By David Jones on Jun 7, 2021
Today, the number of social media users have reached 2.65 billion, and we would have hazard a guess that you are at least vaguely familiar with some of these amazing platforms. We can say with absolute certainty that your customers are engaging with these sites daily. They also want to and expect to hear from you via these channels.
According to research, 57.5% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media, and 71% are more likely to make a purchase following a positive social experience.
More than that, an excellent social media presence can also do wonders for your brand reputation. 71% of consumers who have had a good experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend that brand to others.
Due to the benefits attached to social media, more than 70% of small businesses are now using these platforms. You may think that it is impossible to compete with more prominent brands, but it’s not the case. Small businesses also have a large number of advantages over big businesses when it comes to social networking.
The first step to obtaining these benefits and becoming successful on social media is to create a social media strategy. This guide will help you craft your own strategy stepwise to help your small business get the most out of social media.
A social media strategy summarises everything you plan to do and achieve on your chosen platforms. It includes your goals, identifying your intended audience, your brand’s voice, what you will post when you post, and how you will monitor your performance.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a one-person band, an SME, or a large multi-national company; your social media advertising strategy is essential because it allows you to plan what’s going to make your brand successful.
What if you don’t completely understand your audience, what they’re interested in, or how they like to be spoken to? If you don’t know your goals, how can you possibly know what content you should be posting?
Even if you create your social media accounts with pure intentions, it won’t work if you don’t have a plan. If you have taken the time to set your goals and have already planned what and when you will post, you are more likely to stick to it.
Follow these steps to define, execute and monitor your own social media strategy.
Identify what you want social media to achieve for your brand. This will help you determine everything from what you post to how often you post. You also need to think about what you are going to measure so you can keep track of whether your efforts have been successful or not.
If you currently have no presence on social media, feel free to jump to the next step.
If your accounts exist on social media, this information can be valuable. It can help you determine what is and isn’t working.
Do you get more likes when you post on a particular day or at a specific time? Do your follower engage better with certain content? How most of your followers talk to you? What gets the most likes? Do specific posts fall flat?
Knowing your audience is key to crafting a successful social media advertising strategy. Say, for example, you are targeting the 60+ age range. So, the type of content you post, your language, and the platform you choose are most likely to differ wildly compare to a brand trying to attract a younger audience.
In order to understand your audience, think about:
There are dozens of social media platforms out there, but it’s a good practice to focus on one channel and get it right than creating multiple accounts straight away. This doesn’t mean you can’t create accounts on other platforms, but it prevents you from juggling content creation for other new accounts.
The platform you choose for your small business is most likely depends on two factors. How many resources you have, and who is your audience?
Facebook currently is the most popular platform having 2.45 billion active monthly users. It allows users to share photos, videos, music, articles, and opinions. Popular with businesses and individuals alike, companies can set up their own page which their fans can follow. Don’t worry if you don’t have skilled individuals who can use it for advertising. You can opt for a Facebook advertising agency that can provide you with guaranteed results.
Keeping an eye on your competitors on social media is an excellent way to identify who is a threat and what does and doesn’t go well with your audience. It also helps you identify any gaps in your own strategy.
In business, it is crucial to understand your competition’s strengths and weaknesses and your own, and competitor analysis helps you with that.
A social media content calendar is a document used to schedule pieces of content you’re to post across all your social media platforms for the week or month. How do you manage it? This is entirely dependent on your time restrictions.
A content calendar plays a crucial role in your social media advertising for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it keeps you stay consistent when it comes to posting. If you have to remember to post something many times a week across different platforms, there will be days you forget or don’t have enough time.
Your content calendar for each of your profiles should include the date and time of a post, caption, hashtags, and imagery. If your chosen platform is Facebook, you better opt for a Facebook advertising agency. They will do all such tedious tasks for you.
Following the steps above will help you execute your social media strategy successfully. If you’re feeling a little bit overwhelmed, follow these tips for a seamless implementation:
The final and most crucial part of your social media strategy is monitoring performance. Knowing what is working and what isn’t will help you improve your offering and ensure you are getting a good ROI.
Tracking your social media performance entirely depends on what your goals are. For example, you can monitor how many shares and likes your posts are getting engagement is a key focus for you. Or, if your top priority is to gain more web visitors, then you might want to look at the click-through rates on your posts and advertising.
Trying to grow your small business may be a daunting task, but it’s possible when you use social media. We hope you have enjoyed our social media strategy for small businesses guide and are now equipped with all the required information you need to create a successful plan in place.
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