If you own a business, you most certainly spend a significant amount of time researching the most recent social media marketing strategies. With good reason.
There are currently 4.2 billion active social media users, nearly double the number that existed just five years ago. Every day, these users spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media.
Those approximately 2.5 hours provide a great opportunity for businesses to raise brand awareness, cultivate consumer relationships, and even make sales directly through social media platforms. So you’ll definitely need some tips to get the best out of your social media marketing strategies. Here are all of the social media marketing tips you’ll need for your business.
Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social media marketing strategies vary depending on the organization and industry. However, one thing that every organization has in common is a desire to see proven outcomes from social media marketing. Because the social media world is continuously changing, it is critical to keep on top of new trends and ideas. That’s why we reached out to the people who keep up with these trends the most closely to provide you our top 29+ social media marketing tips for your small business.
Top 29+ Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Business
- Create a Social Sharing Strategy
- Use an Awesome Visual Storytelling Tool
- Don’t Be Afraid to Pay for Social Advertising
- Test Pinterest for Your Brand
- Make Video a Part of Your Content Strategy
- Use a Unified Social Inbox
- Stick to the Fundamentals
- Take Advantage of Ad Targeting
- Authenticity is Key
- Make Consistent Production of Video Content a Priority
- Focus on Relationships
- Try Newsjacking
- Start with Strategy
- Turn Customers into Brand Ambassadors
- Address Yor Target Audience by Name
- Aim for Engagement First
- Understand Your Target Audience
- Make Lasting Impressions
- Work with Sales to Understand the Buying Journey
- Be “Social”
- Subject matter and Visuals
- Beat the Algorithm
- Ask questions before you dive in
- Community Management
- Consistency and relevance in your brand
- Humanize your business
- Cut back on the number of hashtags
- Embrace your mistakes
- Select your social media platforms wiserly
- Optimize your post frequency.
Read the blog below for detailed instructions on incorporating these tips into the social media marketing strategy of your business.
#1. Social Sharing Strategy
Encourage more of your website visitors to share your content—by adopting a decent social sharing plugin, such as social warfare, you can quickly increase the number of shares of the content on your website. This ensures that your sharing is accessible to all viewers when they browse through your blog post, it works great on mobile, and it lets you personalize the images and text used for different social networks. If you pay greater attention to how people share your material, you may easily double the number of shares.
#2. Use an Awesome Visual Storytelling Tool
Look for a tool that can assist you in creating visual material that you can use to promote your core content on social media using visual storytelling. With so much stuff available, it’s critical to develop graphics that pique your followers’ interests and motivate them to take action.
#3. Don’t Be Afraid to Pay for Social Advertising
While most people think of social media as purely organic, I’m increasingly embracing it as a paid marketing channel. I’ve experimented with paid advertisements on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
All of them have advantages and disadvantages, but if I could give one piece of advice to those who use social media, it would be this: don’t be scared to pay for social media reach and clicks. It is frequently a wise investment!
#4. Test Pinterest for Your Brand
I’ve always thought Pinterest is best for organizations that have something visually appealing to show off, such as fashion, food, or sports. However, a client proved me wrong.
An organization that offers software as a service to a very specific audience experimented with posting their blog entries on Pinterest. In some situations, the photographs used in the blog articles were original (infographics, their product in use, or PowerPoint decks), while in others, they used a paid Shutterstock account. They started by creating boards based on their brand identities, representing five different groups, and then they got to work.
They included a call-to-action on every blog article, providing the free trial they already give. While Pinterest visitors are not decision-makers, they do affect buying decisions. They recognized that if they could convince these employees to sign up for the free trial, they would be more likely to suggest the program to their superiors.
#5. Make Video a Component of Your Content Strategy
If you’re using Facebook social advertising, particularly for a local or B2C market, make video a part of your content strategy. Video ads, in our experience, attract the most engagement on Facebook, and it is simple to build a video or moving image slideshow using Facebook’s own advertising tools.
#6. Unified Social Inbox
As your social media campaign begins to gain popularity, managing your accounts will consume a significant amount of time. And this is exacerbated if you manage social accounts for clients. As a result, it is vital to conserve time wherever possible.
Using a program with a unified social inbox is one of the most time-saving features I’ve discovered. Previously, I’d utilize a tool that just supported streams. So whenever I sat down to browse through @mentions, etc., I’d have to spend 5-10 minutes figuring out where I was. That was made even more difficult when I had to manage social media from my phone.
Instead, with a single social inbox, I know who I’ve responded to and who I still need to respond to. But one button in a social inbox saves me the most time: the ‘archive all’ button. This means I can scroll through my most recent messages/updates, click the select all’ button after I’ve reached the bottom, and then click ‘archive all.’
#7. Stick to the Basics
Facebook, the world’s most popular social media network, is attempting to be more honest with advertising. It recently overhauled the bidding process, giving marketers more influence than ever before. The “hidden strategies” are becoming less important, while the fundamentals of marketing – message and positioning – remain as crucial as ever.
#8. Take Advantage of Ad Targeting
As social media becomes more crowded, it becomes increasingly difficult for most businesses to capture the attention of their ideal consumer, let alone engage with them there. This is especially true for B2B organizations, which may not be as appealing as B2C businesses.
However, as social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram mature, they’ve gotten a lot better at figuring out who your target consumer is and how to get your message in front of him or her. This, however, comes at a cost: advertising.
#9. Authenticity
Although it may appear obvious, authenticity is at the risk of becoming just another phrase in the world of social/content marketing. TRUE authenticity (rather than simply using the word frequently in your tweets and posts) will set your brand (personal or product) apart in today’s highly competitive market. Followers/Advocates are drawn to the real and can spot a phony in an instant.
#10. Consistent Video Material Creation
Create video content on all of your social media accounts regularly. In 2017, video content will account for 74% of all internet traffic. With Snapchat users watching over 10 billion videos every day and Facebook users watching an additional 8 billion, if you aren’t continuously producing videos across all of your social media platforms, you are already lagging behind the competition. Consider content amplification and developing content that coincides with your consumer journey. The more users who connect with your brand, the more engagement and followers you will receive.
#11. Concentrate on Relationships
People are the lifeblood of social media. Individuals such as you and me. People who laugh, cry, get angry, go insane, marry, divorce, have children, lose family members, get jobs, lose jobs, gain promotions, win new clients, acquire new opportunities, have fun, play hard, and work hard.
Provide value to the people in your community to establish genuine relationships. Provide value and knowledge. Inspire your community to connect with you with the overarching goal of attaining their goals. It’s all about them, not about you.
Inspire… Connect…Achieve. To accomplish so, you must first understand their aims and goals. You must be familiar with them.
#12. Experiment with Newsjacking
What is Newsjacking? It is the art and science of incorporating your ideas into a breaking news story to attract a lot of media attention, sales leads, and builds a business.
When there is breaking news in your industry, reporters, and analysts are looking for experts to weigh in. You get media attention by newsjacking. With minimal effort! Buyers become interested in products and services based on what is happening today as the tale unfolds in real-time.
Newsjacking increases sales leads and attracts new clients. Absolutely free!
#13. Begin with Strategy
All great things online begin with offline planning. To begin, I urge my clients and students to take a break from their social media platform of choice—whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or their blog—and ask yourself three questions in the following order:
- Why am I in this line of work?
It is critical, to begin with, this because we frequently overlook the true answer. And, as a side note, money is never the true answer.
- Who is my product/service intended for?
The response should be as specific as possible. You must create a profile for each audience you serve if you serve a range of them. This profile should include not just demographic information such as gender, age, and location, but also interests, hobbies, clothing brands, and so on. This will allow you to clearly imagine your ideal client(s), choose which social channels to reach out to them on, and curate content that they would respond to the best.
- How does my product/service solve the problem of my ideal client?
This is a two-part question since you must first determine your clients’ pain points. Then you describe how your product or service alleviates those problems.
These three questions serve as the foundation for developing a strategy that will allow you to move on to goals, branding, and lead generation via social media. Businesses that do not perform this critical offline activity risk squandering time and money online.
#14. Convert Your Customers Into Brand Ambassadors
Do you want to wow your online community and customers? Pay attention to what they have to say on social media and reply to it! Engage! When you accomplish this, you will turn customers into brand ambassadors!
#15. Refer to Your Target Audience By Name
When creating social media or PPC posts or advertising, mention your target audience by name. Sounds like marketing 101, yet you’d be surprised how much stuff I see out there that doesn’t directly address their target audience. If you’re not receiving results, this is the number one cause.
You’re up against millions of other posts. Make sure yours shines out to the people who will be scrolling and searching for it. Assume you’re selling to small business owners; use the name in your headline, text, description, and even image.
Do just one easy thing, and you will reap tenfold rewards.
#16. Priority should be given to engagement.
One of the most common mistakes I see small businesses make is aiming for a lead or conversion from social media marketing. One thing to keep in mind is that individuals are scrolling around social dashboards for amusement purposes, not to buy or give their email addresses.
As a result, I would strongly advise focusing more on engagement. Begin with your entertainment-related photographs and videos. Boost those posts to reach your intended audience. Begin with as little as $5 per post and gradually increase to compensate for high-performing material. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll have a healthy group of admirers and followers eager to read your postings. That is the time to intelligently enlighten them about your company and convert them.
#17. Recognize Your Target Audience
Make sure you’re focusing your efforts on where your target audience is and that you understand how those you’re attempting to reach use social media at various moments throughout their day and how they engage with it.
For instance, a business owner may check LinkedIn and Twitter at work but Facebook after hours, and they may connect with different types of information on each channel.
#18. Make a Long-lasting Impression
Prioritize long-lasting impressions and authentic content over fads and slang. The voice of your brand should be consistent and genuine, reflecting the company and culture about which it speaks. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t attempt new things; just be aware of the difference between meeting your clients where they are and trying too hard to “be cool.”
#19. Collaborate with Sales to Understand the Buying Process
The trick, like with any marketing, is to understand your audience – especially in an enterprise transaction. Marketers should collaborate with the sales team to understand the purchase path and the many influencers/champions involved along the road to reaching the decision-maker. Once the marketer understands the path, they should generate content that complements it.
In terms of inbound lead generation, I believe that generating content that either helps the reader accomplish their job, saves the reader time while doing their job, or entertains the reader is the most successful method to do so. This content should then be distributed through the most appropriate means.
#20. Engage in “Social” Activities
The key to success on social media is to be “social.” Increase social engagement by providing feedback, following, retweeting, and otherwise communicating with your audience, regardless of how many posts are published on a social site. In the future, you will see a significant difference in your click/open rates.
#21. Subject Matter and Visuals
Your subject matter articles on LinkedIn should include a fair mix of industry insights and “personal professional” posts. I’ve discovered that by posting a short statement about what you’re up to while sharing your industry insights on a topic with original thoughts or third-party content – e.g., an interesting newspaper or trade publication article – you can actually generate a high rate of engagement (likes, shares, comments). For example, a fast comment on a legislative debate or a post informing people that you spoke at a conference – i.e., personal but professional. One to two sentences should suffice.
Visuals are essential. A photo of you on a panel or stage at an event might create a lot of engagement from your contacts.
#22. Outsmart the Algorithm!
You want to be noticed by your audience regularly if you want to retain a high internet reach without paying for adverts. Simple ways to cheat your way to the top? Use photographs, gifs, videos, or links in your posts at all times. Text-only changes are no longer acceptable.
Use hashtags sparingly. Even though it may seem tempting to tag everything, limiting it to only important and current words keeps your audience interested without overwhelming them, especially on Facebook, where hashtags are not often utilized.
#23. Before You Dive In, Ask Questions
Spend time planning ahead of time.
Who are you talking to?
What is the function of each channel?
Where is the meeting point of what you want and what they want?
Consider your tone of voice, timing, tools, and escalation avenues before diving in, but do so anyway. You’ll make mistakes – if you don’t, you’re not human or attempting new things – but if you’ve planned well, a simple “I’m sorry” should work.
#24. Community management is more crucial than most individuals realise!
It’s a chance to get to know your fans on a more personal level. It’s also an opportunity to showcase your brand’s voice/personality. People want to feel as if they are speaking with a real person rather than a corporate robot.
Using the correct influencers can also help you raise brand recognition and grow your number of followers. Micro-influencers may have a greater impact than macro-influencers depending on the market.
#25. Brand Consistency and Relevance
As a beginning point, clarify your goal for using social media and truly understand how it may help your business. You must understand the role of each channel in the mix – how might they be used to reach your target audience? For example, how you use Facebook may differ from how you use Twitter.
#26. Humanize Your Company
Attempt to “humanize” your company by include employee voices in posts and campaigns. This, in my opinion, is where B2B and B2C diverge the most. So… attempt to personalize it!
The most significant lesson I’ve learned as a B2B social media marketer is that the companies you’re marketing to are made up of individuals, not just a brand name with a corporate board. So, in your communication, treat them like people, and they will converse with you.
#27. Use Caution When Choosing Social Media Platforms
It is not necessary to be active on all social media platforms; what is important is to have an impression on the handful that you are present on.
It is not the amount that is important, but the quality! Putting out poor-quality content will only make matters worse for you.
Instead, investigate and develop a social media presence that is consistent with your aims and appealing to your target audience. Concentrate on the platforms that your target audience prefers.
#28. Accept Your Mistakes
We’re all human, and we all make mistakes. This is especially important to accept in the rapidly expanding world of social media. Instead of denying your mistakes, admit and apologize for them. Work on them and inform your customers. They’ll be delighted to hear that you worked hard to correct your faults to present them with superior services.
Don’t remove the post if you made a grammatical error or omitted a comma. People will most likely notice your constant re-posting if they enjoyed your post.
#29. Limit the number of hashtags you use.
Hashtags are useful for organizing your social media posts. When you click on a certain hashtag, all of the content for that event becomes visible. Hashtags are brand identifiers that help you start conversations and engage with your fans.
But guess what?
The more hashtags you use, the lower the engagement.
Using too many hashtags irritates users and lowers your interaction rate. To avoid this, use 2 or 3 targeted hashtags for each post on your social media channels, and only utilize relevant high-volume hashtags found utilizing hashtag generator tools.
#30. In-Depth Look at Social Media Analytics
Analytics assist you to understand your audience and discover what drives the most traffic. You can’t develop accurate sales estimates or perfect your items if you don’t have them. You may use social media data to improve performance.
Examine the analytics, paying close attention to information such as follower growth, page views, number of posts, likes, shares, impressions, clicks, and so on.
Key Takeaways from Social Media Marketing Tips
So, what did we learn from interviewing influencers, subject matter experts, and professionals who operate as social media marketers daily for social media marketing tips?
We discovered that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing success and that organizations should explore a variety of ways to achieve social media marketing success.
There are continually new tips and methods that social media marketing managers should be aware of to see their brands succeed. Companies’ social media marketing tactics evolve. It is critical to always be aware of the direction that social media is taking! A company can quickly fall behind in social media marketing trends, resulting in stagnant growth.
Social Media Marketing Tips FAQ’s
What's your best social media marketing tips?
Address Your Prospective Audience By Name
When creating social media or PPC posts or advertising, mention your target audience by name. Sounds like marketing 101, yet you’d be surprised how much stuff I see out there that doesn’t directly address their target audience.
What are the benefits of social media marketing?
The appropriate social media marketing approach will result in increased traffic, better SEO, higher conversion rates, improved brand loyalty, and much more with constant updating.
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