Social media marketing is crucial for businesses to capture the attention of their target audience, engage with them, and build brand awareness. While organic reach is valuable, businesses often use a combination of organic and paid strategies to maximize their presence. Quality content is key to attracting and retaining an interested audience. However, there are some of the best ways to promote your small business using social media. Here is how:
- Use the right platform. “Go where the customers and competitors are”, shared an expert, Danni, a Social Media Manager at Simply Business.
- Set and align goals with the social media plans. Increasing brand awareness through content requires relevant messaging, which can attract your audience better.
- Engage actively with the audience. Putting yourself out there and making your presence known is one of the best ways. Be friendly and engaging.
- Always track your progress. By using free social media analytics tools, businesses can track whether the ways they are promoting are working or not.
- Use the right tools. Scheduling tools can help save time. For example, free scheduling tools for Instagram and Facebook can be used using the Meta Business Suite. If there is an extra budget, Buffer is suitable for small businesses.
Which platform to use?
Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube have a wide audience, but small businesses must be smart and strategic to find the right platform to focus on. To find out which platform to use, businesses must know which platforms their target audiences mostly spend their time on. Knowing the nature of your business, client demographics and marketing goals should be taken into consideration before choosing.
For business-to-business (B2B)
LinkedIn is the most suitable platform, following Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. LinkedIn is ideal for networking by connecting with professionals, sharing industry-specific content, and advertising to a professional audience. It is also mainly a choice for lead generation. 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation, and 62% of them claim that it produces leads for them, which is more than twice as many as the next-highest social channel, according to the State of B2B Marketing Report from Wpromote.
For YouTube, video marketing is the most suitable to be done for free. Businesses can post tutorials, on-boarding courses, podcasts, product demos, case studies, behind-the-scenes videos, event videos, thought leaderships, webinars, educational materials and many more based on what they want to provide to their target audiences.
There is a low trend where B2B companies are using TikTok; however, the audience is mostly young and not that suitable. TikTok could be suitable for those who want to show positive and attractive business branding, showcase company culture, or share behind-the-scenes content to attract and engage potential talent for their company.
For business-to-consumer (B2C)
Meanwhile, for business-to-consumer (B2C), TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are the most recommended platforms to use. LinkedIn is somewhat suitable and can be used for B2C purposes, especially for personal branding, industry thought leadership, or targeting specific niches within the consumer market.
While LinkedIn is highly recommended for B2B and TikTok for B2C, Facebook should be given the highest priority since it is the largest social network online. For the basics, use the Facebook page to put business contact information and CTAs, utilize Facebook events and run Facebook live sessions. Also, Pinterest would be one of the best platforms for e-commerce businesses to widen their visibility. 87% of the users have purchased items from there. The photos of the product or services could be uploaded with captions and a website link to purchase the items, which makes it easier for both businesses and customers.
Keep in mind to note that while some platforms are not suitable, it depends on the businesses’ creativity to provide content and messaging that are suitable for each platform according to their business goals. Social media marketing may be time-consuming and require a lot of effort to constantly engage with potential customers. Nevertheless, with consistent dedication and a well-planned strategy, the rewards can make it well worth the effort.
