Social media for small businesses

No matter the type or the size of your business or organization, having social media as part of your marketing outreach efforts is a key component for success.

Wherein the trouble lies is with bigger companies, they tend to have staff designated to handle those duties. Small businesses don't often have that luxury. But the value of having social media as part of your outreach efforts is similar.

Social media can be a daunting task. But, if it's done right, it's not as daunting.

Here are some tips on how to effectively utilize social media, especially for small businesses:

Select the social media channels your target audience is on

Not all channels work for all small businesses. Your perfect channel depends on who your target audience is and what product or service you are offering. 

Create quality content; focus on quality rather than quantity

Once you have figured out which social media channel(s) will work best for your target audience, creating high-quality content is essential. Create content that centers on what you are and what you do as a business. Use a variety of media, too, such as infographics, videos, photos, etc. Data suggests social media content is more engaging if it has some form of media with it.

Be engaging

You can't just post and not do anything else. You have to be interactive, engaging. Being consistently engaging builds relationships. Once relationships are built, loyalty comes next. After loyalty is purchases.

Analyze results

Like stated previously about posting and doing nothing else, you have to analyze how consumers are engaging or not engaging with your content. If you're creating content that is not engaging with an audience and then aren't analyzing yet, you're losing out on the opportunity to build a relationship and loyalty.

A key phrase in marketing is "Make data-driven decisions." If you aren't analyzing data, you're not going to make data-driven decisions that'll meet your desired goal or goals.

Key data points include: engagement on posts (likes, clicks, shares, etc.), conversions from ads or post boostings and traffic to your website.

In closing ...

Small businesses can achieve success if they reach the right people. Social media is a great way to help you connect with the right people. To make this happen, it’s important to create a strategy that works to achieve those goals, while also being flexible.

Here is a video of a presentation I did for the West Bend (Wis.) Area Chamber of Commerce: WEBINAR: How To Make Social Media Work For You