Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

If your small business could use a boost, making the most out of social media is a solid bet for you. It’s not as hard as you think, and all you need is a plan. 

Beginning with a social media plan is giving your business the ability to measure results, and can help you achieve the specific goals you have for your small business. This plan is a summary of all of the things you hope to achieve using social media. You can tell if you are succeeding (or not) when you have a preplanned strategy. Every post you make, every like and reply, should all be part of that plan. The more specific your plan is, the more effective that plan can become. Be sure to be concise, and to set attainable goals. Nothing can throw you off track like a too-lofty goal. 

When coming up with your social media plan, there are a few other factors to consider, and then adhere to. You already know you need to be specific, and set attainable goals, but you also need to be sure that progress toward your goals is measurable. What has to happen in order to reach your goal? How will you be able to check your progress?

Be sure your goals are relevant. Just because your competitors are doing something, doesn’t necessarily make it right for you. Spend time considering what your business needs. Where is it lacking? What are you really doing well? Can you do that even better?

Keep an eye on the clock. How long is it going to take you to reach your social medial goals? Is that timeframe timely for your business? Will your goals still make sense if it takes more, or less, time? Timeframes should not be rigid. Be flexible and adaptable with your expectations. Social media is ever-changing. It will serve you well to always be aware of those changes and how they might affect your timeline. 

Having the ability to track metrics is important. While things like retweets can be easy to track, it’s also difficult to prove the actual value they add to your business. It might make sense to have different goals for different channels. Paid campaigns might make sense in one space, while organic posts drive more engagement in another. 

Know your people! Understanding your ideal customer is key in developing the content that they will engage with. With the right messaging, you can turn followers into customers. If you think of your followers as people you know, it helps to create messaging that is relevant and targeted to their wants and needs. 

Be objective. When your results state coming in, listen! Just because someone told you that Facebook is better at reaching one demographic, doesn’t make it true for your business. Numbers won’t lie and they are probably the most valuable measure you can have. Social media analytics can give you incredibly valuable information about your customers. You can discern where your followers live, what language they speak; this information can help you tweak and adjust your messaging to hit your specific target. 

Always keep up with the competition; even on social media. (Especially on social media.) What are they doing, is it working? What can you learn from their strategies and how can you apply it to your business? 

Clean up your act! Look at what’s working, and what’s not working. Get rid of channels that are not providing much return, and focus more on the ones that are. You don’t need to continue to invest time and resources into something that just isn’t measuring up. Instead, take those resources and reinvest them into channels that can provide a bigger bang for your buck. 

Review, Review, Review. It’s important to keep an eye on the future, but it’s also important to continually be aware of the past; which includes the success and the failures. You can learn a lot from both. Take that information and apply it to your ever-evolving social media plan as you move forward.

Become a Social Media Expert with YuzzBuzz

Whether you want to post a higher volume of content, high-quality content, utilized Facebook or Twitter, or to blog or create specialized posts, having a social media marketing partner that is experienced on your team can give you the extra push that you are looking for. As a full-service digital marketing agency, we provide two services the most to our clients: high-quality and effective social media management and SEO. There is no need to struggle by doing it all yourself – let a powerful digital marketing agency handle it and propel you and your brand presence forward. You can check out more about us at YuzzBuzz.com to see for yourself.