For individuals managing marketing single-handedly or small business owners juggling all aspects of their operations, the demands are endless. Social media marketing might seem like an expendable task, easily sidelined when schedules become overwhelming.
However, dismissing social media entirely would be premature.
The increasing time people devote to their phones, particularly social media apps, is undeniable. Additionally, social media users frequently engage with businesses that intrigue them or that they already patronize. Consequently, social media isn’t just cost-free; it’s a space where your existing and potential customers are already present, eager to receive your message.
A quick perusal, or a dark hole of scrolling. Social media emerges as a potent tool for small businesses, especially those centered around community engagement and individual customers. It facilitates direct interaction with the audience, nurturing brand awareness and loyalty. Furthermore, social media proves effective for lead generation. Crafting content and resources that provide value to prospects and customers strengthens their affinity for your brand. When users engage with your content or offers, it signifies their active interest and willingness to receive updates by following your business. This proactive engagement makes them more inclined to convert compared to individuals encountering unrelated ads or offers.
Social media offers a free and user-friendly avenue for businesses to connect with individuals interested in their brand, all while being enjoyable. However, this doesn’t imply a haphazard approach of logging in and posting randomly. A well-defined social media marketing strategy is paramount.
Let’s delve into the reasons behind this.
The necessity of a social media strategy for your small business
In the past, the limited social media options and their undefined value propositions allowed businesses to post casually without much consequence. Back then, the business landscape on social media was sparse, and the capacity to connect with the target audience was even more limited.
Today, things are different.
Social media has become integral to inbound marketing strategies. Creating valuable content and achieving high search engine rankings is only one part of the equation. Equally important is disseminating this content to the right audience and guiding interested individuals back to your website.
You need people to go from here…
…to here. Sharing appropriate content with the right audience hinges on understanding each platform’s unique characteristics. The major social platforms today are utilized differently by consumers. Consequently, businesses have adapted their strategies to connect with their audiences effectively.
This guide provides a platform-specific breakdown, encompassing content types, posting frequency, and best practices. We will cover five primary platforms:
- YouTube Let’s begin!
Social media strategy for small businesses: The big five
Creating or switching to business accounts or pages on each platform is the initial step in crafting your social media strategy. Aim for a username or URL that closely reflects your business name for easy online recognition. For platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, ensure you and relevant colleagues or partners are designated as admins with appropriate permissions.
After setting up your accounts, populating them with essential business details, and uploading your logo, you’re ready to share your message. Now, let’s dive into the specifics of each platform. To further enhance your knowledge, explore our extensive collection of 60+ social media optimization tips!
Facebook marketing for small businesses
An organic post (of organic things) on Facebook As one of the pioneering social media platforms, Facebook boasts a massive user base of 1 billion daily and over 2 billion monthly active users. Your target customers are likely present on Facebook. Moreover, the platform simplifies targeted paid ad placements based on users who engage with your organic content.
Content strategy
Facebook fosters a conversational atmosphere. Users who like your Facebook page anticipate updates: sales, promotions, new products, launches, or upcoming events. Consistent engagement with your followers by providing relevant content is crucial. Experiment with diverse content formats to identify what resonates best with your audience by analyzing impressions, engagements, and shares. Once identified, maintain consistency in your content strategy.
Need inspiration? Discover 62 creative, practical, and engaging Facebook post ideas.
Posting frequency
While Facebook doesn’t impose posting limits on businesses, overwhelming your followers’ feeds is counterproductive. A study by Socialbakers revealed a significant drop in engagement rates per post for businesses exceeding two posts daily or posting only once weekly.
Excessive posting risks unfollows, while infrequent posting hampers engagement metrics. Align your posting frequency with the amount of content you wish to promote. For most businesses, posting around one update each day is optimal.
Engagement boosters
Recognize that your business posts on Facebook compete for attention alongside personal updates and entertaining videos. Maintain a casual tone while consistently delivering value.
This store uses local jokes to caption their product in an organic Facebook post. Followers choose to engage with your business for a reason—ensure your content remains relevant to their interests, fostering a stronger brand connection.
LinkedIn marketing for small businesses
An organic post on LinkedIn about LinkedIn Established in 2002, LinkedIn holds the title of the oldest platform among the ones discussed. With over 250 million monthly active users, it reigns supreme as the most favored social media channel for business-to-business (B2B) marketers to share content, boasting a staggering 94%.
Content strategy
LinkedIn serves as a virtual networking hub for professionals. Users following your company on LinkedIn seek valuable information, insights, and business-related updates.
Furthermore, LinkedIn highly favors video content. Incorporating product-focused or insightful videos can significantly boost your engagement rates.
Posting frequency
Aim for weekly posts on LinkedIn. Research indicates that companies adhering to this frequency witness a 2x lift in engagement on their posts.
Leverage your employees as brand advocates on LinkedIn. Encourage them to share your content within their networks, effectively increasing your platform presence without over-posting.
Engagement boosters
Reflect LinkedIn’s professional environment in your content. Prioritize helpful and resourceful posts that empower users to excel in your field or stay updated on product developments. Showcase your business’s strengths, share inspiring achievements, and offer unique insights.
Image Source Posts accompanied by images experience a significant 2x higher conversion rate compared to text-only posts. Always enhance your posts or links with visuals.
Twitter Marketing for Small Businesses
An organic post on Twitter, and also, a vibe. Undoubtedly the most conversational among social platforms, Twitter thrives on rapid-fire interactions between individuals and brands. With over 500 million daily tweets and over 320 million monthly active users, it’s a leading source for news and boasts a vast international user base.
Content strategy
Since expanding the character limit per tweet from 140 to 280 in 2017, Twitter provides more flexibility while maintaining its concise format. Business profiles leverage this to share diverse content, including product promotions, online contests, sales announcements, industry-related humor, data insights, and new releases.
Posting frequency
In Twitter’s fast-paced environment, characterized by With 5,787 tweets sent every second, maintaining visibility demands frequent posting. Multiple daily posts maximize the likelihood of your tweets reaching your followers and provide ample opportunities for engagement.
Engagement boosters
While delivering value to your followers remains crucial, Twitter’s informal nature allows for a more playful tone compared to business-centric platforms like LinkedIn. Embrace a lighthearted and engaging approach.
Instagram marketing for small businesses
An organic post on Instagram Despite being a relatively recent addition to the social media landscape, Instagram boasts the third most people on the platform (1 billion!) and active users (500 million!). The platform offers two primary posting formats: temporary Stories and permanent posts, allowing flexibility in curating your presence to align with your business goals and audience preferences.
Leveraging Facebook’s affiliation with Instagram, paid advertisements for your business Instagram account are conveniently managed directly within the Facebook Ads Manager, eliminating the need for an additional platform.
Content strategy
The content strategy for Instagram hinges on your chosen medium: posts or Stories.
Instagram posts should consist of high-quality photos, images, or short videos that effectively embody your brand’s values, personality, story, expertise, and occasionally, promotional items. While captions provide space for detailed messaging, impactful visuals communicating key information can take center stage.
Stories provide a more casual and interactive channel to connect with your audience. Available for 24 hours, Stories offer diverse formats, including polls for engagement and feedback, open-ended questions, music overlays, text-heavy announcements, casual photos and videos, countdowns, and user or location tagging. They’re particularly effective for showcasing behind-the-scenes content and for e-commerce brands to tag shoppable products directly from their Facebook product feed.
A Stories post with a shopping link!
Posting frequency
Consistency is key on Instagram. Sporadic posting after an initial burst can lead to follower and engagement decline. While some brands thrive on multiple daily posts, especially in visually-driven industries, find a sustainable rhythm that aligns with your business and stick to it. Instagram Stories, with their ephemeral nature, can be leveraged more frequently, even daily, to share moments and updates with your followers.
Engagement boosters
Remember, Instagram is a visual-first platform. Users follow businesses for a visually compelling representation of their brand. Showcase high-quality product photography, images reflecting your brand values and customer benefits, or behind-the-scenes glimpses like the example below.
Image Source Utilize both posts and Stories strategically to maximize audience engagement and value. Craft compelling captions, and incorporate location tagging and relevant hashtags to increase discoverability.
YouTube Marketing for Small Business
Having explored the most widely used, business-oriented, text-based, and image-centric social platforms, let’s delve into the realm of video: YouTube.
With 1.9 billion monthly active users, YouTube dominates as a video-sharing giant, boasting over a billion hours of daily content consumption. It is the second largest search platform and the second most trafficked website behind Google.
Observe: video uploaded to YouTube
Creating high-quality video content for YouTube can significantly enhance brand credibility and drive substantial engagement. Optimizing your videos for search engine visibility is crucial to attract users seeking your specific content. Additionally, being a Google product, YouTube allows seamless paid campaign creation within the Google Ads interface, leveraging the power of the largest search network for precise targeting.
Content strategy
“How-to” content reigns supreme on YouTube as users actively seek tutorials and explanations. Statistics reveal that one of the top four content categories on YouTube Additionally, YouTube users exhibit a 3x more likely compared to reading traditional instructions. Repurposing existing website content into video format is an effective way to generate high-performing content. When it comes to video length, two minutes appears to be the sweet spot.
Posting frequency
Consistency is encouraged on YouTube. Strive to publish high-quality content as frequently as your team can manage sustainably. Monitor your YouTube referral traffic to gauge its effectiveness as a marketing channel. If it proves valuable, dedicate more resources to expand your video content strategy.
Engagement boosters
Prioritize SEO optimization for your videos. Craft catchy titles, incorporate relevant keywords, and utilize accurate video tags. Integrate cards or annotations containing links and calls to action to effectively direct YouTube traffic back to your website.
Analyze the competitive landscape, audience preferences, comments, and trends to determine the most resonant content for your followers.
What’s next? Social media tools & tracking
Equipped with the knowledge to build a results-driven social media strategy aligned with your business goals, the next crucial step involves tracking your progress.
Monitoring your performance empowers you to make data-driven decisions regarding campaign adjustments. While the specific metrics you track depend on your goals and potentially your industry, defining these metrics before launching your social media efforts is crucial.
Social Media Metrics Report Numerous social media marketing tools exist to enhance the effectiveness of organic social media marketing campaigns. Explore these tools to streamline account management, monitor engagement, and potentially even advertise on these platforms.
Once you’ve established your tracking metrics and selected your preferred tools, you’re ready to embark on your social media journey—posting, tweeting, uploading, and sharing strategically based on your well-defined plan!
Want more social media tips and intel?
We’ve got a megapost on The 6 Biggest, Baddest Social Media Platforms of 2022 (and How to Wield Their Power). Suit up and dive in.