5 Social Media Marketing Tips For Small Businesses

Most small business seek large markets and to eventually grow into a larger more independent business.  Fortunately, the use of social media has developed into one of the frontline forms of marketing. It has given small businesses an opportunity to expand and reach people all over the world.

However, despite the promise that’s evident in social media marketing, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Social media marketing describes the act of using of social media websites or platforms as means of product or service promotion. With applications and websites being updated continuously, more channels have been opening up for marketing in the social media realm.

With the large range of social media platforms, the growing number of people utilizing them, and the ongoing shift to online or digitization of everything, it’s evident social media marketing is widespread and effective. If your small business is experiencing trouble navigating through the social media marketing channels or is just in need of advice, these are some social media marketing tips you can explore.

1. Sell Products On Social Media

There are numerous social media platforms and they’re all evolving by the day. Today, social media platforms have built-in features that give you the option to sell your products directly from social media platforms. 

If you’re looking to delve into this type of marketing, you can always learn more about selling products on social media through reading reviews, asking around, exploring options, or anything else of the sort. Having your small business’ store directly on a social media platform could draw more people in because it’s convenient, it’s relatively safer, and is easily accessible.

2. Choose The Social Media Platforms And Use Them

People tend to join various social media platforms or websites and don’t end up using them. They would create business accounts and set them up but end up being inactive or inconsistent. This is bad marketing and could affect your customer reach given you’re not being consistent with your social media content delivery and customer service.

Make sure you choose social media platforms where you’re relatively confident there’ll be an audience for you. For example, refrain from posting about a fitness protein shake on a social media platform that prides itself off of learning languages. When you post on social media platforms with broad audiences and clear categorization, you’ll have the certainty your message will be reached and your audience will be broader.

After you’ve set up social media accounts on your chosen social media platform, you can be more comfortable in engaging with marketing strategies on that particular platform. Once you’ve mastered one, you can proceed with expanding your reach by establishing a social media presence on other platforms. Once you’re fluent in numerous platforms, you’ll be gently reminded why social media advertising is important and why you started.

3. Set Goals

Goals are an important part of many parts of life, including marketing. Having goals for your small business could be a form of marketing because. Through actively working towards increased productivity, you could draw more people in. If you set goals surrounding the marketing of your business, you may be consistently motivated to post more frequently and keep your audience engaged.

With that said, your goals must be clear-cut with steps and time periods attached to them. Avoid setting goals that say, ‘Respond to as many comments as possible,’ or something unclear like that. Try to set up something like, ‘In the month of May, respond to at least 20 comments a day and make a record of any commonalities,’ or ‘Set up 3 promotion deals with different social media influencers by the end of June.’

These types of goals are clear cut and attainable because they have specific time periods and are relatively direct. You should have reminders about your goals but you should also have reminders of how you wanted to go about reaching that goal. You would do this so you don’t lose sight of the work that needs to be put in.

4. Engage In Collaborations With Social Media Influencers 

Being a social media influencer has grown into a full-time job. However, some of these influencers haven’t got lost in the chaos of being an influencer and still remain authentic when doing collaborations. These are the types of people that you should engage with.

Engaging in collaborations allows people with large followings to thoroughly reveal all aspects of your product or service. Influencers tend to be more fluent in translating the message and value of your story, sharing their own personal experience, and revealing all properties surrounding your product or service.

The social media world has become very animated and rehearsed. Collaborations with influencers could allow you to move away from self-promotion and allow people to see the humanity and widespread use of your product or service. People are drawn to unique product marketing, rather than a long trail of self-promoted posts, and collaborations may reveal this humanity in your small business.

5. Give Your Brand A Voice

A brand voice is essential to a small business, especially when it comes to social media marketing. When people view your product or service online, they don’t see the midnight brainstorming, the hours of packaging, the self-written notes, the thought process, and anything else behind the scenes. Your brand voice reveals the essence of all this and is ideally a representation of the personality of your brand.

There’s a lot of questions that you need to review before establishing your brand voice. For example, what’s your purpose? Who’s this product or service design for? How does your target audience communicate?

Your voice doesn’t always have to be fixed; it can be versatile. A versatile voice can interchange seamlessly and this is a power marketing tool today because the world is continuously evolving and changing. How does the voice of your small business sound?

Market Your Business

These tips may be just what you need to get started with your social media marketing journey, or perhaps you’ve already started but were still looking for ways to expand customer reach and influence. For that matter, small businesses need to hop on the social media train because it’s growing every day.