Social networks have become an integral part of our daily lives. Businesses of all shapes and sizes have begun to take full advantage of the means available. Today we will try to discuss social media tips for small businesses. There is a plethora of small businesses looking to social media to promote their business/services. However, most of these small businesses are either failing or unable to make optimal use of social media for business growth. There are many theories and strategies on how to use social media effectively for established brands, but social media for small businesses is rarely addressed. According to the Digital State of eMarketing India 2017 Octane Research:
60% of small businesses promote their business on social media. 50% focus on SEO and 35% use multi-channel marketing funnel.
70% of small businesses consider content strategy as their main marketing activity.
52% of business owners use social media to efficiently address customer engagement.
Over 20% of business owners said they are making 50% more profit using social media.
The main reasons for the low participation are the uncertainty about the application of social networks, the calculation of the return on investment and the persuasion of employees/stakeholders to take over social networks. Therefore, it is important to address the elephant in the room and discuss how beneficial social media is for small businesses.
Small business social media is a great way for startups to generate leadership and build a reputation. If updated regularly, social media can deliver more results compared to traditional media. Social media for small businesses gives brands an advantage of control over the content they want to post. Also, since social media is a two-way dialogue process, it helps businesses instantly identify what benefits them. Social media for small businesses also helps generate word of mouth, which is one of the best tools for startups.
Social Networking for Small Businesses | 10 tips for using social media effectively
Define your target audience
The first and most important part small businesses need to focus on is defining their target audience. This helps small businesses design their social media strategy accordingly. The target audience must be defined based on the age group, gender, location, online behaviors of users, their tastes, interests and preferences. For niche products, business owners can even target users based on their birthdays, anniversaries, and important milestones. The orientation of the audience plays a very important role in the outcome of the results. For example: a local store that sells footwear should not target users who are interested in entertainment. The store will definitely not get the desired results.
Set achievable goals
Overnight success is a legend. Small businesses need to understand this basic fact. Usually, when a new business starts selling on social media, there is a palpable enthusiasm to achieve more than the specific sales stated. Companies need to set goals that are upward and forward. To achieve huge goals, small businesses start updating the social feed with multiple updates in a shorter duration. This leads to user disinterest in the product/service. The stated goals must be in sync with the brand’s core capabilities and experience. For example: If a company sells shoes, it should not set a goal of repairing as many shoes as possible in its area.
Choose the right medium
By now, everyone knows that social media is free. Even paid campaigns can be done at a relatively low cost compared to traditional media. It is in this scenario, that we often see small businesses jump on the bandwagon and create profiles on all available platforms. Creating a social profile does not hinder the brand image, but aggressively promoting a brand on the wrong platforms can cause the brand to lose potential customers. Therefore, it is advisable for SMEs to first identify the right platform through which they can maximize their business. For example: if a brand selling shoes tries to aggressively sell on LinkedIn, it will not get a plausible response compared to promotions on Facebook/Instagram.
Promote your core products/services
As each and every company rides the social media wave, it is important that they promote their core products/services. Today, we see many companies promoting their services and peripheral products/services, which revolve around their core products/services. Most of the time, this SME does not have the capacity to meet a requirement, which can lead to bad word of mouth for your business on social media platforms. Let’s go back to our example; If a shoe seller is aggressively trying to promote socks instead of shoes, it will not benefit the business in the long run.
Create quality content
Now that we’ve covered identifying your target audience, setting achievable goals, choosing the right medium, and promoting the right products/services, let’s take a look at the type of content a business should promote on their social pages. A business should always focus on creating good quality content rather than poor quantity content. Even if the company updates its page once a day, as long as it’s relevant to its business, advocates of its core products send a clear message that it’s considered good quality content. Conversely, if a company posts multiple updates that aren’t even relevant to the company’s products and services, users consider the company to be fake or spam. Additionally, startups should try and refrain from promoting other businesses on their social platforms initially.
Create a content calendar
Making a small business successful on social platforms is no easy task. It takes a lot of effort for companies to maintain their conversion rate. One of those efforts is to create a content calendar. Small businesses should anticipate important events and create a content calendar accordingly. Ideally, a content calendar should be planned a month in advance, but a weekly content calendar is highly recommended. This helps businesses avoid last minute hassles, strategize much more effectively, and also helps build curiosity among their loyal followers/customers.
try and try again
Social networks are very unpredictable. The content that a company publishes today, might not work tomorrow. Therefore, small businesses should always test their content before publishing it on their pages. The content test also applies to the platform a small business chooses to promote. Small business owners should always put on the consumer hat before posting about any product features, updates, schematics, or offers. The consumer’s perspective is the key when testing the content that has to be uploaded.
look for inspiration
Small businesses should always look to a successful competitor in the same category for inspiration. Copying and pasting competitors’ idea or content is not the answer. Small businesses should look at the type of content their competitors are posting and derive their own strategies afterwards. Inspirational content/stories always make a company strive to create their own content that is appreciated by all. It helps increase brand consideration, brand visibility, and thus increases conversions for the business.
Calculate return on investment
Even a small promotional budget is not justifiable if there is no mechanism to calculate the return on investment. It is more important in the case of small businesses. It is very important for a small business to control the budgets allocated to any promotion and the subsequent ROI associated with it. If a certain promotion is not working well or the business is not getting the desired results, the brand custodian can always look to other platforms to drive quality conversions.
Analyze and restrategize
There can be countless cases where a particular campaign/promotion might not work for a business. That does not mean that the promotion is wrong or that the product/service is not good. Doing an analysis of the campaign is as important as setting the objective. This helps the company formulate its upcoming strategies more effectively. At the end of each campaign, brands should note the learning from that campaign and identify whether their followers appreciated the content or idea. This helps companies skip missed updates from future communications.
final thoughts
Social media for small business is definitely beneficial and fruitful. If followed correctly, small businesses can greatly benefit from the power of social media promotions.