How To Use Social Media For Small Business

10 Tips For Building A Brand
Through Social Media Platforms

Postive 26 July, 2023

The small business owner of today is not intimidated by social media. How are we aware? 93 percent of small business owners said they use Facebook, 79 percent said they use Twitter, and 71 percent said they use LinkedIn, according to the 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Being visible and presentable, however, is not the same as developing a social media presence.

On the surface, it could seem simple. Just briefly describe the business and carry on with your day. In actuality, however, social media growth takes time and effort in addition to constant execution, monitoring, and strategy change. That is why both big and small firms alike use automation.

A comprehensive inbound marketing plan includes social media marketing. It can help you spread the word about your content, increase brand recognition, and give your company a voice.

You need a strategy that is jam-packed with original content and specifically designed for each platform if you want to connect with your target audience and increase brand exposure.

Tips For Building A Brand Through Social Media Platforms

  • 1. Consistency in the use of images, headshots, and logos

    It's crucial to maintain brand consistency throughout social media platforms. You want to be identified right away, yet a lot of small business owners are happy to leave up profiles with inconsistent logos and photographs, some of which are blurry and the wrong size.

    This sort of negligence might give your consumers unnecessary cause for uncertainty and give the impression that you lack professionalism. Use the time to develop a consistent brand image across all networks and optimise your chosen photographs in accordance with each network's requirements rather than using whatever photos you have on hand or just adopting a one-size-fits-all strategy.

  • 2. Make Your Social Media Presence Known to the World

    Finding yourself in organic search results takes time. You'll need to gradually increase your reach and cultivate a fan base. Starting with friends, family, coworkers, and customers is the simplest and most economical option.

    Keep in mind that you are not necessary adding these contacts in the hopes of making a transaction. You aren't including them either just to increase your stats. You want to reach out to as many people as you can and maintain a strong presence in their minds (ideally prospects). Why is this crucial?

    Word-of-mouth recommendations account for 85% of all new consumers for small firms. 92 percent of consumers are more likely to believe recommendations from friends and family than any other type of advertising.

  • 3. Produce and Distribute Industry-Related Content

    Although it makes sense that you would want to position yourself as an authority in your field, not all of the information you produce, curate, and post can be directly related to your company. You will lose supporters if all you say is thinly veiled advertising.

    Don't be a smarmy salesperson who alienates your clients. Consider your audience instead. What can you offer to arouse their curiosity or meet their needs? While avoiding overstaying your welcome, valuable, industry-related content can be a terrific strategy to stay top-of-mind.

    For National Cheeseburger Day, Coca-Cola, for instance, shared this article. I'd assume quite a few folks like a Coke with their cheeseburger based on the number of likes and shares!

  • 4. Establish a schedule and consistently publish content

    Lack of consistency in the posting schedule is one of the biggest blunders you'll notice with social media for small businesses. This not only reduces content visibility but may also hinder your ability to rank highly in search results.

    Maybe it's the attitude that once you post anything, it stays on the wall indefinitely, so there's no rush to respond. However, that assumption is incorrect because few people regularly visit their profile pages. Instead, your content is seen by followers as they browse their personal Facebook feeds.

    In addition to keeping your postings timely and consistent, creating an editorial calendar for social media gives you the opportunity to establish a comprehensive content strategy. You may plan your posting schedule, including business-related promotions and events, and come up with ideas for valuable industry-related content for your viewers.

  • 5. Publish Content Throughout All Channels

    Utilise every chance to cross-promote your social media accounts. The first step is linking profiles, and some networks will even supply the social symbols for you. Additionally, you want to incorporate social media information into your printed marketing materials and add icons, links, and email signature links.

    Next, distribute material across platforms, but remember that every social network has a unique character. What is successful on Instagram won't always be successful on LinkedIn, and vice versa for Twitter. This is not to imply that you can't distribute the same material across all of these channels; you just need to adjust how you offer it for each site.

  • How to use social media for small businesses
  • 6. Keep Consistent With Trends

    Twitter offers bite-sized information pieces that are ideal for keeping up with breaking news, business trends, regional events, and more. Following local Twitter handles (try to follow at least 20) might be a wonderful method to remain up to date with news in your neighbourhood if your business is heavily reliant on location. Local celebrities, newscasters, companies you support, event calendars, publications, and radio stations are a few examples.

    Additionally, keep an eye out for and benefit from popular hashtags. Content is categorised using hashtags to make it simpler to find on Twitter. A hashtag links you to all other posts that have been marked with that phrase when you click on it. Just be cautious and use hashtag to the minimum.

  • 7. Maximise Visual Content Visual content is important

    In fact, video content generates the highest return on investment (ROI), according to 52% of marketers, and photographs are an important to extremely significant aspect of social media content optimisation.

  • 8. Advertising goes long way!

    On social media, it's normal to avoid paid adverts, but paying to play isn't always a negative thing. More data than you can imagine is available on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, making it feasible to execute highly targeted, effective ads that you just couldn't run anywhere else.

    Now you may explore the world of interest-based and behavioural targeting by moving past location- and demographic-based marketing. You can either create an audience from your own list of contacts or target audiences that look like them. Think about sponsoring LinkedIn postings or look into the various ad choices on Facebook.

  • 9. Discover More About Your Social Media Posts

    You'll need to keep an eye on your outcomes and adjust your strategy if you're serious about boosting your social media presence. You may obtain a quick summary of your approach on Facebook using the Insights function, which includes statistics on page likes, engagement, @tags, and other metrics or Instagrams account activity feature that includes the pages that follow-unfollow you, amount of accounts your posts reach etc. This not only indicates the extent of your reach but also which elements of your plan are effective, allowing you to make the necessary adjustments.

  • 10. Discover More About Your Social Media Posts

    Automation doesn't necessarily bring up the warmest of images. It sounds cold and impersonal. But when done correctly, automation can really save you time.

    You need to take care of your social networks, and you can't always give your followers the attention they require. Automation is a useful tool for starting social media conversations that you can then join and carry on yourself.