Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
- Introduce Your Customers to Your Brand
- Have a Plan
- Influencers and Advertising
- Adjusting Your Strategy
Social media helps to bring light to small businesses, but with so much competition, you may feel like a minnow inside of an ocean. How can you stand out and find your followers? How can you stretch whatever marketing budget you have to reach the most people? This post will tell you how. Also, learn how you can promote your social media presence via ViralGrowing.
Introduce Your Customers to Your Brand
Since you’re a small business, not many people know what your business is and what it offers. That’s why you should break the ice with an introductory post. These posts can tell people several things about yourself, such as:
- Your brand voice. What is your style followers should expect?
- What products do you offer, and how do these products differ from the competition?
- Your brand story. What inspired you to create this business? Do you have a unique tale that sets you apart?
You don’t need to lose sleep over making the perfect first post, but it should be insightful, Your brand may interesting, and make people want to know more. Since most social media platforms allow you to pin a post, making it the first post people will see, you may want to do that. You can also add it to your highlights, if applicable.
Have a Plan
If you're new to social media, you may think, "Keep posting and see what sticks." However, small businesses with no plans usually fail their social media, and we don't want you to experience that! That's why it's so important to have a plan.
Okay, you don’t need an entire novel on what you’re going to do, but you should have an outline. This outline should ask the following questions.
Who is Your Audience?
Depending on your business, you may have an idea of your target audience. You may offer products that only younger people will use, or you may have a business geared toward an older audience. Whatever the case, you want to have an audience in mind. You want to create customer profiles detailing the daily journeys of the average customer.
Your audience will also help you determine which social media platforms to focus on. If you're appealing to a younger audience, you may want to try Instagram and TikTok. If you're appealing to an older or business-minded audience, you may look to LinkedIn or Facebook.
One way for you to know who your audience is relates to the next point, which is to:
Look at the Competition
No matter how unique your business is, there's a business offering something similar. Visiting their profiles can give you an idea of their content strategy and, most importantly, their audience. You can click on some of their followers and visit their profiles. This can give you a better idea of what your audience is.
What Content is Working Well for Similar Businesses?
This is another question you should ask when building your social media marketing strategy. Depending on your niche, video content may reign supreme. But other times, photo content may be your preferred route. When creating the content, you don't want to copy your competition to the point of plagiarism. But you do want to look at what your competition is posting and find out how you can add your own voice to it.
Create Realistic Goals
When building your social media marketing plan, you want to make realistic goals you can reach. Your goals shouldn't be something like "Reach a million followers in a month," as this probably won't happen. But can you get 100 followers in one month? This goal is more realistic.
Content Calendar
A content calendar is important if you want to post consistently. You should be posting several times a week if you want to stay in the algorithm and attract the most followers. But if you don't know what you're posting and when, you can fall behind. A content calendar helps you schedule content ahead of time so that you're never behind. It's ideal to craft the first week's worth of content before you launch your social media page.
What Management Software Are You Going to Use?
If you have multiple social media accounts, you should use management software. This software can help you schedule posts for numerous sites, compile your messages in one place, and help your team collaborate. If you have one social media account, you may not need this software. But if you have many, this can save you time.
There are many apps available, each with their unique benefits. Some apps are free to use, while others require a monthly subscription. Then, you have apps that have both a free and premium version.
Influencers and Advertising
Some small businesses have grown their presence on social media without spending money. However, most will need to spend at least a little if they want to increase their branding. You may need to spend money on an ad campaign to get your target audience to notice your posts. You may also want to pay influencers.
Influencers are people whose followers listen to their every word. They often recommend products, and their audience sees them as trustworthy and not salesy. If you wish to grow your business, striking a deal with influencers is a must. Not all influencers are million-follower accounts, either. There are nano-influencers with 1,000 followers. While small, the audience is dedicated and is likely to try your products.
Adjusting Your Strategy
As a small business, you will need to tweak your plans as your audience evolves or if one strategy doesn't work. You may change your approach to content when you post or the hashtags you use. Please don't see this as a sign you're failing; it can make adjustments to find the right strategy for you. Your brand may need a unique strategy.
These are several strategies your small business can use to grow. Use them and see the follower count grow! Good luck!
