbucks, they have seasonal drinks and new items coming out at each launch they have. This helps entice people to buy products due to their limited-time offers. Relating to reviews, showcasing customers' feedback can help show customers how great your products are and can oftentimes be more enticing.
7. Pay attention to captions
Captions can be a huge factor in whether your audience engages with your post. If your audience thinks a caption is too lengthy, they often will just scroll past it, costing you a loss of engagement. Most of the time you want to make sure to keep the caption short and sweet and use hashtags that are relevant to your business. If you are having trouble deciding how long to make your caption and what hashtags to use, don’t be afraid to take a look at others' posts.
8. Schedule posts/Use a social media calendar
Looking at your social media analytics can help you get a better understanding of when to schedule your posts. When looking at your analytics, you want to take into consideration when your audience is most active and what type of content are they engaging with the most. Taking note of this will help improve your posting times and hopefully lead to more engagement.
9. Keep up on new features
Social media platforms are constantly changing and being updated. Not only are features constantly changing but so are trends. Staying up to date on these changes can provide an advantage to your business. Taking a further look at one of these features includes the update that TikTok made in the last couple of years, which was adding the TikTok shop. This allowed TikTok users to purchase products, share posts with the product, and add a link leading to the product itself. As for trends, staying up to date can often cause your products and posts to pop up more since they are more relevant.
10. Measure results and improve
Even after setting your goals, it’s always important to follow up and see if your goal was fully completed. If it wasn’t, what didn’t you accomplish? If you didn’t accomplish your goal on the first try, don’t worry, there is always room for improvement. Allowing yourself to improve doesn’t just help your business, it also helps you as a business owner. If your goal was obtained, what could have you done to enhance this goal or have done differently to further your business? That is all up to you and what you decide.
After taking a look at the 10 different ways to help enhance your social media marketing skills for your small business, I hope you feel more prepared and excited to promote your small business. Remember: there is always room for improvement in any goals you set.
Resources
Chen, J. (2024a, January 26). Expert tips on using Facebook for your small business. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-for-small-business/
Chen, J. (2024b, March 27). 13 ways to use Instagram for Small Business. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-for-small-business/
Jansasoy, J. (2023, August 29). Small businesses on TikTok: The strategy guide for your brand. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/small-business-tiktok/
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