1. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
The term “social media” refers to various Web sites where people connect, interact and share
online. Today, 62% of adults worldwide use some form of social media via computers,
smartphones, tablets, game consoles, Internet-enabled TVs, handheld music players and e-
readers.
As social media continues to change the way people communicate, it has become an increasingly
important tool for small businesses. Small businesses can implement social media strategies to
reach and engage existing and potential clients, while spreading the word about their products
and services. In today’s connected world, where customers research purchases online and seek
recommendations from friends and family, it is in the best interest of most small businesses to
have a vibrant and interactive social media presence.
Social media can be a powerful lead generation tool:
74% of online adults use social networking sites.
Social media may account for as much as 57% of your sales funnel.
81% of consumers research online before making big purchases.
Three in five SMBs say they’ve gained new customers by using social media.
Social media can make a big difference for small businesses at a low marketing cost. Within two
years, more than 50% of small businesses agree social media helps them increase sales; within
five years, 70% of small businesses see ROI from a social media presence.
When you take into consideration the cost of traditional marketing and compare it to social
media marketing, it becomes clear that social media marketing comes out on top. Even a small
2. business with a low marketing budget can afford using Facebook Ads or investing in Promoted
Pins.
But even if your budget doesn’t allow for any type of marketing investment, you can still benefit
from using social media to develop your small business social media marketing strategy.
Additionally, social media gives you a direct access to your ideal audience, both your current and
your future prospects. What you save in dollars you’ll invest in time. You have to be smart and
efficient with the resources you have to achieve the results you need. Take advantage of
everything social media has to offer will help you to stay on top of your marketing game as well
as allow you to keep up with your competition.
How to Build a Successful Social Media Strategy
1. Define Your Goals
What do you want to achieve through social media? How will you use social media to promote
your business? For example, you may want to use social media:
or general branding purposes
To interact with your audience
To share coupons and offers
To drive traffic to your Web site
To market a new line of products
3. Get SMART
When making your social media goals, it can be helpful to take an organized approach to ensure
your goals are both concise and realistic. The “SMART” approach to goal setting,
can be applied to your small business social media activities.
Specific
Goals should be specific and state exactly what it is that you want to accomplish. It is difficult, if
not impossible, to reach a goal that is not clearly defined. Specific goals address:
Who – who will be involved in reaching the goal?
What – what is it that I want to accomplish?
When – what is the timeframe for reaching the goal?
Where – what is the venue for accomplishing the goal?
Why – what reason or purpose do I have for accomplishing the goal?
Which – any requirements and constraints
Measurable
Goals should be measurable so that you know when you’ve met the goal. One measure of
success in social media is the number of comments, followers, retweets, likes or Web visits you
achieve during a specified period of time.
Attainable
Goals should be attainable and reasonable. While there is no sense setting a goal that is
impossible to reach, it makes a lot of sense to set one that will make you work hard and provide
a challenge. Even if you have huge plans for the future, it is important to set attainable goals
now that act as stepping stones to your longer-term, larger goals.
4. Relevant
Goals should be relevant, consistent with other established goals and timely for your business.
A goal that is relevant matches your other efforts, is worthwhile and is appropriate at this time.
It is important to consider, “Does this goal matter?” If not, it may be a waste of time, effort and
resources to try to accomplish the goal. Goals should matter and help you reach both
intermediate and long-term plans.
Timely
A goal should be timely and include a “deadline” for reaching the goal. “I want to have 100,000
Twitter followers” is much less meaningful than “I want to have 100,000 Twitter followers by
the end of the second quarter of 2017.” If you have all the time in the world (i.e., no deadline)
to reach your goal, you will be under no pressure to reach the goal and, as a result, may not
ever be able to cross that goal off your list. Set a date and do everything possible to reach your
goal by then.
2. Define Your Target Audience
The concept of defining your ideal audience isn’t new. In fact, you probably went through the
same process in the beginning stages of setting up your business.
Here are some basic questions to help you classify your audience:
Who are you talking to?
5. - Often it is helpful to create an image in your mind of your ideal audience member. For
example, if you’re selling alternative health products your audience member will have certain
traits and interests different from a member of a manufacturing company community. Picture
that ideal audience member in your mind as you decide on the type of content you plan to
post.
Where are they?
-Is your business location specific or are you trying to appeal to a global audience? Local
business can often benefit from the strong “buy local” sense of community, while global
corporations won’t have much luck with this strategy unless they plan to highlight all the
communities in which they do business. Remember your audience wants to connect with
something that’s relevant to them.
What do they like to talk about?
- Picture yourself at a party. Do you find yourself drawn to folks that talk about themselves and
their accomplishments only or genuine people that take an interest in you, your thoughts and
your life? Remember this party analogy when you create your content calendar. Ask yourself
“why will people want to connect with this?” It is acceptable to talk about yourself once in a
while, but try to strike a balance.
What’s in it for them?
-People connect with businesses on social media because they get something out of it. Maybe
it’s a discount code, exclusive content, a potential job, entertainment, and social status from
company recognition or education that helps them with their own agenda. Whatever the
reason, it isn’t about you. Give your audience what they want.
6. If you can answer those questions, you will know exactly their gender, their age, and their
struggles. Then, write down the details and find images that represent your target audience.
Based on your defined target audience, what are the key problems or concerns you can address
or solve? Expand on and define those pain points for each character and write it under each
profile.
Below that, write down three key marketing messages you want to communicate to that
audience.
Now that you’ve defined your audience and message, take the time to find out which social
networks they prefer.
All social media channels are not created equal. Each one has a different primary audience,
cadence and focus. It’s important to understand the differences so you expend your efforts on
the right channels.
3. Choose Your Platform
There are dozens of social media platforms that you can use to connect with and engage your
current and potential clients. While it may seem like a good idea to cover your bases and have a
presence on all of them, it is better to focus your energy on several carefully-selected platforms
that match both your goals and audience. Each social media platform has its own unique traits,
and your content and audience may be appropriate for one platform and not another.
Listed below are some well-known Social Media Platforms:
7. Facebook
67% of all Internet users use Facebook. So while it’s not quite accurate to state that “everyone is
on Facebook,” a lot of your potential clients likely hang out there. More than one billion people
like and comment an average of 3.2 billion times every day on Facebook, making it the largest
social media platform in the world. Facebook is used by businesses to connect with existing
clients and to cultivate new relationships, and its “liking” system is a useful tool for generating
buzz for products and/or services, enabling fans to help you spread the word.
Because so many businesses now have a Facebook page, many consumers will look for your
Facebook profile before even looking for your Web site. In addition to business pages, small (and
large) businesses can advertise within the Facebook platform. While these ads are expensive,
they are targeted to specific Facebook users in various parts of the site.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is generally perceived to be the place for business professionals to hang out, providing
a platform for entrepreneurs and business people to connect, interact and network. Each
LinkedIn profile is similar to a resume, listing your current employment, work history, education,
skills, received recommendations and other relevant information. 20% of all Internet users use
LinkedIn. 36% of users are college-educated, and 34% have an annual household income of at
least $75,000.
Many small businesses use LinkedIn as a means of promoting a professional public image and
establishing a business presence. You can create a profile for yourself and set up your business
8. as a company profile to gain authority. On your company profile, you can list your services and
products and a link to your Web site. Even though LinkedIn is geared toward connecting you with
other industry professionals rather than with clients, the connections can prove beneficial and
be a source of good business in the future.
Twitter
Twitter enables users to send and read text-based messages known as tweets; each tweet is
limited to 140 characters. According to Pew research, 16% of Internet users useTwitter. The most
dominant age group is 18 to 29 year olds (27% of users) with some college education (17%). As a
small business, you can tweet your own messages, retweet interesting and relevant tweets and
comment on others’ tweets. Other users can follow you, and your tweets will automatically be
shown to them.
Not all of your Twitter efforts will be posting new content. In fact, the majority of your activity
might be in the form of retweets and comments. You can tweet a messagedirectlyat an authority
in the hopes that they retweet to their followers (in order for this to happen your content needs
to be remarkable or something sointeresting that the authority cannot help but retweet). People
tend to follow both people and businesses, so you might consider both personal and business
Twitter profiles.
9. Google+
Google+ (pronounced Google Plus) is a newer social media service launched in mid-2011.
Google+ has a +1 button that is similar to Facebook’s “Like” button. The +1 button allows users
to start conversations and publicly recommend pages across the web. Each day, Google’s +1
button is used over 2 billion times, meaning that your content could be spread across the Internet
as users +1 you to their friends and families.
Aside from the benefits of having your content shares, Google+ is essential for search engine
optimization (SEO). Every Google +1 is a stamp of approval for that content. As your content
receives more +1s,it can indirectly improve your page’s Googlesearch rank, becauseGoogle uses
data from social media signals to judge the quality of a web page or content.
Instagram
Instagram is an online photo-sharing service that enables users to filter photos and share them
through Instagramand other social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Launched
in late 2010, Instagram now has more than 90 million active users each month, and 40 million
photos are shared each day. Pew research shows that 13% of all Internet users use Instagram,
and that it is especially appealing to the 18 to 29 age group.
Instagram users can apply interesting filters to transform the look and feel of their photos, and
the photos appear as squares instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio that is typical to most digital
cameras. Thesefeatures give Instagramphotos adistinctive appearance. As asmallbusiness, you
10. can post compelling images, including links to your Web site and content in the comment section
so users can instantly connect with you.
Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual content sharing service where users “pin” images, videos and other objects
to their pinboards. According to Pew research, 15% of Internet users use Pinterest, and it is
especially popular among women who are between 18 and 49 years old. In addition to individual
profiles, Pinterest supports boards for small businesses.
Users can pin things from your Web site by clicking on a “Pin it” button similarto Facebook’s Like
and Google’s +1 buttons. Pinterest can be used to build brand awareness through visual content
and to help drive Web site traffic.
YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing site. Every minute, 72 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube, and
over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month. While we would all like our videos to go
viral with millions of views, this should not necessarily be the goal of small business videos on
YouTube. Instead, you canuse the platform to tell viewers about your products and services while
conveying your brand to your audience.
11. Since most viewers have a limited attention span, it is best to keep videos brief and to the point,
aiming for a length of about two to three minutes. Any longer than that and viewers either won’t
finish the video or worse, they will skip it all together because it’s too much of a time
commitment.
Deciding factors in choosing your social media network:
Is it better to have 30 loyal fans on your Instagram account that visit your website, buy
your product or hire you on a regular basis or to have 1000+ followers on Twitter that
barely interact with your content?
Do your potential customers spend time on a particular network?
Does it make sense for your type of business?
Does it work well for the type of content you’ll share?
*A different approach would be to take a look at your competitors’ profiles and see where they
get the most engagement, but bear in mind that you might not get the same results as them.
4. Get Started
Social media takes time and energy, which are precious resources. Choose one or two platforms
to start with. The best way to guarantee consistencyis to incorporate socialmedia into your daily
routine. Block out the time on your calendar, turn off all distractions and dedicate time to
managing your social media accounts. Do this in one or two different time slots every day.
12. Create a time budget that limits your social media time to a daily or weekly total that you can fit
into your schedule fairly easily. In your first month or two, expect to spend a minimum of 15-30
minutes a day on social activities. You can increase the time as you see fit.
Remember those audience profiles and sample messages? Use them to determine what original
and curated content you’ll share and create an editorial calendar to keep track of that content.
The type of content that you deliver will be largely dependent upon your business and your goals
for using social media and should be appropriate to both. Your content should be relevant and
fresh, and focus on the clients rather than on your company.
What do your existing and potential clients want to read about?
What do they want to see?
What do they want to learn?
Build up a content bank filled with ideas that your audience will love. It could include any of the
following:
blog posts
infographics
pictures and photos
humorous posts
quotes
quick tips
behind the scenes photos
questions
13. fill-in-the-blank questions
polls
promotional material
short videos
TIP: You’ll need a social media management tool to organize and manage your daily social media
activities. You’ll need to decide on one that supports your social networks and think of things
such as how many people are going to be managing your social channels and what budget you
can justify. (i.e HootSuite, Sprout Social, Agora Pulse, Sendible etc.)
5. Build Your Social Media Presence
Build
Complete your social media profile consistently. You may decide to have two user profiles for
each platform – one for yourself and one for your business.
Each of your social media accounts will include some kind of profile. Profile fields may include a
bio, websites, blogs, location and a headshot. Be sure to completely fill out your profile on any
social media sites you use. Not only should you complete your profiles, but it's also a good idea
to keep your data as consistent as possible across all of your social media sites. This will aid in
recognition, broader reach, and ongoing communication with the same contacts on multiple
sites.
Most social media sites allow you to include a short bio or summary. A well-written description
here can mean the difference between someone wanting to find out more about you and your
14. business and someone skipping past your profile. Keep your bio brief but compelling, keeping in
mind those with whom you would like to connect. Be sure to include links to your Web site so
that people can learn more about you and your small business.
Connect
Once you have your profiles set up, it is time to connect with the communities and your existing
and potential clients. Keep in mind that once you’ve established a presence on a particular social
media platform, the public will expect you to actively participate.
Aside from sharing your own content, your social media content should include other relevant
resources, such as any type of content that is relevant to your industry as well as your target
audience. For example, if you’re in the business of selling printer ink cartridges,your socialmedia
updates can include other computer related tips.
The golden rule is to apply the 80/20 principle. Essentially this means sharing other people’s
content more than your own. While this may seemcounter-intuitive, it’s actually quite effective
for building your expertise and establishing yourself as an authority in your niche.
As a general rule of thumb here’s the recommended number of updates:
Twitter - Twitter is one of the fastest moving networks around. It might seemimpossible
for your followers to catch your message. Because of that, posting more than once is
almost a requirement and recommended practice is to aim for at least 10 tweets/day.
Facebook - Aim for at least two posts/day on Facebook - one in the morning and one in
the afternoon/early evening.
15. Pinterest - Pinterest has been emerging as the most popular social media network
recently and according to some, it’s the biggest referrer when it comes to website
traffic. Similarly to Twitter, the more you pin, the more chances you have of getting your
pins seen. Aside from pinning your own content, you should re-pin other pins and add
pins from other sources. However, avoid adding a lot of pins at once. It’s better to
spread it out over the course of the day. Aim for at least 50 pins/day.
Google+ - Google+ follows pretty much the same logic as Facebook and posting once or
twice per day is sufficient.
LinkedIn - LinkedIn pretty much took out the guesswork in their own marketing guide
and revealed that the ideal frequency to post is about 20 times per month, or once per
day.
Instagram - Although Instagramis a visual platform like Pinterest, the same strategy of
posting more doesn’t apply here. It’s actually better if you stick to one or two status
updates per day.
Finally, remember to stay on brand and stay consistent. Take the suggestions above as a
general guideline and a starting point. Remember, you don't need to be on every social media
platform to be successful. Start with just one or two before going broader. Also, don’t be afraid
to test and tweak to get the optimal posting frequency for your social media strategy.
Influence
Your ability to influence depends on two factors: your credibility and your reach. A strong,
professional and engaging social media presence adds to your credibility. Your reach can expand
16. beyond the number of fans, followers and connections you have as they share your content,
products and services within their circles.
Today, businesses take a different approach. Rather than hunting down clients, businesses can
now use social media to make it easier for their potential clients to find them. This approach is
less intrusive than older marketing techniques, and because social media relies on people being,
well, social, it can prove an effective way to spread your message across the Internet.
Creating a successful small business social media strategy can feel overwhelming when you’re
starting from scratch. Take your first planning steps today and work to start implementing your
strategy in the next week.
Sources:
(1)http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-guide-small-businesses/
(2)https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/05/small-business-social-media-ideas.html
(3)http://www.investopedia.com/university/implementing-small-business-social-media-
strategy/
(4)http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2015/10/29/social-media-for-small-business-
how-its-different-from-how-big-brands-do-it/#5d783d7d504c
