Tips for Social Media Marketing

Marketing on social media has proven to be very effective with 57% of consumers saying they follow brands on social media to learn more about a business. There are over 4.2 billion active social media users and they spend an average of 2.5 hours on social platforms every day. Those few hours that users are online each day presents a huge opportunity for small business owners. It gives you the chance to show off your amazing offers for little to no money and a small amount of time. 

 

So you may be wondering if it’s time to start marketing your services on social media. Or maybe you want to learn how to get the most out of the time you’ve already committed to social media marketing. Either way, you’ve found a good starting point. 

 

The truth is that social media marketing can be very successful for your online business if you choose the right platform(s), build a marketing strategy that works for your business, and you are engaging and consistent. 

 

 

There are so many platforms available where you can market your services and offers. And most of them are free! The hardest part for most of us is finding the right place to be. Choosing the right platform(s) is very important because you want to meet your audience where they are. Just think about who your ideal clients are and where they would go to find help/solutions. 

 

There is a ton of great data available that breaks down social media platform statistics demographically and some of the stats are quite surprising. So don’t rely on assumptions about where your audience is. It’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario and at this stage you’ll need to put on your investigator cap to find the perfect fit for your business. 

 

 

Once you’ve chosen the platform(s) best suited for marketing your services, you can start building a marketing strategy. All businesses, no matter the size, need a marketing strategy. It helps keep your ideas centered and makes creating content for social media much easier. Start by deciding how much time you want to dedicate to social media marketing. Then schedule time each week/month to create new content, review the data, and readjust if needed. 

 

Time is your most valuable resource and you know what is realistic for your business. So just make sure your social media marketing goals are practical and fit into your schedule. It may take some time to get into the swing of things but there are so many great tools to make it easier. For example, templates are a great tool for business owners who want to create branded content fast and without the learning curve. Just remember that you don’t have to do all the things - create a marketing strategy that works for you and take advantage of helpful tools where you can. 

 

 

The most important tip after you’ve chosen your platforms and built your marketing strategy, is to be consistent. All social media platforms rely on algorithms to keep people engaged, so being consistent in your social media marketing is very important. You don’t have to be online all day every day (who has time for that?), but you do need to post engaging content consistently. This ties back to how much time you want to commit - don’t spread yourself too thin. Just create a schedule that works for you and stick to it!

 

Posting consistent marketing content on social media not only expands your reach, it also helps build trust with your audience. It gives your audience the opportunity to engage with you and learn more about your offers. Many consumers rely on social media platforms to gather relevant information before making a purchase, so it’s important to be available to make those connections. Just remember to show up for your people and they will show up for you.