An Essential Guide to Social Media for Small Businesses

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• How Social Media Can Help Social Businesses
• Why Do You Need a Social Media Strategy for Your Small Business?
• How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Small Businesses
• An Essential Guide to Social Media for Small Businesses
• The Value of Social Media for Small Businesses
• Setting Social Goals for Your Small Business
• Social Media Tips for Small Business
• Social Media Tools for Small businesses
• Conclusion
• Key Takeaways
• FAQs

The last decade saw exponential growth in the use of social media worldwide. The latest statistics show that the number of social media users stands at 4.20 billion, about 53.6% of the total population. India alone has 448 million active social media users. 

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With people spending more and more time on social media apps, such platforms have become one of the most valuable assets in content marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes. But, in this blog, we will only discuss the importance of social media for small businesses.

Small businesses can use social media to find, connect, and engage with their audience. Social media can be an effective platform for interacting with their customers to increase brand recognition and generate leads for small businesses. If done right, social media can boost your presence online and raise your sales graph in a short time.

First, you must know what social media marketing means. Put simply, using social media platforms to promote your business and its products or services is known as social media marketing. This kind of marketing helps businesses build stronger customer relationships, increase reach, and even develop an authentic and strong brand image.

With the COVID-19 challenges, there have been significant reductions in the finances of small businesses. 

According to a survey by Dun & Bradstreet, “…more than 82% of small businesses had a negative COVID impact…”

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But, even with a low budget, social media can help you achieve big goals. 

Some of the benefits of social media marketing are:

• Low cost but more effective marketing and advertising; this lets you run flexible campaigns to reach your audience and generate more leads.
• It helps you segment and targets your customer based on different demographics (i.e., age, location, gender, etc.). This can be done with the help of various analytical tools and surveys.
• Options are available to better engage with your customers through various posts, events, and groups.
• Social media is one of the most preferred customer-service tools. It helps you respond to queries, issues, and feedback.  

Why Do You Need a Social Media Strategy for Your Small Business?

A social media marketing strategy is like a plan of action. It will guide you on what you’ll post, the social media platforms you will use, and your measurable goals. 

A well-planned and well-executed social media strategy can increase brand awareness, expand your customer base, and increase sales and revenue. 

For instance, at FreshMenu, their approach was to plan and execute digital marketing campaigns to promote their brand.

They keep their audience engaged by offering fascinating articles about food origins. To attract more customers, they hold frequent contests and provide coupons. 

How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Small Businesses

Below is a guide on how to create and execute effective digital marketing strategies:

1. Setting measurable goals

All these steps might seem intimidating, but as you move from one step to the other, things will fall into place. So you should start by setting your goals. What is it that you want to do with your social media? Is it driving sales or traffic or building a brand image? These are the questions you need to ask yourself.

Selecting the right goals can help you track your progress and find out which campaigns are more effective. 

The right goal is:

• Well-defined and relevant
• Measurable
• Achievable

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2. Identify and choose the right social media platforms

Every social media platform is different from each other, with its own set of pros and cons. So, you must match your needs and target audiences with the attributes or characteristics of individual social media platforms. This will help you choose the most relevant platform for your small business to start with. And with time, you can expand your presence on other platforms too.

The following list of top 3 social media sites will help you identify the best-suited platform for your business:

Instagram

Instagram, the most visually appealing of all the social media networks, has the third-largest user base. The monthly active user count of Instagram stands at 1 billion, according to Backlinko.

With posts and stories, you can plan your Instagram presence to align with your company goals and the desires of your audience.

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Instagram is ideal for you if your goal is: 

• To exhibit your products or services in action
• To target a huge customer base, especially millennials and Gen Z
• To sell products and build a brand image 
• To grow a fan base for your brand

Content to post – Stories, images, videos, and carousels

BONUS TIP: Instagram has a unique and effective feature called User Generated Content (UGC). You can use Instagram to generate and share organic, user-generated content (UGC) related to your products or services.

Facebook

With 2.6 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media platform globally, so prioritizing it is a no-brainer.

As a small business, you want to be able to run accurately targeted marketing campaigns on whatever budget you decide, and Facebook advertising allows you to do that. If people like your Facebook page, they’re probably interested in receiving updates from you.

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Facebook is ideal for you if your goal is: 

• To target millennials or older generations
• To include lead generation or conversion mainly
• To target as many individuals as possible or a very focused niche audience

Content to post: Facebook advertisements, images, and videos. Varying content keeps the audience engaged.

BONUS TIP: Stay casual and friendly, but make sure that you provide value to your audience.

Twitter

Twitter is a huge network of people and businesses communicating in a very smooth and fast-paced setting. It is one of the most widely used social media platforms for news, with a global user base of 187 million daily users, according to Backlinko. Twitter’s brief content section is a fantastic place to promote your business.

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Twitter is ideal for you if your goal is: 

• To target Gen Z or millennials
• To increase brand awareness and stronger customer relationships
• To target people with higher levels of income and education

Content to post – Interactive but brief tweets and eye-catching images and videos

BONUS TIP: Keep it light, and maximize engagement.

3. Creating and scheduling your posts

In social media marketing, consistency is key. 

Consider your social media as an extension of the voice, values, and personality of your company. Make your brand’s identity a part of your digital marketing and let each post reflect your unique identity. 

You should plan posts ahead of time (at least a week ahead of time) to keep your brand active on social media. 

4. Using tools to track your goals and growth

You’re almost ready to get started now that you have all the knowledge you need to create a social media marketing plan. 

But ensure that you’re tracking your performance regularly by creating customized reports that showcase the metrics that are most important to you (depending on your goals). 

To assess which type of content works, analyze metrics like organic reach, click-throughs, and follower demographics.

Be confident!

All you need to do is make a plan and start posting, tweeting, uploading, and sharing while adding value to your audience and nurturing their brand affinity. 

Within a short time, they will start following you and become a member of your fan club. And with a little effort, you can easily convert them into your customers and shoppers. Good luck.

An Essential Social Media Guide for Small Businesses

Welcome, small business marketers! 

If you own a small business, you probably spend a lot of time trying to get the most up-to-date social media marketing advice. 

There are nearly twice as many active social media users now as there were only five years ago. Every day, these individuals spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media.

Small companies can use those roughly 2.5 hours to do the following:

• Increase brand awareness
• Establish customer relationships
• Sell straight through social media sites

The Value of Social Media for Small Businesses

In 2020, 47% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 spent more time on social media than they did in 2019. And those people aren’t just browsing aimlessly; e-commerce purchases are also on the upswing. This emphasizes the importance of social media for small businesses. Social media will become increasingly important in driving sales, delivering customer support, and raising brand exposure in the coming years.

While social media may be used for a variety of purposes, here are a few that have a significant influence on small businesses:

• Brand recognition

Low-cost brand recognition through free social media accounts or low-budget brand awareness campaigns

• Reach out to your intended audience

Targeted reach using technologies like Instagram Ads or Facebook Ads that target specific demographics (i.e., age, gender, salary, location, etc.)

• Establish your company’s reputation as a thinking leader

Whatever sector you’re in, social media gives you the chance to position yourself as a thought leader—the go-to source for knowledge on issues relevant to your specialty.

• Event promotion

Facebook Events and Facebook Groups may be used to promote events.

• Obtain leads

Social media ensures a quick and straightforward way to communicate.

Setting Social Goals for Your Small Business

Many marketers who are doing fantastic work on social media cannot demonstrate that their efforts are having a positive impact on the business. Almost every time, it is due to a lack of understanding of how to set goals.

Setting appropriate goals can help you show your achievement and figure out which techniques are effective. This makes scaling your social media presence a lot easier.

However, setting objectives can be challenging. So, based on where you want users to move in the funnel, what your peers are doing, and the industry you’re in, here are three alternative methods to narrow down your goals:

1. Choosing goals based on your funnel

Your social media marketing objective should never be just to amass plans and blast out content. Your consumers, as well as the social networks, will not reward you for a publishing-only approach.

Being too promotional is the most common cause of people unfollowing you on social media.

Yes, you must create content to increase brand recognition, reach, and overall visibility. It doesn’t end there, though. Instead, consider your social media presence from the standpoint of the funnel.

The deeper down the funnel you go, the more critical it is to respond to your consumers and build stronger connections.

No matter which steps of the funnel you optimize for, make sure that you’re listening and responding to your customers at every stage of their journey.

2. Choosing goals by studying your peers

While the funnel is a great place to start when deciding on your objectives, you can also ask your social media marketing colleagues for advice. It’s essential to remember that if you’re feeling overwhelmed or irritated with social media marketing, others are going through the same difficulties as you are.

The main objectives of social media marketers are to:

1. Increase community involvement by raising brand exposure
2. Increase the number of visitors to your website
3. Choose goals by industry

Once these customers set their social goals based on how they succeed, you can leverage those insights for choosing your own goals.

These are some of the goals that will ensure that you’re making a valuable impact:

Higher education goals

• Audience engagement (likes, replies, shares, etc.)
• Increasing enrollment and retention
• Positive school reputation
• Attracting prospective student recruitment
• Drive alumni donations
• Increased event attendance
• A consistent voice across departments

Internet and software goals (B2B) 

• Brand awareness and consideration 
• Lead generation
• Competitor analysis
• Audience engagement 
• Drive customer loyalty (+CX) and reduce churn
• Customer service efficiencies

Retail goals 

• Find new sales opportunities
• Uncover brand expansion opportunities
• Reputation management
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Inspire customer loyalty
• Product launch analysis
• Competitive analysis

Non-profit goals

Audience engagement may be about much more than marketing numbers for non-profit organizations. Remember to consider your unique company and the most critical tasks you should be doing on social media. These may include:

• Donor recruitment and retention
• Recruiting more volunteers
• Building cause and brand awareness 

Real estate goals

Real estate can be a very competitive industry, and making use of social media may help you outsell your competitors. Using social media, keep pace with industry trends and upcoming technology. Consider the following objectives:

• Brand awareness and consideration 
• Lead generation
• Reputation management
• Customer service
• Positive reviews
• Customer care/support for retention and loyalty

Lifestyle and fitness goals

On social media, lifestyle and fitness are essential. It’s not just the lifestyle and fitness models that share their material, but also the companies that provide them. Keeping your items near such influencers will help you stay on their radar.

Social Media Tips For Small Business

Here are some expert-recommended social media techniques for showcasing your personality and getting to know your consumers better while also developing your brand.

1. Figure out which metrics are important

Decide which metrics are important to you and your company before you start running reports. While it’s easy to get caught up in numbers like followers and likes, those metrics aren’t always helpful for your business. Local companies, for example, benefit more from a small, local following than from a huge following that includes people who would never visit physical locations. 

Because social media manages a lot of information, it’s one of the first things that small firms cut.

2. Analyze what’s working (and what isn’t) via reports

Once you’ve decided on your important metrics, make sure that you keep track of them regularly by creating bespoke reports that emphasize the information that matters the most to you. Remember to pay attention to data that informs business decisions, such as analytics indicating whether Instagram Shop Grid or Instagram Shop Post content generates more sales.

You can use reports to analyze data like engagement rates, click-throughs, and follower demographics to see which type of content your audience responds to.

3. Own your personality

Your fans on social media come for your products and services, but they stick around because they appreciate your style. Consider your social media as an extension of the voice, tone, and personality of your company.

Consider the following questions when you create your brand persona:

• What is the tone of your voice? (Funny, lighthearted, serious, educational, etc.)
• What are your primary interests outside work?
• What are your core beliefs?
• What kind of buddies do you have? (Other brands or individuals you admire, local businesses, and so on)

Make your brand’s identity a part of your branding standards, and let your postings reflect your distinct personality.

Adventure Cats, for example, exhibit their fun nature through cat jokes and promote their beliefs by revealing the charities to which they contribute – all the while presenting a good dose of beautiful kittens, of course.

4. Make great use of social media to deliver excellent customer service

Customer service is a big part of company loyalty. Most individuals between 18 and 54 years think social media is a good place to get help. The chief conclusion is that most of your consumers anticipate support via social media, and they’re virtually equally inclined to praise or criticize your response, so make it excellent. Superior social media customer service boils down to three factors: quickness, tone, and results. People want prompt replies from compassionate individuals who are ready to address difficulties.

5. Establish a posting schedule

Social media is frequently relegated to the “whenever I have the time” category for small businesses. Inconsistent activity, on the other hand, is not good for any brand.

The good news is that you don’t have to be on social media 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You may plan ahead of time to guarantee that your brand has a constant presence on social media. To begin with, decide how frequently you want to publish on each network. Once you’ve established your baseline, you can utilize Buffer’s publishing capabilities to schedule articles for weeks in advance, ensuring that your business never goes dark on social media.

Plus, if you prepare ahead of time, you’ll have more time to visit other places.

Social Media Tools for Small businesses

It needs a range of tools to manage every phase of your social media strategy successfully. You must make sure that they complement one other’s skills and weaknesses.

There are three types of social media tools in general:

1. Listening Platforms

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an example of a listening platform (which was previously known as Radian6). These systems can monitor various social media sites to see what people are saying about your company. You’ll be able to acquire knowledge on the most recent industry news and trends, which will come in handy when it’s time to generate content. You’ll understand what matters to your target audience and what they care about.

2. Publishing Platforms

Platforms for publishing material assist you in reaching out to a global audience. The last thing you want to do once you’ve generated your content is spending time posting it. These platforms make it simpler to distribute information across many platforms at once. It’s easy to create a publishing schedule, making it simple to disseminate information regularly.

3. Competitive Analysis Platforms

Other tools focus on users, whereas social analysis tools concentrate on businesses and sectors. You’ll be able to keep track of the indicators that matter to your company. This comprises first-touch analysis, multi-channel analysis, content analysis, and timing analysis.

Most significantly, you’ll be able to assess the content of your competitors. This is why competitive intelligence tools like Unmetric are so helpful. You’ll be able to gain a thorough grasp of what’s working in your sector as a whole. You may quickly identify hot subjects and unexplored areas.

Free Tools

It’s also essential to talk about free tools. There are a plethora of free social networking tools available that can help your business. Here are a few of the best:

• Google Alerts
• Hootsuite
• TweetDeck

Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms also provide a wealth of native features. You may use these tools to search for mentions, combine social network accounts, and schedule posts, among other things.
The issue is that none of these tools is comprehensive. They will only be able to gather partial data and have as many possibilities as other tools. They’re a terrific place to start, but they’re not enough to provide you with the complete picture.

Using all these tools together

• Listening and analytics: When your business is referenced on social media, your listening tools can notify you. You may utilize your analytics platform to see if you’re replying soon enough and how your replies are received once you’ve responded. When used in tandem, you’ll be able to engage your audience as successfully as possible.
• Publishing and analytics: You’ll have access to a wide range of data if you employ powerful analytics tools. You’ll know what kind of material is effective, where it’s effective, and when the ideal time is to post it. You’ll be able to make it on your own.
• As a result, we can observe that each tool uniquely approaches social media. They may work together to assist your company in meeting all of its social media and commercial objectives. The actual worth of these instruments is found in their capacity to work in tandem. 

Conclusion

You already know how vital it is to have a social media presence, but you must do more than just show up. Social media for small businesses thrives on authenticity and consistency.

Regardless of the size of your company, social media platforms may help you better engage with your audience, reach out to new prospective consumers, and raise brand recognition. Start small if the possibilities seem overwhelming.

Extend your efforts and audience as you discover what works. One of the best things about social media for small businesses is that you may utilize the tools in whatever way you choose for your company and your budget at any given time.

Also, we must acknowledge the fact that social networks represent a new dimension of reality that has found its way into the business sector. Over 90% of marketers say they utilize social media for business, and more than 60% say they have gained new clients through social media.

Key Takeaways

• A well-planned and well-executed social media strategy can increase brand awareness.
• You must know what social media marketing means.
• Selecting the right goals can help you track your progress.
• Choose the most relevant social media platform for your small business to start with.
• Setting appropriate goals can help you show your achievement.
• You may use social media tools to search for mentions, combine social network accounts, and schedule posts.

FAQs