Stop Slacking, Start Succeeding
When done right, social media can be a powerful tool for businesses to reach customers, but it’s not as simple as posting content about your business. There are several ways you could be slacking on social media and missing out on valuable opportunities.
These seven tips can help you boost your social media following, increase awareness of your business, and lead to more customers.
1. Start with One [And Do It Well]
As a small business, your time is limited. Instead of trying to succeed on several social media platforms all at once, work on successfully growing your audience on one platform before joining more. If you start on all of the major platforms [Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.] at the same time, you will likely stretch yourself and your content too thin. This can result in possibly no growth at all.
If you’re determined to have a presence on multiple platforms from the beginning, consider hiring someone to manage your accounts for you, or signup for a webSMART launchSITE membership—where you gain guidance, custom analytics and support for optimized results with DIY solutions.
2. Optimize Scheduling Times
Finding the optimal time for scheduling social media posts can help you have social media success. There are free scheduling tools available that can automatically schedule posts at optimal times. Two such tools are Buffer and Hootsuite, both of which offer a limited free plan. You will have to pay for a plan if you want to be able to schedule a large number of posts each month, or be able to schedule posts for more than three accounts.
3. Listen to Customers Instead of Solely Promoting Yourself
Leverage your audience to determine what type of content you should be posting on social media. Surveys can be a helpful way to gauge what your audience wants to see. You can also try testing various types of content to determine which type of posts do well.
So why shouldn’t you post more promotional content? Studies have shown that too much self-promotion can kill consumer trust by 50 percent. This is why the 80/20 rule is considered best practice for keeping consumers interested in your content:
80% Content that Provides Value to Customers
20% Promotional Content About Your Business
Two examples of small businesses that balance their content well are Tails.com and Not on the High Street.
4. Boost Content to Targeted Audiences
Boost organic content that is already doing well with a few dollars to reach an ever larger target audience.
5. Use Customers as Influencers
You can use your already existing customers as influencers to help boost your social media efforts. For example, have customers tag your business to be entered to win a small prize. This can help increase awareness of your brand and possibly increase the size of your following.
6. Use a Hashtag Generator
Using a hashtag generator for Instagram can significantly help you reach a larger audience by providing you with more relevant hashtags for your posts. There are many hashtag generators out there in cyberspace. These are just a few you can use:
7. Leverage Locations and Check-Ins
If you have a physical location, encourage customers to “check-in” wherever possible. It’s one of the easiest ways to have your customers promote your business for you. You can offer customers an incentive for checking in, but many will do it even if asked. Another thing you can do is respond to check-ins. Check regularly to see if any Instagram Stories are being shared with your location and reach out to those who tag your location or business in their posts.
Facebook Check-Ins
One of the best things about Facebook Check-Ins is that users are sent an invite to review your business after they “check-in.” Since they checked-in, it’s highly likely that they will leave a positive review.
Instagram Location Stories
Another powerful word-of-mouth promotion for your business is when customers add you to their Instagram Stories. They can either tag you in the story or add a location sticker.
Social media—and everything that goes into having a successful account—can be overwhelming at times. By following these seven tips to avoid slacking on social media, you can be on your way to having a great social media presence.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the marketing work needed for your business, webSMART is here to help! We provide DIY small business marketing services and digital marketing services to help small businesses succeed.
