The Importance of Social Media for Your Small Business
With almost 4 billion people worldwide now online, social media has fast become the most influential form of marketing for businesses. The power social media has to organically grow your brand with the right input is immeasurable.
Where to start?
If you’re just starting out, social media can feel like a minefield. With so many platforms to choose from, how do you know you’re choosing the right one? Make sure you do your research, check out what your competitors are doing and what works in your niche.
Finding and utilising your target audience is also the key to social media success. Learning as much as you can about their demographic will help you discover where your customers are, how they act, and what content they are attracted to.
Choosing a platform
Facebook allows users to connect with family and friends, share images, videos, and thoughts with others. Many small businesses choose to create a Facebook page as it gives them chance to engage with their customers on a more personal level and create conversations around their brand and what their customers want to see next.
Instagram is another powerful business tool; it attracts millions of younger users primarily through photos and they can purchase products through the app. Instagram is known for using hashtags to show your content to your target audience. The right hashtags can see some amazing results in account growth.
Pinterest is a giant virtual pinboard; you can follow other accounts and ‘save’ their ‘pins’ to your pinboards to look at later. Pinterest is a visual search engine, meaning content you create on Pinterest lasts longer than content on most other platforms, sometimes months.
Tik Tok
Tik Tok is the newest and fastest-growing social media platform. It allows users to upload short videos. Small businesses choose this platform as it allows them to create an engaged community and create trust in their brand through more authentic, real-life videos.
Utilising the benefits of each social media platform would enable you to grow your business quickly and effectively. But to many of us that sounds like a lot of work and planning. I offer a range of scheduling plans to fit any budget and help take the stress out of managing your social media accounts.
How can social media benefit your small business?
Social media can massively benefit your small business in multiple ways. Check out some of the benefits below:
Create brand awareness
Social media allows you to get your message out to potentially millions of people quickly and for little cost. People buy from businesses they trust; they need to see your products and services before they can build that trust.
Effective communication
The success of social media doesn’t depend on how many followers you have, but instead, it rests on customer engagement. Small businesses favour social media as it allows them to connect with their customers in a way large companies cannot. By humanising your brand and building real relationships, customers will loyally buy from you for years to come.
Sell products and services
You can now sell your products directly through most social media platforms. Selling in this way makes it very convenient for your customers making them more likely to shop with you. It also means that it is not essential to have a fancy website right away, to drive traffic to increase revenue.
See your business grow
By sharing content on your social media accounts, you are keeping your business at the forefront of your customer’s mind. Keep customers up to date by sharing blog posts, promotions, and developments within your business. Customers love to know that you are succeeding. So, if you’ve upgraded your office space, let them know.
How to promote your business on social media
#Hashtags
Hashtags are one of the most important aspects of any social media platform. Hashtags put your content in front of your target audience and can be a powerful tool when used correctly. Make sure to research each platform as they all differ in what is the best approach for maximum gain.
Add stylish, eye-catching media
Make sure to take advantage of all the different ways you can add media to your accounts.
This includes:
- Still images
- Videos
- Infographics
- Carousels of all of the above. This is where multiple media are added to one post so the consumer swipes across your post
- Going ‘live’ via live stream to interact with your audience
Pair the above with some educational, exciting, or promotional copy, and your social media account will grow and grow.
Paid adverts
Need an extra boost to your account or products? You can pay for social media adverts. These are fully customisable, with an adjustable amount you want to spend each day, so are great for any budget. Other features include setting the demographic of who you want to target including age and gender. This enables you to put your products right under the eyes of your customers.
Based in Weymouth, Dorset, I can offer options to include social media ads within your packages to help boost conversions, followers, traffic and see positive all-around brand impact.
So, what are you waiting for?
Social media is an extremely powerful tool when used correctly and is a great low-cost way to grow your business. There are a variety of techniques that enable you to instantly connect with your customers through visually appealing content and create a community full of like-minded people.
Want someone else to hold the reins while you focus on your products? Take advantage of my expertise in creating monthly content and scheduling plans and watch your social media accounts burst with activity, engagement and followers. You can contact me here.
The digital world is exceedingly fast, it can take seconds for your content to be overlooked. Make sure you have strategies in place to stand out from the crowd. Engage with your customers, create a loyal following and most of all have fun!
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