5 Tips for Leveraging Social Media For Your Small Business

Today we’re going to focus on how to harness the full power of social media when you have a small business. Because social media can make a big difference to a small business, without the need to spend big marketing budgets. How do you do that? Read the following tips.

5 Tips for Leveraging Social Media If You Have a Small Business

1. Know the channels your audience frequents

Since you can’t be on every social network, it’s best to start by finding out which channels your target audience frequents so you can focus your efforts on the places where you’re going to find an audience that matches your goals.

Start with the network that you think is most important to your customers and consolidate there before adding more social networks.

2. Spread the word about your business

Social media posts to increase the popularity of your brand are like virtual flyers or the online equivalent of newspaper ads. They help people recognise your brand name and your small business start to form an identity. Leverage your dashboard metrics to keep track of your social media strategy.

Use these KPIs to see if your posts are popularising your brand.

• Reach and impressions: An impression is a view of your post or the number of times it was shown to a single person. Reach measures how many people saw the post: the same post can be shown multiple times in a single person’s feed.
• Mentions: Keep track of how many times your business was mentioned on the networks.
• Follower growth: Shows you the number of followers on your networks and how many you have gained over a period of time. If you notice that one of your posts or promotions attracts a lot of followers, you should create more of that type.
• Location: Having a certain number of followers from a particular location/city/country can show you the expansion opportunities available to you.

3. Increase traffic to your website

Getting people to know your business is good. Getting them to visit your website is even better. Share blog articles, your online products and important news about your products when you post content on your social networks.

Look for a good mix between your own articles and articles from third parties. An interesting ratio is that for every five pieces of content you share, one of them should be your own original content.

Make sure you share specific websites or landing pages, it is proven that driving visitors to your homepage is not as effective as sending them to pages to generate sales or subscribers.

Start by keeping track of which social network and which post got people to click through to your website and if any generated a subscription or purchase.

4. Create a community

A community creates a network of loyal brand followers and potential repeat customers. Taking surveys, answering questions, interacting or sharing photos and videos of your customers using your products are just a few ways to build a strong fan base.

Get your customers talking to you through social media, invite them to write to you if they have questions about your product. This can benefit your entire community, as you can turn a common response into a post and/or content for your page.

Invite your customers to share their experiences, this will make them feel part of a small family and they will be more likely to buy from you if they want to buy again.

5. Don’t try to beat the big brands

It is advisable to review how other small businesses and competitors connect with their audience through social media. Notice how they align their goals and adapt their strategy for your business. Leave the big brands to their own game.

Starting out on social media as a small business can also have its advantages, you decide how you want your customers to recognise your brand. The important thing is that you understand that you too can put social media to work in the development of your business.