It is difficult to overlook the fact that social media marketing is a potent tool for businesses given that seventy-two percent of American adults engage in some form of social media. This substantial audience presents numerous opportunities for experimentation, community-building, and establishing connections with potential customers. Despite the dynamic nature of social media, there is no need to feel overwhelmed.
Social Media KPIs
It is crucial to be aware of common social media key performance indicators (KPIs). Monitoring and analyzing KPIs will assist you in establishing achievable objectives and determining the effectiveness of your social media strategy. Below are a few common KPIs that you should stay informed about:
Impressions refer to the amount of times a person views your post.
Engagements refer to the frequency of an individual’s interaction with your content, encompassing activities such as liking, favoriting, sharing, retweeting, clicking, replying, following, and viewing your page.
The engagement rates represent the ratio of engagements to impressions, allowing you to evaluate the interaction between your audience and content, and make necessary adjustments to your content strategy.
Visits: The frequency at which someone accesses your page.
References: The quantity of individuals making mention or discussing your brand. Keeping track of references helps you stay informed about customers expressing favorable opinions about your brand as well as customers providing negative feedback.
Followers: The count of individuals who are following your account.
Tips To Grow Your Small Business With Social Media Marketing
1. Decide which platform is best for your business
If you’re considering expanding and trying out different marketing strategies, social media is a fantastic platform to begin with. For businesses that deal with visually appealing products such as clothing or jewelry, Instagram provides an outstanding opportunity to exhibit their creations. On the other hand, Twitter can be effectively utilized as a tool for establishing connections and offering customer service.
Given its immense popularity, Facebook is a valuable platform to explore. Apart from establishing a Facebook page for your business and sharing updates, you can also foster a community by engaging with relevant pages. By doing so, you will attract followers who have a genuine interest in your field.
2. Develop a social media calendar
Begin by conducting research on your competitors across all the main social media platforms. Observe their actions, frequency of postings, and the nature of their content. By analyzing their efforts, you can decide whether you prefer to imitate their strategies or differentiate yourself.
After discovering an effective approach, establish an editorial schedule that includes detailed daily tasks and objectives. Instead of posting only once a week, regularly update your social media platforms throughout the week. The increased frequency of posts not only sustains people’s interest but also directs them to visit your website again.
3. Recognize when it’s time to pivot
Although you may have found success in the past using a particular approach or tactic, there may come a point where it ceases to be effective or loses its effectiveness. In such cases, do not hesitate to transition and experiment with alternative methods that could potentially yield better outcomes for your company at present.
4. Stay up-to-date on trends
To ensure the success of your business, it is crucial to stay informed about the latest developments in the digital realm. Engage with a variety of resources such as blogs, magazines, books, and publications that discuss emerging technologies and advancements relevant to your industry. Additionally, participating in groups, attending events, and connecting with professionals in your field will help you stay up-to-date on the latest consumer behaviors across new platforms.
The rise of social media trends can be observed on various platforms, where viral content serves as their catalyst. Such trends may arise from a soundbite, a song, a meme, or a dance. To illustrate, let’s consider the Little Miss meme, which dominated social media in 2022.
Make sure to regularly monitor your feed and the explore page in order to stay updated on the latest trends. By joining in on these trends, you increase your chances of being noticed since people enjoy seeing various interpretations. Whenever feasible, try to incorporate your business’s product or service into the trend!
5. Take advantage of live video
Utilizing live video is an excellent strategy for connecting with customers, promptly addressing inquiries, and offering a sneak peek into the inner workings of your office. Moreover, it serves as an effective tool for delivering concise tutorials or giving an insider’s perspective of your company’s daily operations. Should you encounter difficulties in generating content ideas, live video can skillfully bridge the gap in conversation until you come up with a new topic.
6. Host a contest or giveaway
Design a competition or promotion that revolves around your product or service. Simplify the entry process by incorporating a web-based form on your website. This contest or giveaway can be carried out on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you intend to gift a tangible item like a t-shirt or mug, make sure to factor in the shipping cost within the item’s price.
You may want to establish a timeline featuring milestones to provide customers with a clear overview of their progress throughout the various competition levels. Inform them about the number of additional entries needed to reach the next milestone. For instance, when a customer has five entries, inform them that they require ten more entries to win a shirt!
7. Collaborate with other businesses or influencers
Finding a partnership that is meaningful and aligns with the industry can be an effective strategy for both companies or influencers to amplify their audience and gain more visibility.
If you own a beauty salon, it would be more logical to collaborate with a hairstylist rather than an accountant, for instance. This is because they belong to different industries and do not cater to the same specific audience. Other suitable companions for your business may include those in related sectors like trade show vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers.
8. Take advantage of paid advertising
Utilizing social media advertising offers an affordable means to boost website traffic and amplify conversions. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram ads effectively extend your reach to potential audiences who may not otherwise discover your content. By targeting individuals based on factors like location, interests, and demographics, you can effectively connect with those most inclined to take an interest in your offerings!
Make sure to set up conversion tracking if you utilize Facebook or Twitter ads, as it enables you to determine the most effective campaigns for your objectives. In case you are employing Instagram ads, you can rely on tools such as Google Analytics or Universal Analytics to monitor the number of users visiting your website following an ad click.
9. Devote time to community management
Here are our community management tips to ensure maximum community engagement: We advise against using the “post and ghost” approach, which involves posting without interacting with your audience. It is crucial to actively engage with your community, engage in other users’ posts, and acknowledge the posts of customers who tag your business.
Maintain a consistent posting schedule. Whether your goal is to post on Instagram 3-4 times a week or upload 1 video per week on YouTube, ensure you remain consistent. Failing to do so will damage your credibility and perceived activity.
Maximize the benefits of user-generated content by engaging with customers. When a customer captures a photo at your establishment or mentions you in a tweet, demonstrate your appreciation by commenting on their post or even sharing it with others. This not only boosts the customer’s sense of significance but also potentially provides you with additional content.
Reply to inquiries. Providing timely responses to customer inquiries will promote community engagement and build trust in your brand.
Producing superior content is an effective method for increasing your followers. Bear in mind that all content should strive to engage, inform, or motivate your audience, rather than simply posting for the sake of it.
Create a plan for distributing free items. Distributing free items is an excellent method for expanding your audience – however, it is common for participants to stop following after the competition ends. Maintain their interest by providing non-winners with exclusive deals or giving them a preview of the upcoming giveaway.
Collaborate with influencers and content creators. Enlist influencers by either hiring them or offering them your product/service as a gift, in return for social media posts. Regardless of their follower count, providing influencers with your offering is an effective strategy to promote your business.
Ensure that you select an influencer whom your target audience follows, and who boasts high engagement rates falling within the range of 3.5% and 6%. It is vital to guarantee that the content produced by this individual aligns with your industry.
Make a hashtag for your brand and incorporate it into your posts, as well as motivate your followers to do the same.
10. Use social media to boost sales
Here are some of our top recommendations for leveraging social media as a powerful tool for boosting sales.
Customers have the opportunity to directly purchase products through the Instagram app, while also allowing you to keep track of sales and clicks.
Displaying social proof can be achieved by sharing UGC (user-generated content) such as positive reviews on your social media platforms, effectively incorporating a personal element into your feed.
If you own a Shopify store, you can establish TikTok shopping to enable users to make purchases directly within the app.
Conduct a survey to determine how your customers discovered your business. Utilize Instagram’s poll or quiz features to ask your followers about their means of finding you (web, social media, word of mouth). Gathering this information will aid in determining which avenues to prioritize for future investments.
11. Consider boosting your posts with paid dollars
If you’re struggling to gain followers or engagement through organic posting, it might be worth considering investing in paid promotions to boost your posts. This tactic can effectively increase the visibility of your content and potentially drive up sales. It is possible to begin with a modest budget and gradually increase it over time.
12. Measure and analyze your results
It is crucial to measure and analyze the outcomes of your social media efforts considering the effort you are investing in it. Although most social media platforms offer free analytics tools, it is important to note that these tools may not provide sufficient historical data for making informed decisions.
It is important to consider the performance of different Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) when auditing this data on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, while one post may have led to increased sales and another to more page clicks, there may have been one that did not perform well. By analyzing the performance of each post, you can determine where to focus your efforts in the future.
13. Experiment!
One crucial aspect of social media is its role as a platform for experimentation and embracing new experiences. It offers opportunities to collaborate with influencers, contribute products for local gatherings, engage in popular trends, or explore novel formats. The key to achieving optimal reach and engagement lies in adapting to the rapid changes in social media. Flexibility and diversity in utilizing various platforms and strategies are vital for achieving success.
