Utilizing Social Media For Your Small Business

Small businesses have a huge opportunity to utilize social media to connect with customers and build their brand. However, many companies struggle to define their online presence and will often put social media marketing on the back burner. This needs to change! Small businesses need to start taking advantage of social media to discover all that it can do for them. In this article we are diving into some tips for small businesses looking to expand their social media marketing efforts and grow their company.

Know Your Capacity

As a small business you likely don’t have a full marketing staff that can organize, create, and run all of your social media platforms and campaigns. You probably have one or two people doing marketing – or maybe it’s just you! Step back and think about what is realistic for your company. Maybe you’ll be posting twice a week, or maybe you’ll be able to post once a day. You also need to determine if you have the budget for paid advertising, or if you should stick with organic campaigns. It’s important to check in with your team to make sure they have time in their schedules to do the work and understand that this is a priority for the company.

Promote Products

Trying to increase your product exposure? Use your social media to highlight your store and products! You can post weekly about any new products coming into your store, promote fan favorites, or just show interior shots of your business so that followers learn more about your brand. If it fits your industry, feature your customers with their purchase of your product/service. For example, you may have seen hair salons posting before and after photos. Not only does that show off the skill of the stylist, it also shows that the salon has customers, encouraging people to jump on the bandwagon and check out the company!

Increase Engagement

This is one of the most important things for a small business to do on social media. Because you are small it is important to connect with customers and other local companies to grow your digital presences as well as your brick and mortar business! Make sure to interact with other small businesses in your area by liking and commenting on their posts. Not only will they appreciate the engagement, it will make them more likely to interact with your content as well. Having a partnership with another small business can also help you reach customers that haven’t been exposed to your brand.

Highlight User-Generated Content

Another great way to engage with your customers and promote your products or services? Use user-generated content! User-generated content is exactly what it sounds like – posts on social media that are made by your customers that highlight your brand, product, or service. Re-sharing customer content builds trust with users who aren’t familiar with your brand, since they are able to see other people’s opinions about the brand. User-based content ads authenticity. On the other hand, it helps past customers feel special that they were recognized and will increase their loyalty to your business. Not sure how to get user-generated content? Try running a giveaway that customers can enter by tagging your company in a photo of them using your product or service.

These are just a few things that small businesses can do to utilize social media. While it might take some time to start seeing results, if you put forth consistent effort into growing your social presence you will eventually see your hard work pay off. Of course, there is so much more to social media marketing than what we covered here. If you’re interested in learning more, check out some of our past blogs, or read up on some social media stats from Sprout Social to determine what platforms your small business should use. Need some help getting started with your business’s social media marketing? Contact us! We would love to help you grow your online presence.