As a small business, your marketing department is likely to be modest to non-existent, so the world of marketing, and particularly social media, may be incredibly overwhelming. Furthermore, time, employees, and financing are typically in short supply, making it difficult for businesses to build an online presence.
Nonetheless, in today’s digital environment, you must integrate your firm into the social realm. According to a survey by We Are Social and Hootsuite, there are now 2.8 billion active users on social media worldwide, making it more crucial than ever to capitalise on its benefits.
As consumption habits shift away from traditional media and toward digital and mobile, social media is increasingly recognised as the ultimate instrument for advertising your brand, improving public awareness, and cultivating a connection with your target market – but how do you achieve instant success? To get your business started on social media, use these social media recommendations.
Be picky with platforms
Consistency is essential for making social work for you, so don’t assume you need to create a profile on every platform. Adding more than is necessary will result in irregular, inconsistent activity, so concentrate on the one or two platforms that are most relevant to your audience.
So, which website would produce the best outcomes for your company? Here’s a quick rundown of the major sites:
Facebook: Historically, Facebook has been the most popular social media outlet with the most users. This has decreased over time as the user base has gotten older. It allows users to connect with friends, share links, photographs, videos, and events, join groups, and do other things. There are alternatives for both organic and sponsored promotion of content.
The newest addition to this list, TikTok, surged throughout the pandemic. According to Social Films, the site had 3.7 million active users in the UK in 2021, who spent an average of 41 minutes per day reading its content. At the time, the app was downloaded over 1 million times each month in the United Kingdom. More over a quarter (26%) of users were between the ages of 18 and 24.
Twitter: Twitter is a fast-paced medium that allows for reaction and is widely recognised as the best platform for engagement. It is also becoming increasingly popular as a tool for social customer support. Users can post up to 280-character messages, share photographs and videos, create custom lists, send direct messages, and do other things. Organic promotion, Twitter cards, and paid promos can all be used to promote content.
Instagram: Instagram is a photo-based social media platform with Stories and Reels. According to Statista data from 2022, the majority of users are between the ages of 25 and 34. Instagram can now be accessed via desktop as well as mobile, which is more handy than the previous mobile-only capabilities.
LinkedIn: The largest professional social media network. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site where users may add connections, share links, join groups, post recommendations, and search for connections based on company, location, industry, and talents. There is also paid advertising accessible.
YouTube: A video-sharing website with over a billion users that allows users to watch, upload, rate, share, subscribe to, and comment on content. In the UK, there are 36.5 million users, with over half (44%) between the ages of 25 and 44. The gender split is roughly even, with 54% of males and 46% of females using the platform.
Follow a plan
Social media should be regarded as any other company activity. There must be a reason, and you must define your aims as well as what you want it to accomplish for your brand. Do you want to increase sales, raise brand exposure, or promote consumer engagement? Once you’ve decided on an objective, keep it in mind as you develop your strategy.
Take the time to analyse rival profiles, discover relevant content, and plan a posting schedule for each channel you use. Consider major initiatives that may be executed across numerous channels, such as introducing a promotion or competition, rather than publishing seldom. Brands can also benefit from seasonality with content, so think about what’s coming up on the calendar and arrange your posts accordingly.
There are numerous tools available to assist you in developing your material and making frequent publishing much easier. If you create a business profile on Facebook, you will have access to free publishing tools and post insights. For other platforms, SproutSocial, HootSuite, and Buffer are examples of free apps that will assist you with scheduling content.
Stay social
Building a following necessitates engagement, so while content planning and strategy are crucial, reacting to conversations and connecting with influencers is critical if you want to establish a name for yourself. Share, retweet, and comment on posts related to your brand, as well as join groups and follow significant people in your field. Building relationships with influencers can open doors to prospective new clients. It’s essential to monitor what they’re talking about on social media and think about how you might become engaged in the chat – whether it’s expressing an opinion or setting up a new topic.
Become a valuable contributor
Commitment is one of the keys to social media success. You must create valuable material that resonates with your audience once you’ve defined who you’re attempting to target and relevant platforms. Sharing your skills or knowledge, delivering solutions, and providing significant market insight will motivate and engage your consumers or potential clients.
Whatever method you use to increase your social presence, planning is crucial; once the groundwork is laid, you can start having fun and growing your following.
Review your strategy regularly
For a variety of reasons, it’s a good idea to review your social media strategy on a regular basis. To begin with, the social media landscape is continuously shifting.
Platforms regularly update their offers or algorithms. In the style of TikTok, Instagram recently placed posts from popular people in their feed rather than the user’s favourite accounts. This was later updated to reflect the old feed model. It is critical to keep up with social media news in order to stay on top of these changes and trends.
Not only that, but your target audience is likely to shift. New platforms emerge (which younger users may migrate to), your audience’s interests and values shift, or a scandal can put audiences off of a specific network.
It’s also important considering how social media posts on all of your websites interact with one another. Is the branding unified? Is your vocal tone consistent? Make sure they reflect your brand’s identity.
If you believe your user base might benefit from the ability to purchase from Instagram, you may want to include features like Instagram Shopping in your offering. You might even collaborate with another company to develop content for their target audience.
Using your analytics tools to see what’s working effectively is beneficial. If a product or type of social media post is performing well, replicate it! Meanwhile, rethink the ones that aren’t working out. Perhaps you can tweak them to replicate the success of your other posts.
While you’re there, consider removing bogus accounts and followers; it doesn’t have to be all about changing the strategy.
Six months is a decent benchmark figure to aim for when reviewing your plan of action.
