Social Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

Since social media plays an important role in business marketing, any strong strategy should find an efficient way to incorporate them. Therefore, you should consider some of the following tips for developing a successful social marketing strategy.

Develop a plan

It all starts with a plan, so you need to make sure to have a good marketing plan you can put into effect. If you have clear objectives and targets you want to reach, it’ll be much easier to achieve them. You can also set deadlines to help you stay focused and goal-oriented, but try to be realistic – nobody can do wonders over a short period of time. Your objectives should be realistic as well, since establishing unrealistic expectations for you and your team can be quite discouraging.

Know your customers

Your marketing strategy and the choice of social media platform depend on how well you know your customers. Therefore, you should take some time to conduct market research and collect data about your target audience. You can analyze their demographics, likes and dislikes, consumer behavior, social behavior, etc. Later on, this will help you develop more relevant and appealing strategy on social media.

Include visuals

When you consider the fact that content with visuals produces 650% higher consumer engagement than text-only posts, you realize that using visuals in your social media marketing is of utmost importance. Since social network users are bombarded with a copious amount of posts, you need to make sure that your content is interesting and that it includes captivating visuals. Many users tend to skim through the numerous posts and pay attention only to those that stand out from the crowd. Therefore, you should include original high-quality visuals in your marketing strategy in order to win over the users, just like this video production company offers.

Post compelling content

Once your consumers decide to give you a portion of their attention at least for a while, you need to give them a reason to stick around. Your entire social media marketing strategy depends on the quality of your content since your consumers won’t waste their time on boring posts. The content you share needs to be interesting, original and relevant to your consumers and their needs. If your content is useful and amusing, the users will switch from “skimming through” to “giving you their undivided attention”. You can include interesting statistics and data, recent news from the industry, humorous or inspirational texts, solutions to their problems, etc.

Consider the number of updates

Although this might seem as an irrelevant factor, it actually requires careful consideration. Posting on a regular basis is important since you don’t want to be lost in the sea of other posts. However, you need to find a balance between posting too much and not posting at all. If you post content all the time, your consumers can be easily bored by your constant presence. Instead, take advantage of the peak hours when social media are used.

Pick the right platform

The type of your business and your target audience will influence which social media platform will be the right one for you. You have numerous options, but not every one of them will be suitable for your needs. If you’re conducting a visually based marketing campaign, platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest will be more appropriate for your needs. In addition, don’t narrow your choices only to those platforms that are currently popular. Several new platforms are on the rise. Medium, a publishing and blogging platform, Periscope, a live streaming app, and Snapchat, a visually-based platform, are gaining in popularity among business owners looking for more opportunities to promote their companies.

Any business owner aiming at success recognizes the importance of social media for marketing. With just a few simple, yet efficient steps, you can include social networks in your marketing strategy and then enjoy your success.