One of the most daunting tasks for any Small Business is creating, managing, and growing their Social Media channels. There is a myriad of things to “do” and “not do” when it comes to best practices, however, much like anything when it comes to digital marketing, there really isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach to Social Media. As I often discuss with my clients, regardless of your following, business vertical, or area of operation, there are core fundamentals every business can follow and certain pitfalls to avoid. Let’s dive into some Social Media Tips & Tricks that you can apply to your Small Business! As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you are looking for any digital marketing support.
Social Media Do’s & Don’t’s in 2023
- Be Consistent & Ensure You’re Posting Regularly
Whether you post once a day, once a week, or once a month (I would recommend a few times per week to take full advantage of the algorithms – it’s not just Google that has algorithms!), it is important to be consistent with when you are posting
- Communicate Directly With Your Ideal Customer
- Don’t just promote yourself or your products/services. Instead, speak directly to your clients/customers in a way that will resonate with them.
- Build Relationships & Engage Online
- Your Social Media profiles are a representation of yourself. Social Media is used to personify a brand and conversations with your followers should feel just like that – a conversation. Remember to follow others in your industry, other brands online, and members of your community too!
- Don’t Post the Same Thing on Each Channel
- Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok are different. They serve different purposes, reach different audiences, and dispense content in different ways. Avoid posting the same thing to each. Instead, take a core message and shift how it is being communicated to reflect the purpose of each channel.
- Mix & Match Your Content Types
- Just like how each channel is different, the types of posts should be different too. Instagram, for example, allows you to produce content that disappears after 24 hours, Grid Posts (which should be consistently branded) can serve a different purpose than Highlights or Reels. Meanwhile, you can share direct URL links to your website from your Facebook page to encourage conversion.
- Look at Your Analytics & Adjust Your Posting Strategy
- The Meta suite, for example, offers valuable insight in terms of your audience demographics, post reach, and engagement. These stats, combined with your Google Analytics metrics, can tell a powerful story and allow you to consistently reach the right group of people with the right message (especially relevant if you are also running Search Ads!).
- Utilize a Consistent but Fluid Hashtag Strategy
- Each one of your posts should feature hashtags relevant to the post topic, your geographic location, your business vertical, and anything else relevant that day, week, or just trending in general. While many hashtags will remain consistent with each post, it is a good practice to ensure you’re engaging with a different audience and piggybacking on whatever conversation is taking place online that day.
- Take Advantage of Holidays & Pseudo Holidays
- This ties into the posting schedule & hashtag strategy as there are key dates in the year you can plan ahead for in your content calendar. These include static holidays as well as trendy days like “National Bagel Day”, “Pi Day”, “National Selfie Day”, or “International Cat Day” which are great ways to reach a new audience while also sharing a different side of your business.
- Join Groups but Don’t Spam in Them
- Just like you want to build a fairly consistent following vs followers balance (depending on the vertical), joining and participating in groups is a great way to get your name out there while engaging with other like-minded individuals. Each group will have its own set of rules, but they are not meant to simply fill their channel with promotions for your business. Communicate within the groups to learn and find ways to collaborate.
- Don’t Ignore Comments
- Similar to how you want to manage channels like your Google Business Listing, create an ongoing dialogue with your customers and followers whether they are positive or negative. Respond to comments, respond to direct messages, and ensure you are always available to participate in the conversation. Leaving comments unanswered shows a lack of engagement and you never want the final word on a post to be something negative. It is an opportunity to speak directly with your followers.
Why Social Media Matters for Small Businesses
Social Media is an important communication channel for any Small Business. It is a way to humanize your brand and connect directly with your customers, clients, and friends while reaching new people. How you communicate on Social Media should be an accurate representation of your overall business and balance messages of upcoming sales, promotions, past work, and content that has nothing to do with just pushing conversion. Social Media, combined with SEO, SEM, and overall branding is a way to stand out online and offer an omnichannel method of communication for your customers. If you are looking for any business consultation when it comes to digital marketing, you can always contact me for more information.