7 Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
By Neal Schaffer
Although the use of social media in marketing isn’t new, over the last few years it’s gone through a lot of changes. As most of us know, it has evolved from simple advertising inserted into our feeds into the sophisticated content that’s used today. In particular, we now use influencers as our content creators and thought leaders.
Tips for using social media to market your small business
So, what should we marketers keep in mind as we navigate those changes? Here are seven things to consider that will help you maximize the success of your social media campaigns:
1. Remember that social media in business is just a means to an end
Back in the day, social media for business was quite simple. Originally, we’d all just throw up a business page and link it to our profiles to show where we work. Now, that’s not even close to enough. People don’t just write reviews on Yelp or Ripoff Report anymore. And the Better Business Bureau, as important as it is, doesn’t have the extensive reach it once did. Now, customer service is often handled through social media. So is much of advertising, whether it employs influencers or just business-generated content.
2. Know your goals for social media advertising
This applies for your business social accounts, your paid advertising, and your use of influencers. Are you having trouble getting people to engage with your current advertising? Or are they following everyone else’s page instead of yours? When you advertise on social media, are you hoping to build brand recognition or generate sales leads? How about announcing the launch or improvement of an important product? All of these goals are great opportunities for social media to shine.
Accordingly, you need to think carefully about what you post on a social business page. For example, the hiring of a key employee can be announced on Facebook to tell people about exciting changes going on at the company. While this won’t necessarily sell anything, it can increase brand awareness. On the other hand, posting content about a new product is intended for sales.
3. Determine what works and what doesn’t
Companies that engage with their customers well on LinkedIn, usually B2B brands, should probably continue to use LinkedIn for future campaigns. But they also should consider whether their Instagram strategy is working, or determine how well their latest Twitter efforts performed. Ideally, you should find a way to make all social media channels work for you. There are different ways to do this, but many of them involve influencers.
For example, if you have a new product, then it might be advantageous to have an influencer talk about how the product has made their life easier at work. Or, demonstrate that the new type of makeup you’re selling is more effective than the competition’s for people with oily skin. Whatever it is, know what’s working and then determine a great way to adapt those effective techniques to other platforms.
4. Know your competition
Most of you know to do market research. After all, being able to keep your finger on the pulse of the competition allows your company to ensure products and services stay relevant. But did you know this applies to social media, too? It’s a war out there, so you need to have a sense of how your competitors are using social media and how effective their efforts are. Maybe they’re stealing away potential customers because they’re constantly engaging your audience. Let this activity remain unchallenged, and they will soon be wiping the floor with you in online forums.
5. Ensure your social media marketing budget matches your goals
It’s easy to be a cheapskate when it comes to marketing. Most small businesses think in terms of worker time and materials when deciding how to spend their money. But marketing is an area where you need to spend money to make money. Think about your goals, and then determine how much money you’ll need to spend on marketing to achieve them.
Sometimes you’ll have to take smaller steps than you’d like; however, over time effective marketing will help your business grow. Somewhere there’s a perfect balance between spending too little (and getting meager results) and spending too much and cutting into business profits. Know that number and then find a way to maximize it.
6. Understand the difference between personal and business
Business and personal uses of social media are fairly different, even if they have similarities. For one thing, personal use involves keeping track of friends and family, playing social games, and sharing common interests. Business users, on the other hand, are often engaging with people they don’t know or have any connection with other than as an audience for whatever business they’re running. Social media is used to spread the word about the company’s products and services, to perform customer service tasks, and to project corporate values to whoever wants to know.
So what does this mean? Don’t use your business social accounts to talk about your latest trip to Italy, unless it was for a trade show or other business purpose. On the other hand, feel free to share pictures from the office blood drive or charity event. Show people what your business is about and what it can do for them.
7. Determine whether social media is relevant to your market
While social media is an integral part of marketing for most businesses, there are some limits. For example, a realtor who primarily sells homes in 55+ communities isn’t going to get as much bang for their buck with social media. Certainly they can use it to reach the kids, who might influence Mom and Dad to buy a home in those communities, but the kids aren’t their core audience. On the other hand, if the realtor’s goal is to sell first homes to young people, social media is critical.
About the Author
Post by:Neal Schaffer
Neal Schaffer is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and helping enterprises large and small develop and execute on social media marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social selling initiatives. President of the social media agency PDCA Social, Neal also teaches digital media to executives at Rutgers University, the Irish Management Institute (Ireland), and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland). Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak about digital media on four continents in a dozen countries. He is also the author of three books on social media, including Maximize Your Social (Wiley), and in March of 2020 will publish his fourth book, The Age of Influence (HarperCollins), on educating the market on the why and how every business should leverage the potential of influencer marketing. Neal resides in Irvine, California, but also frequently travels to Japan.
Company: PDCA Social
Website: www.nealschaffer.com