Social media marketing is no longer an option for small businesses, especially in 2021.
Yet, there are still many small businesses, which are not active on social media platforms as much as they should.
And if you’re one of them, then the first thing you need to understand is that failure to have a concrete social media marketing strategy can be extremely detrimental for your small business.
According to Vendasta, 90% of marketers admitted that their social media marketing efforts have drastically increased their business exposure, while 75% of them also admitted that social media marketing helped them increase traffic.
Another study by Vendasta found that over 50% of marketers who are implementing social media marketing for two years have witnessed increased sales.
Not only that but more than 1 in 3 internet users go to social media platforms to find more information about a brand or a product.
The point is, social media presence can have a notable impact on your small business.
And in this post, I’m going to share 7 strategies to market your small business on social media and steer you towards the path of success.
[lwptoc depth=”2″ numeration=”none” toggle=”1″]7 Strategies to Market Your Small Business on Social Media
Whether you’re a small business owner who isn’t convinced to use social media or you’ve already been marketing on social media but have not achieved the results you hoped for, you’ve come to the right place.
Below, I have shared 7 surefire strategies to effectively market your small business on social media platforms.
1 – Create Profiles on Multiple Social Media Platforms
When it comes to social media marketing, creating just a Facebook page is not enough.
Although it’s definitely a good start. But Facebook alone won’t be enough to maximize your social media reach.
This is why you need to establish your presence on multiple social media platforms.
According to a study by Clutch, the following are the best & most used social media platforms used by small businesses:
Now, before you rush to create your social media profile on all these platforms, it’s best to first understand your target market.
For instance, if you run a B2B small business, LinkedIn is probably the best social media platform as more than 80% of B2B leads are generated from LinkedIn.
Alternatively, if your target audience is Gen Z, then Snapchat may be the best platform to market your small business as 71% of Gen Z use Snapchat over six times a day.
Facebook, on the other hand, is best if you’re targeting baby boomers.
The point is, based on the nature of your business & your target audience, you need to identify multiple right social media platforms and establish your presence on them.
2 – Define Your Social Media Marketing Goals
Once you’ve created social media profiles on multiple platforms, you shouldn’t just start posting content blindly without any goal.
So, after creating your social media profiles, you need to think about & identify your marketing goals.
Generally, the majority of small businesses use social media for lead generation, build brand awareness, & engage customers.
However, the use of social media platforms for small businesses is not limited to these three.
You can also leverage social media to provide customer support service or drive sales.
Whatever the goal is, it’s essential to define clear social media marketing goals for your small business.
3 – Post Content on Daily Basis
After creating profiles on multiple social media platforms & defining clear social media marketing goals for your small business, you’ve to make sure to post content on daily basis.
According to recent statistics, here’s how frequently small businesses post content on social media:
A study by SproutSocial also revealed that 48% of consumers admitted that when a brand is active on social media, they’re more prompted to make a purchase.
So, if you want to increase your sales, being active & post content on daily basis on social media platforms is critically necessary.
4 – Give People a Reason to Follow You
If you want to make more sales from your social media marketing strategy, then first you need to do is gain a lot of followers.
This is because people are more likely to buy from brands that they follow on social media.
So, once you’ve gained a large following on social media, it’s easier to convert your followers into paying customers.
So, whenever you post content on social media, just make sure that your content is worth following.
There are lots of ways to achieve this such as running contests & giveaways (more on this later), sharing educational content, discount offers, etc.
5 – Partner with Social Media Influencers
Another good strategy to market your small business on social media platforms is to partner with social media influencers in your niche.
Social media influencers are basically internet celebrities who have obtained a huge amount of following on a given social media platform.
Moreover, a study has also proven that influencer marketing is also one of the fastest-growing methods for online customer acquisition.
This strategy is highly effective mainly because niche influencers have strong engagement metrics with their followers than brands.
So, if you want to level up your social media marketing game, you can most certainly consider partnering with niche influencers within the region of your small business and have them post about your products.
6 – Use Social Media Automation Tools
Now, if everything we have discussed so far sounds like a lot of effort & time-consuming, it’s because it is.
When running a small business, you will often need to wear a lot of hats throughout the day.
However, if there aren’t enough hours in a day for you to handle social media marketing & hiring someone to take care of this is also expensive, then you can consider using automation resources.
In other words, social media automation tools such as Buffer or HootSuite allow you to schedule your posts in advance. All you need to do is take time once at the beginning of your month or week to set publish dates & times in the future.
Besides this, you can also use such social media automation tools to respond to messages on each social media platform from one place rather than checking each platform individually.
7 – Run Contests & Giveaways
Contests & Giveaways, as I mentioned earlier, are best to give your target audience a reason to follow you.
They basically help you to increase your social media followers. And the best part is, contests and giveaways are also highest in terms of engagement.
There are tons of successful contest examples to take inspiration from.
The easiest & best way to launch your first contest is to ask your social media users to follow your account, tag their friends, or republish a photo to participate in your contest.
This simple contest can win you a lot of followers in exchange for a small incentive such as a gift card or a special discount on your products.
The point is, social media contests & giveaways can be highly beneficial in gaining new followers & increasing your sales. So, you must consider executing contests & giveaways on a regular basis to market your small business.
Final Note:
If you want to survive & stay relevant in today’s market, your small business needs to be active on social media platforms. More importantly, your profiles on social media must be appealing to your target audience in order to generate your desired results.
With the above strategies, you can definitely bring your social media marketing to the next level.
And if you have questions regarding any of the strategies mentioned in this post, feel free to ask me in the comments below.
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