It’s not easy getting started with your brand new venture. There are so many small business owners out there that you may have a difficult time finding your niche and standing out from the competition.
Luckily, social media marketing can help small businesses reach more people than ever before – and on a budget! But what is it? How does it work? And how do you know if it’s right for your small business? I’m here to tell you all about this exciting opportunity for small businesses and give some tips on how to make sure that it’s done right. Let’s get started!
What is Social Media Marketing?
Although other types of digital marketing are still prominent, the use of social media platforms has become increasingly popular among throughout all areas of business, research and academia.
Social media marketing is now a necessary tool for small businesses. Marketing through social media has become an essential part of small business success as well as small business survival. Studies have shown that small businesses use social media more than their larger competitors in order to market their goods and services. This is because small businesses have less capital to invest in traditional marketing. Small business owners know that marketing through social media gives them a significantly higher ROI than traditional media such as print and broadcast ads.
Through the internet, small businesses can reach thousands or millions of potential customers or clients. It’s important to know that every small business owner does not have to start from scratch with social media. Whether you’re on a budget or not, there are plenty of free resources available for small businesses online. From checklists to tutorials and even a range of content creation tools, the internet is full of resources small business owners can use to help them grow their small businesses.
Social media marketing gives small business owners the ability to communicate directly with customers, both current and prospective. It promotes small businesses by allowing them to reach out to countless potential clients rapidly and cost-effectively while increasing brand awareness and strengthening small businesses’ brands.
How Small Businesses can use Social Media Marketing?
It can be overwhelming when you are a small business and you start to think about social media, it’s many platform options and the idea of using it for marketing. Social media marketing is a way of creating awareness for your small business, giving small businesses a voice in the world, and helping small businesses establish trust with their customers.
One way for small businesses to utilise social media is by actively engaging on social media sites. If you are building a small business website from scratch or have enrolled in an e-commerce site, it’s important that the small business website integrates seamlessly with your social media.
You should also become familiar with hashtags on both photos and posts to increase visibility for your account however, how they are used differs from platform to platform so it is worth doing a bit of research first before barrelling in.
You will also want to monitor what other people are saying about your small business and respond accordingly. There are many metrics you can track to understand how successful you social media is but you can take you time getting used to this as your skills advance.
The small business owner is essentially the small business’ representative on social media, which means small businesses need to represent themselves with a professional yet personable image and monitor what other people are saying about them. If you have a small business that is just starting out it’s important to be able to establish trust with your customers through building your small business’ credibility and engaging with your small business’ community.
Owners need to be able to show up for their small businesses, engage with the communities they want to build relationships in, find ways to meet other small business owners and reps at small business online network events, in online groups, etc. The more you put yourself out in the online space as your business the harder social media will work for your small business as a result.
The benefits of Small Business Social Media Marketing
There are many benefits small businesses can enjoy from social media marketing. These small businesses can see an increase in brand awareness, an increase in traffic to their small business’ website, and an increase in customer engagement. Small businesses that use small business social media marketing have also been found to generate up to x2 more leads than those who do not.
With effective social media marketing, small businesses can expect to see:
Brand awareness is increase
The number one thing you should be concerned about when it comes to your small business is whether or not people know you exist. In today’s world, this can be very difficult as there are thousands of brands all competing for the public eye. Brand awareness is affected in many ways and achieved through various marketing strategies but most notably by social media posts, pages and groups or through paid Facebook ads with catchy images draw the buyers attention.
Traffic to small business websites increases
Some ways that small businesses can drive internet users towards their website are by using paid advertisements such as Adwords or Facebook Ads on the platforms themselves but also through popular ad networks like Google Display Network. Smaller local competitors in a specific niche might want to consider running some form of an affiliate marketing campaign where they partner with another company who sells products related to what is being sold at their store (e.g., if you sell yoga wear then find someone selling shoes for your customers).
Customer engagement increases
If a company increases its customer engagement, it will see an increase in customers. Customer engagement is important to have because if you engage with your customers, they are more likely to return for future purchases or services and become loyal clients. If the customer feels that they were listened to or helped then this builds up trust between them and the business which leads towards increased sales over time as well as referrals from satisfied previous buyers
Little or no-cost if budget is tight
Social Media Marketing is a great way to bring your business awareness and exposure for those who have little or no budget. It can be an effective advertising channel when you are just starting out in the market with small products, services and limited marketing campaigns.
Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
The most common mistakes small businesses owners make when starting their small business social media marketing is not having a clear idea for what they want to do with the small business.
Some small businesses that don’t see any success are those who are just putting out random posts without considering how effective the post would be or what they want to get out of it and those who are posting too often.
It’s also important for small businesses to have a strategy when it comes to social media marketing and not just jump into anything.
Posting too frequently can also be an issue- small businesses need to consider when they post, what they are posting and how often they should be posting (not every small business has the same results).
Small businesses who have a clear idea of what they want out of social media marketing and know that information are more likely to achieve success.
As a small business owner, you need to do your small businesses homework – studying up on your market and how to produce an effective small business social media marketing plan before starting small business social media marketing.
Small businesses need to make sure that when they start small business social media marketing, they do it in a way that will help them reach their goals and objectives.
Conclusion
The small business owner’s main concern when it comes to their small business is whether or not people know you exist. In today’s world, this can be very difficult as there are thousands of brands all competing for the public eye. Brand awareness is affected in many ways and achieved through various marketing strategies but most notably by social media posts, pages and groups or through paid adverts with catchy images draw the buyers attention.
Social Media can be an intimidating area to start marketing if you have no previous experience but it is a vital aspect of modern business so don’t worry about doing it wrong, just get started and learn as you go!
