Guide to Social Media for Small Businesses

In this day and age social media marketing is an essential tool for most small businesses. Gone are the days of just having traditional paid advertisements and mailers. For businesses to survive in the small business jungle it is essential for small businesses to harness the power of social media by understanding how they work and how to effectively utilize the social media platforms to their advantages. Social media offers a diverse range of mechanisms for the marketing of small businesses.

Navigating the world of social media can be confusing, frustrating, time consuming and overwhelming, even if you are a techy. The nuances of the platforms’ operations all vary with differing text counts, photo pixel size and format, video lengths, numbers of hashtags, and linkages, just to name a few.

Understanding the intricacies of each social media platform, its marketing advantages and how it operates is key to your successful implementation of the marketing and networking tools.

The major social medial platforms that are utilized for small business marketing all have their own functions. It is up to you to determine which would serve your business best by determining which platforms reach your target market(s). And learn how your target market wants to engage. Sometimes our own cognitive biases can cloud our view of what our target market wants. Make sure biases are eliminated.

Alignable

Alignable enables businesses and business owners to connect digitally, creating trusted networks and relationships where business owners can offer expertise, ask for advice and refer customers to one another. Alignable helps cultivate relationships among small and local businesses that are looking to boost leads and sales through word-of-mouth referrals. Small businesses can benefit greatly from this tool. Check out the Basics of Alignable for Small Business.

Facebook

Facebook’s benefits for small business owners are vast, as it is the largest of all the social media platforms. It allows you to communicate directly with current and potential customers through your page and in groups, and it is a very effective advertising tool. Both of these attributes increase your brands visibility.

Facebook provides access to page metrics in Meta Business Suite that help small businesses analyze the effectiveness of their content, reach and engagement. Meta Business Suite also allows the scheduling of posts for a 28-day period, so you can plan your campaigns. You can also use their paid advertisement to extend the reach of your business’ message. Understanding the basics of Facebook is essential for small business owners.

Instagram

Instagram is excellent at driving brand awareness, boosting sales and building and tracking client engagement. It also provides businesses with the opportunity to increase their presence and product visibility, but there are many other reasons to have Insta as one of your marketing tools.

It allows direct sales, can give your audience a direct view into your company, affords you the ability to keep an eye on your competitors, has Instagram ads, has a mobile following and provides analytics to assess messaging effectiveness. Our blog can provide a helpful introduction to Instagram basics.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, another social networking tool for professionals and business to business (B2B) networking. Its huge user base provides lead generation, credibility, sharing of knowledge, and allows you to see what your competition is up to. It is a powerful marketing and business tool, and as a business page, it can showcase your employees and your business thus helping to legitimizing it. It also provides an opportunity for ads. For more on LinkedIn as a networking tool - check out our blog.

TikTok

If your impression of TikTok is that it is for the young hip generation to be seen doing outlandish things, think again. It is a powerful advertising tool with an expansive worldwide viewing audience and it is benefiting small businesses bottom line. Understanding how TikTok works may be well worth your while. With a 1 billion active users, this social media platform provides ample opportunity for your company and products to be seen. Businesses are finding their niche by creating fun, upbeat videos to expand their base and increase their brand recognition. It has become a very effective advertising platform.

X (formerly Twitter)

Twitter, now known as X, provides an environment where many types of business can flourish. With 353 million users, it provides a useful arena for small business owners to make themselves known and expand target audiences. Tweets allow business owners to share their products and services in short direct messages and allows conversations to ensue. Through this process brand exposure grows, website traffic increases and interaction with potential customers is heightened. Learning the how-tos of Twitter will only enhance your small business.

YouTube

YouTube is not just for music and how to videos anymore. It is an effective tool for expanding brand recognition and growing a target audience. It is the second largest social media platform in the world and your business could benefit from having its own channel.

YouTube can enhance brand exposure, generate leads, attract new customers and provide validation of your company through the posting of videos about your products and store, showing how your products are made or used, and introducing the staff. It makes your business real for the viewers and increases trust. Effective utilization of YouTube can do wonders for your business.

Hopping on the social media bandwagon may seem daunting now, but with these resources at your fingertips you will soon find that you are on your way to mastering the social media maze and expanding your customer base, increasing your brand recognition and growing your revenue. You might even have a little creative fun doing it.

If you need help, we can train or coach you on how to do it or execute for you. Contact us to learn more.