Social media is potentially an excellent way that small business owners can connect with customers and prospects. When done properly, it can skyrocket sales. Entire businesses have been built on social media platforms by some entrepreneurs, such as Rachel Dunston, who founded Rachel Bakes More Cake. Her thriving cake business was built on Instagram. However, you need to be careful, otherwise, it can be a very distracting time suck, or it could even backfire and alienate prospects and customers.
The following are 10 strategies shared by small experts that can be used by small business owners to develop a successful social media presence.
1. Lead with your objectives
Small business lending facilitators at Max Funding say “business owners too often feel they have to be everywhere or get left behind. It is suggested to begin with your top three marketing goals, and then determine how social media might be able to help you accomplish them.”
2. Develop your authority
You cannot over-invest in your presence on LinkedIn. This applies to anyone who is looking to advance their success or career, especially those who work in marketing or sales. Focusing on engagement and growing audiences on LinkedIn definitely can boost conversion rates and sales. It also can lead to amazing collaboration opportunities.
LinkedIn is a great way to attract excellent opportunities to be viewed as your industry’s go-to authority. Authority is a very valuable currency. The more you have, then the more you will be able to cash in on all types of growth opportunities.
Over the past two years, updates to the LinkedIn algorithm have propelled more than a 50% increase in viral activity. More than two million posts, videos, and articles are now filtered, ranked, and displayed in the feeds of LinkedIn’s 660 million members.
3. Get a Conversation Started
With Facebook, the key thing to keep in mind is that the algorithm used for rewarding posts is having interaction. When a business puts up a post but it doesn’t get any response, then Facebook will not show the post to anyone. Facebook wants to keep people on the website, and the only way they can do that is to show stories and posts that are interesting to people. it will be getting even harder in the future, as Facebook has announced it will be changing its algorithm again. Content from friends is now favored over business pages and content from companies.
The key is asking questions and responding to answers. A car dealer can post a photo of someone purchasing their first car. That is fairly interesting. However, if they ask people what their first car was then they have an opportunity to get answers from people, and they can then respond to them. Then the person answering the question is a person talking about his first car instead of a car dealer.
4. Show your appreciation
When it comes to social media, the most important thing is that it is not all about you. That is because social media isn’t simply a monologue so you can tell the world all about the special deals you have on your services and products or all of the awards that you have won. It is a chance for you to meaningfully connect with people who have supported and helped your business. If you consider who are the 10-20 most important people to your business, you can recognize them on social media and thank them for all of their help along the way. It gives you the chance to give recognition to their tweets and posts by liking, following, and sharing their messages. This is a great way to thank them. Most important of all, they will really appreciate your kind gesture and continue supporting your efforts and business.
5. Stand out
Keep in mind that social media is very personal. Your personal brand comes first, and your business or job comes second. It is critical to show your personality. Be different. Rise above the noise. You don’t need to wear a strange costume. However, in a world full of social media noise, it is critical to be remembered and stand out.
6. Have a very clear goal
Facebook advertising can be very profitable, but an investment in both money and time is needed, and there is also a steep learning curve. You need to know precisely what you need to achieve: leads, sales, or both? Don’t worry about metrics such as impressions, follows, or likes. Use Facebook lead ads and/or Facebook pixel to allow you to track and measure your results.
7. Dominate on a single platform
Discover where your target customers hang out online. Then choose one social platform to dominate on. Clam your profiles at the other social networks. However, pick one to focus the majority of your time on. First, listen. Online you need to make friends. I got my start on Twitter spending the first six months sharing other people’s content. When sharing your own content, use a 4-1 ratio – for each piece of your content that you share, share four pieces of other people’s content.
8. Make a calendar
If you plan your social media activities this will allow you to post on a consistent basis and get more consistent results as well. You can develop a strategy to achieve improved results with less effort and time. You can make a decision on which activities should be assigned and which ones to automate, whether to a contractor or an employee.
9. Be visual
These days, attention spans are quite short, so you need to make sure to add videos and photos to your social content. That can boost engagement and is ideal for businesses with products they want to showcase. For service-based businesses, consider using photos that complement your text or ones with words in them. Make sure to not ignore visually-oriented platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
