How Can Small Businesses Use Social Media To Grow?

Today, social media has evolved from an avenue for sharing your personal life to a potential platform for any business to grow. So what's in it for the small businesses? Why should they consider using it? The answer is simple: -It's all about brand recognition. - Your target audience can find you on all the popular social networks, and it can easily spread through recommendations. - It can give you access to market new products or services faster than ever with just one post.

As social media believers (all of our clients have a Facebook page), we have been using the power of networking and word-of-mouth advertising for years. The media has given social media a bad rep. However, most folks use it to connect and gossip instead of getting traffic back to their businesses. If you are not utilizing social media tools to promote your business, what's stopping you? How much money are you leaving on the table?

How Can Small Businesses Take Advantage of Social Media?

The question is not whether or not you should be using social media as a marketing tool for your business, but rather which platform(s) to use and how to use them effectively.

As a small business owner, you have plenty of options for deciding which platforms to focus on. Here's a look at some of the most popular social media platforms and how small businesses can take advantage of them:

Understand the social landscape.

There are many different types of social media platforms. However, only a few of them are appropriate for small business owners. If you're not sure which platforms to use, start by looking at your target audience. For example, Instagram may be the best choice if you're targeting young adults because it's where they hang out. On the other hand, if you're selling professional services or products that appeal to older customers, LinkedIn might be better suited for your needs.

Setting up your business's social media pages.

Social media is not just about you as an individual using Twitter or Facebook — it's about your business having a presence there. Create accounts for your business on all the major platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn), and then make sure they're set up properly so people can find out more about you. Do some research into what other companies in your industry are doing in terms of their social media presence and see what works well for them. You might also want to hire someone with experience in this area to help you set up your accounts correctly and manage them.

Create content that inspires customers.

You can use social media to create content that inspires your customers and potential clients. This could be anything from blog posts about how your company started or what makes it different from other businesses in the industry to photos of employees working hard at their jobs or sharing personal stories about why they love what they do every day. This type of content will help build trust between you and your audience because it shows them who you are as a person/organization rather than just what you're selling them every day when they contact your business through advertisements or other marketing tactics.

Know your audience.

Once you have set up all of your accounts, it's important to know who is using each platform to tailor your content accordingly. For example, if most of your customers are younger and use Snapchat more than Facebook, it would be wise to post more frequently on Snapchat than on Facebook (and vice versa).

Optimize your social media pages.

The first thing you need to do is get started with the right accounts. There are many platforms for small businesses to use, but not all of them are created equally. You should start by choosing platforms that are most relevant to your industry and audience. For example, if you sell handmade soaps, Pinterest and Etsy might be good places for you to start. If you sell graphic design services or marketing consulting services (like me), Facebook and Twitter could be great places for us to begin building our follower base.

Once you’ve decided on which platforms are right for your business, the next step is optimizing those pages so people will see them when they search on Google or other search engines. This means using keywords related to your product or service that people are likely to search for when looking for what you offer — like “graphic design” or “marketing consultant.

At Raging Websites, we hire professionals who know how to properly optimize your business's social media pages to help increase online sales faster than ever before. Interested in learning how we can help grow your business? Fill out our contact form or schedule a call. 

Use social media to talk with customers.

Social media is all about connecting people, and one of the best ways to connect with customers is through social media. Start by setting up profiles on the most popular sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Then start engaging with customers, answering questions, and providing information about your products and services.

Use advertising to get more results.

Don't be afraid of using paid ads on social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all offer paid advertising services to help you reach more people with your message. However, don't just blindly click "buy" without doing some research first. The best way to use paid advertising is by testing different ad types and targeting options until you find what works best for your business. Two things that will help increase the effectiveness of your ads are:

1. Choose an image that represents your brand well and is eye-catching yet not too busy or confusing (i.e., no cartoons unless they are part of your brand).

2. Write catchy copy for your ad text relevant to what people are searching for at the time, and make sure it's easy to read quickly, so people don't let it slip by when scrolling through their newsfeeds or timelines.

Host contests and giveaways.

Giveaways and contests are one of the most effective ways to generate more followers and increase engagement on social media. You'll want to make sure that the prize is something relevant to your industry or area of expertise — for example, if you're selling wedding dresses online, the prize should be something related (like tickets for a local wedding fair). You can also host giveaways where participants need to follow one or more of your social accounts to qualify for entry. If they already follow one account but not another, they'll have an incentive to follow both, so they don't miss out on any prizes!

Give people a reason to follow you.

Don't just post random content and expect people to follow you; you need to explain why they should be following you. For example, if your business is a restaurant, then post pictures of your dishes or let customers know when they can get discounts on their favorite items. If your business sells clothes, post pictures of models wearing your products or give people tips on how to style the clothing pieces with other pieces from the collection.

Be yourself and be personal.

Don't try too hard to sell or advertise in every post you make; instead, focus on being real and relatable to your followers. For example, if you're an online clothing store, share photos of what everyone's wearing on the weekend or Snapchat videos from the office when things get rowdy! People love seeing behind-the-scenes content like this because it makes them feel more connected with the brand.

Bonus Tip: Hire A Social Media Manager

If you're looking for ways to increase your online presence, hiring a social media manager is one of the best ways. It allows business owners to focus on other aspects of their business instead of managing all of the social media accounts themselves. This allows them to spend more time developing their brand strategy and creating new content for their audience.

Want to grow your business’s social media? Then you need a skilled social media manager like Raging Websites.

We use first-in-class tools to ensure you’ll maximize your ROI on social media- like scheduling posts at the perfect time and writing to unique audiences on different networks. We provide all of the social media promotion and management services you’ll need for your business, making it simple to strengthen your online presence and reach more customers.

Our team of experts is highly skilled in Facebook and Instagram management and content creation and has a robust reporting system that is easy to comprehend and has all the answers. Get in touch with us today by our contact form or schedule a call: https://ragingwebsites.com/pages/contact.