Limited resources and Bigger Ambitions! Sounds Familiar? Well, this is the situation of every small business looking to shoot for the moon. You might agree with me that Small businesses have to think twice before they decide to invest in anything. This usually leaves them behind the bigger companies that keep on trying new things to scale new heights in the industry. But, to tell you the truth, it should not be seen as a constraint to one’s growth.
What if I tell you there is a way that can help you attract new customers to your business? And it is also free to use. Guess? Well, you might have guessed right it is none other than a social media platform. You may have used Social media platforms once in your life, but it is about time to actually use them to further your corporate goals.
In this blog, we will be discussing how to leverage Social Media for your small business to achieve success.
7 Ways to Leverage Social Media for Big Gains
Social media platforms like Instagram, FaceBook or Twitter can be used to achieve the goal of a small business. The goal is sacred to every business involved, small or big. It is to increase the presence of your brand among the audience that is looking for your product online. Below are some of the key ways that can help businesses increase their online presence and boost revenue.
Let’s Start!
Decide which Platform to Target-
Having a lot of options sometimes tends to confuse you. But in the Social media world, it is a blessing in disguise. With different social media platforms available now, it has become even easier to lock in a user base whose needs match the products or services of your business.
For Example,
Instagram:
Instagram is a photo and videos sharing social media platform. With around 2 billion active users monthly it is a platform that can be used by businesses to further their gains. Some of the key features that Instagram provides to its users are:
Suits businesses that want to showcase their product in a visual form, such as Images or Videos.
Provide the option of in-app shopping. It helps users purchase a product feature on a post without having to leave the website.
Help to increase the Brand awareness among the users with the help of Instagram reels.
Provides the feature of pin comments that help businesses show the top comments as social proof to new customers.
Twitter:
Twitter is a social networking website where users write short posts known as tweets. The aim of twitter is to provide a platform for users to share their thoughts with a wide base of audience. The features that makes twitter a must for small businesses are:
As a robust hashtag friendly platform it enables your post to be found by the right people.
Tells about the latest trends that are happening around the world.
It helps to converse and build relationships with the users.
Facebook:
With approx 3 billion active users per month facebook is the undisputed king in the world of social Media. It is the most widely used Social media platform in the world. It is Great for small business is due to its following features:
Helps target a wide range of demographics that resonate with the tune of the brand.
Provides the option to run advertisement campaigns across different meta products.
Can be used to create an eCommerce shop.
Help track users data with tracking cookies to present content that better suits the users internet behaviour.
So, it totally depends upon the business which social media platform to aim for. If your brand relates to a younger audience you should go with Instagram. Or if your brands are looking to target customer support, Twitter may be the option for you.
Consistency:
It is often said that consistency helps achieve greater goals in life. This is so true even from the point of view of Social Media. A company that posts consistently is set to fail big when it comes to growing its online presence among the users. It doesn’t matter how good your product is, it is not going to help you find your target audience alone. The aim here for the small businesses should be having a set social media calendars that lay out a proper social media posting plan for them. It has been seen that companies that post content twice or thrice or companies that post once a week see a dip in the users engagement rate. So here the strategy should be going for a much balanced approach. Posting once a day can help to increase the user engagement with your offerings.
Pivot:
In simple words it means to try something new if your previous campaign bore no result. For Example, you may have posted a content on social media that could not bring the result that you have hoped for. This situation demands an overhaul of your previous social media strategy. It starts with analyzing your competitors that offer the same product or services that you do. By doing so you can effectively find the loopholes that may have caused the failure of your previous social media marketing strategy. You might have heard the phrase To err is human. But we believe that to learn and progress should be too.
Only by going back to square one and analyzing what has gone wrong and what better you could do now, can it lead to success.
Did you know?
Odeo was a platform that allowed users to find podcasts and subscribe to them. But with the emergence of iTunes, the owner of the company feared an inevitable demise of the company. To overcome this challenge, they pivoted their company to a micro-blogging website that we know today as Twitter.
Stay up top date:
This is so true for any business online. You can not expect to attract users by showing old products when your competitors are up to date with the latest trends. For Example, say you are a small business that sells womens clothing online. But the apparels that you sell are not up to date with the current trends. This can result in users ignoring your social media post and clicking through to another post that is up to date with the current trends.
You can keep yourself updated with the current trends by reading blogs, and magazines, among other important resources. This can help you as an owner of a small business to remain relevant in the industry.
Influencers:
This is one of the excellent ways to further your social media campaign. You can leverage the fan following of the influencer to convert them to your loyal customers. It is a human tendency to follow the person that you like. But you must take into cognizance that hiring any influencer won’t work for your social media content. A social media influencer is relevant to the product that you offer.
This is one of the excellent ways to further your social media campaign. You can leverage the fan following of the influencer to convert them to your loyal customers. It is a human tendency to follow the person that you like. But you must take into cognizance that hiring any influencer won’t work for your social media content. A social media influencer is relevant to the product that you offer.
Suppose you are an owner of a small business that sells ice hockey sports gear. If you had the chance to choose from a popular hockey star and Taylor Swift, whom would you choose? The idea of Taylor Swift promoting Ice Hockey gear does not seem like the right idea.
So, it becomes crucial for small businesses to find a social media influencer whose personality resonates with your brand well.
Paid ads:
It is a form of advertisement where you pay to have your product or services featured higher in the users’ feed. Compared to optimizing your social media post, Paid ads are a sure way to achieve an online presence that helps users come to your post. For Example, let’s say you have a business that is seasonal. The thing with the seasonal business is that they require a quick presence online which can be a very time-consuming activity. Here a better solution could be the use of paid ads like PPI or PPC model to generate more traffic and revenue for your business.
High Quality content:
The importance of quality content can’t be ignored in social media campaigns. It is the fundamental element of any digital marketing effort. For social media posts, the written content should be short and crisp with a powerful CTA. It should be able to convey the idea of the product to the users in an effective way.
Apart from the content, an interactive image of the products or the services should also be used to complement the message of the product.
Final Words!!
In the end social media platforms serve as an amazing channel to further your social media campaign. Social media can be used to interact with the users and form a relationship that helps them to become your loyal customers.
With the above discussed tactics you can plan your social media campaign to success.