Business social media presence is in increasing demand from consumers. Creating posts and engagement through interactive posts not only engages your target audience but builds a rapport with your customer.
Social media is a great way to connect with your customers and grow your business. But with so many platforms out there, it can be difficult to know which ones are right for you and your business type.
To begin, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best social media platforms for small businesses, and how they can help grow your brand!
The Best Small Business Social Media Platforms
There’s a lot of noise on social media and getting your message across can be a challenge. You need to be creative to attract attention and keep people interested, and you also need to know which platforms are best for your audience.
The good news is that there are plenty of tools out there that will help small businesses with their social proofing.
The first task is choosing the right social media platform for your small business.
If you have time or budget constraints, you might think it would make sense to spend most of your time on one platform, like Facebook or LinkedIn, instead of spreading yourself too thin by trying to get the word out about your business on all the different channels.
But doing so means missing out on opportunities for organic connections with customers who may not be active members of any particular platform—and those people aren’t always easy to reach through other channels either.
To make life easier when posting across a number of platforms, use a content scheduler. The following companies have free plans that are well suited to startups and small businesses:
Facebook is a social media platform that allows you to interact with others and share information. It’s also the largest social network on the planet, with over 2 billion users worldwide. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that most businesses would want to have a presence on Facebook.
It’s one of the best ways for businesses to grow their audience online with over 70% of small businesses using it for their marketing efforts.
Connecting with followers is an important part of social media marketing for businesses of all sizes. Twitter is a great place for this since it’s primarily used as a microblogging platform where people share their thoughts in short posts that consist of 140 characters or less. Your customers will be happy to see that you’re listening and responding to their comments.
TikTok
TikTok is great for small businesses because it allows you to connect with your customers in a new way. Most social media platforms are used by people as a place to share their lives and experiences with each other, but TikTok is different because it’s specifically tailored to short videos that are created by users.
This makes it an ideal platform for small businesses who want to promote their products or services and go viral.
TikTok has over 1 billion downloads on Android devices alone – which means there are millions of potential customers for your small business. Go on, get creative!
LinkedIn is a professional networking site. It’s a great place to share your expertise and find business partners, mentors, and job opportunities. In fact, LinkedIn was designed specifically for B2B (business-to-business) interactions.
LinkedIn has some of the most active users in social media, with over 500 million people using the platform each month as of 2018. Unlike other social platforms like Facebook or Twitter, which are geared toward individuals looking for personal connections or entertainment purposes respectively; LinkedIn is centred around connecting with other professionals who have similar interests and goals as your small business.
Instagram is a social media platform for sharing photos and short videos. It was acquired by Facebook in 2012 and has since become the most popular photo-sharing app.
If you’re not using Instagram to promote your small business, you’re missing out on an opportunity to connect with your audience in a way that feels more personal than other platforms.
Here are some ideas for how to make the most of Instagram as part of your marketing strategy:
- Post photos or videos of your products or services (and tell consumers what they do)
- Post-behind-the-scenes photos from events where you were present (like trade shows)
- Share customer testimonials
- Create reels (short, engaging videos – a bit like TikTok)
How to Create Posts That Will Engage Your Audience
Unsure how to effectively engage with your audience? It’s important to think through several aspects of your social media content before you publish it.
As well as the types of posts and types of social media content, keep these questions in mind when creating your social content:
- Does this post have a call to action?
- Is the value proposition clear?
- Does the benefit of this post stand out?
- Is this relevant to my target audience?
- Is this interesting and/or engaging enough for them to want more information or take action (e.g., respond)?
Taking into consideration images, branding, hashtags, links, and media will have a huge impact on the success of your social media posts.
21 Social Media Tips For Business
As a business owner, it’s vital to learn on the job.
My New Venture has curated the following list of effective social media tips from entrepreneurs’ direct experience. Learning what ideas work for you and what do not, is the best way to solidify your social media strategy.
1. Share user-generated content
Sharing content created by consumers of your product or service not only highlights authentic reactions and reviews, but encourages consumers to share their experiences with their community of followers. Repurposing user content for your own social channels can save time and energy by creating reels and stories that showcase your product in action.
2. Share behind-the-scenes news
Giving your audience an inside look into the inner workings of your business is a great way to give them a sense of what it is like to work with you. The more they know about you and your company, the more they will trust your brand.
If you have employees who are active on social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat, ask them if they would be interested in sharing some behind-the-scenes photos or videos. Be sure that any material shared includes hashtags related to your brand so that people searching for those terms can find this content organically when they are looking up information about the products or services that you provide.
3. Share opinion blogs
Sharing an opinion blog is a great way to build your credibility and expertise. You can use opinion blogs to share your own opinions, as well as the opinions of others. Highlighting the positive opinions and feedback from your customers by sharing opinion blogs engages potential customers with insights they can trust.
4. Use reels & stories
Reels and stories are a great way to organise your best content in one place and promote it. With reels, you can build a collection of short, engaging videos promoting your brand. Be sure to jump on any relevant trends.
In addition to being a resource for existing followers looking to catch up with your latest work, reels and stories are also handy tools when it comes time for outreach efforts like cold emailing influencers or pitching publications.
5. Invest in great photography
Great photography is essential for social media. It’s important to invest in strong photography, but it’s equally important to invest in people who understand your business, your brand, and your industry.
Depending on your brand and product, you may want to invest in a professional photographer who has experience shooting in your market. This could propel the overall image and online appeal of your small business.
6. Have fun with gifs
Gifs are a great way to express emotion. They’re also a great way to show what you do and how your product works, or even just show the process of getting from A to B. Gifs can be used for so much more than just entertainment—they’re an incredibly useful tool for small businesses.
For example, if you have an online store and want to promote your new product line, why not make a gif that shows how it’s made? Gifs are versatile in terms of their applications, so don’t be afraid of using them on social media!
7. Use emojis creatively
Emojis are a great way to add some personality to your content, and they can make what you’re saying a little more relatable.
Emojis not only help you connect with customers but also encourage them to engage with your content. Using emojis creatively is perfect for sparking conversation between viewers on social media because they allow your community to efficiently engage with your content.
8. Video yourselves and your products
As a small business owner, you might not be able to afford to hire a videographer.
Luckily, there are several ways for you to create quality video content without spending too much money. One option is using an editing platform like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere.
Another popular choice is creating stop motion videos with your phone or tablet by taking multiple photos and moving objects around between each shot. You could also make a video showcasing how to use one of your products in real-life situations, the options are endless.
9. Broadcast ‘Live’
When you’re ready to broadcast live, you need to have a plan in mind and be prepared. Here are the top things to consider:
- Have an idea of what you want to talk about. Do some research on your topic so that it’s not just a generic “here’s what I’m doing today” stream without any purpose or direction.
- Be authentic. You’re not going to be able to fake this one! People can spot phonies a mile away, so don’t try it unless you’re feeling confident about yourself and your business’s mission statement.
- Be ready for questions from viewers. This can be tricky if it’s the first-time broadcasting live, but people will ask good questions if they see something interesting happening on camera that shows real value being delivered by the business owner (you).
- Have a good internet connection and remove yourself from any distractions.
10. Host an online event
Depending on your business, you may want to host a live online event. You could do a webinar, where you give tips and tricks concerning your product or service. You could also do Q&A sessions where people ask questions and get responses from experts, encouraging viewers to purchase your product.
Hosting workshops is another great way to provide value to your customers and followers by giving them access to experts. It’s also quite cost-effective since it doesn’t require any travel costs and all the materials needed are already available online.
11. Profile people in your community
The importance of community is something that’s often overlooked, but it can help you achieve so much more than you might realise. Sharing content from others within your own community shows that there’s a lot of talent and passion out there. Not only does it encourage people to see exactly what they can get out of being part of your brand community but it grows your reach.
12. Celebrate holidays and traditions
Holidays and traditions are a great way to engage with your audience. Holidays include birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other special occasions which can be celebrated in different ways through social media content.
Traditional celebrations include Christmas, Halloween, and Easter in the UK, but there are many other important events you can celebrate such as Diwali or Ramadan, to name a few.
The best way to make sure that your content is relevant is by making sure it relates to something specific about the event, such as traditions that surround it or how people may celebrate it.
13. Share games & quizzes
One of the best ways to stop an individual scrolling is by creating a game or quiz. This encourages your followers to stop and think about your brand. Use games as a way to get people to come back to your page again and again (and hopefully buy from you).
Get them excited about coming back! Promote new products, services or events that might interest them in the future.
14. Record a podcast
A podcast is a series of audio or video files that are published online. Podcasts can be a great way to share your expertise and make money by selling e-books, courses, coaching programs and much more.
Podcasts also help you connect with your audience as they can provide useful information that will benefit them in their lives.
When it comes to building trust with your audience, podcasts are one of the best ways to do so as it makes you seem like an authority on the topic at hand.
15. Share your music playlists
Create music playlists and share them. Make sure they are relevant to your brand and not just random songs that you like. Also, consider sharing playlists created by other people or brands and don’t just focus on promoting all your own content, it will get annoying for followers who follow you on multiple platforms.
16. Share testimonials
When you’re looking for content ideas, think about what your customers want to hear. If they’re going to take their time and read something of yours, they want it to be worth their while. This is where testimonials come in handy. Share the good things people say about you, your products, services, or your brand on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. You can also ask for testimonials by sending out a survey via email.
17. Share inspirational messages
We’re all looking for a little inspiration now and then, so why not share some of your favourite quotes with your followers? You can post quotes from books, intellects, celebrities, and even the thoughts of friends or colleagues.
Here are some examples:
- Inspirational quotes
- Motivational videos (that may include you!)
- Thoughts on social media trends
18. Create a multi-part content series
A multi-part content series can help drive engagement and boost awareness of your brand. This type of content is great for introducing new ideas, products or services to an audience.
A multi-part content series works well when you’re trying to build awareness about a specific topic, but it’s also useful when you want to introduce new products or services in an engaging way that encourages customers to learn more about them and keep coming back.
19. Ask for feedback
Whether you’re a service-based small business or a product-based one, asking for feedback is an effective way to get ideas for content. If your customers are happy with what you offer, ask them how you can make it better. And if they aren’t satisfied, ask for suggestions on how to improve your product or service.
Additionally, when it comes to social media content and your engagement strategy, asking for feedback is another way for small businesses to get unique ideas. If there’s something about your marketing efforts that aren’t working well—for example, if people aren’t engaging with your posts—this could be an indicator that there is room for improvement in the strategy itself.
By asking questions like these: What do you think of our latest video? How would this post have been better? What are we doing right (or wrong) on social media?
20. Host a ‘takeover’
A takeover is when a social media influencer takes over a brand’s social media account and posts content. This strategy is great because it allows you to engage with your audience while simultaneously increasing the number of followers on your channels.
Influencers are often known as authorities in their fields, this type of post can help build trust and credibility for your business.
21. Work with an influencer
Influencers can help you reach new audiences and amplify your brand message. They can also help you reach your target audience in a more authentic way.
For example, if you’re targeting younger people, working with someone who has a large following among that demographic will make it more likely that they’ll be interested in what you’re selling. An influencer’s established relationship with their followers, means they’ll be able to speak directly to them on behalf of your brand without feeling like a salesperson.
Your Social Media Strategy
Social media advertising and marketing, community management and customer service are all part of the social media mix, but they’re not necessarily the most important elements to focus on. You need to have a strategy before you can implement it effectively, so start by establishing some goals for yourself and your business overall.
Ask yourself:
- What do you want to accomplish through your social media channels?
- Who is your target audience?
- How can they benefit from what you have to offer?
Then map out how each of these things will be accomplished in a way that works best for both your small business and your customer. Before leaping into posting content, it’s essential to set clear goals, expectations, and priorities.
The key to being successful with your social media strategy is to keep it fun, engaging and on-trend. If you focus on these goals and use the ideas outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to creating content that will resonate with your audience. My New Venture is here to provide new ways of thinking about how you can connect with customers online, to help grow your new business and see you succeed.
