Nibletz Staff
Social media marketing offers small businesses lots of advantages. It costs nothing to set up a Facebook page or a Twitter account for your business. It is also low risk. With no real financial outlay to worry about, what have you got to lose?
However, just because social media is effective, it doesn’t mean you can get away without having a strategy. Here are some tips to help you devise a successful social media strategy for your start-up.
Choose the Right Channel
There are a number of different social media channels: Facebook and Twitter are the most popular, but don’t forget about Instagram and LinkedIn, as these can be equally effective, depending on the type of business you run.
Be Genuine
Part of the reason why social media is so successful is that it gives businesses a more human face. Customers don’t always want to talk to a faceless person. They prefer brands to be less formal. Creating social media channels lets you talk to your customers in an everyday kind of way. You can share information, reply to questions, and be genuine.
Provide Useful Content
Too many businesses think they can get away with posting nothing but thinly veiled advertising posts or links to new products. Customers don’t want to read this type of content. They prefer to read funny stories, useful tips and anything that brightens up their day or helps them out in some way. Always be useful on social media. If your content lacks purpose, readers will see straight through your marketing efforts and it will all be for nothing.
Be Reactive
You cannot start a social media marketing strategy and then ignore your channels for weeks at a time. Readers have short attention spans and unless you keep posting, they will move on to other channels. Loyalty counts for nothing in the online world. Luckily you don’t need to work 24/7 to make your social media channels a success. Use scheduling software applications to reach people at unsociable hours.
Monitor Data
Always analyse data to check whether a particular strategy is working. Look at data to find out where your clicks are coming from, and how many followers and fans you have. This is a useful measure of social media success. If you think one channel is working better than another, concentrate your efforts there for a while.
It may take a while before you notice any results, but keep working at your social media campaigns. Start with one channel and monitor how successful it is before you expand your efforts to another channel. If you concentrate on posting useful, informative content, over time you will build an audience.
Great Website
As a small business, you probably understand the rationale behind creating a website and organising hosting from certahosting.co.uk. It’s a no-brainer really. Without a website, your business is effectively invisible to the wider world. Even a small website is better than no website, but if you want to reach even more people, you need a social media marketing strategy. Just don’t forget that with a top notch social media presence, your traffic will increase and you have very short window of opportunity to close new customers!
