Social Media for Small Businesses

What is social media? Social media is an internet-based platform that allows one to communicate with another.

Why is this important for your business? Because you can keep your physical store open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, you will incur massive staffing costs. But, with social media - the majority of these platforms are free to have a profile on where people can ask you questions about your service or product while your store is closed. See, you’re already cutting down on costs by not having your store open 24/7!

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat - Where to begin?

As each year comes around, it seems as if there’s a new social media platform that promises to be the next big thing… But how do you decide which platform to be on?

Our advice? Take a step back and ask yourself;

“Where does my ideal customer spend most of their time on social media?”

Think of it like this - you wouldn’t open an ice cream parlour in the middle of the Antarctic, would you? The same principle applies to social media - you need to appear where your ideal customer is spending their time.

The next question is - well that’s great, but how do I find out where they spend their time? RESEARCH!

- Ask current customers if they’d like to see you create content on social media
- What type of content does your ideal customer consume or enjoy the most?
- Do your customers buy when they see your product or do they prefer to do a bit more research?
- Check out your competitors - see where their content performs best

What do I even put up on social media?

Let’s put this to bed straight away. Many brands think, if they show their product enough, sales will come from social media - this could not be further from the truth.

“People buy from other people - not brands”

Don’t be afraid to show off your personality on your new social media account. All your content does not need to be perfect - test out new ideas every so often and see what works best with your audience!

How often should I post?

Everyone has a different answer to this - and the truth is, there is no “secret posting schedule” that allows you to be shown to all of your customers. However, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to accelerate your growth.

“Quality content that engages your audience will always outperform lazy, infrequent content”

The reason we post on social media is to generate meaningful engagement from our community - not just endless amounts of likes and shares that don’t amount to eventual sales.

Start thinking of your social media profiles as a platform to grow and nurture a community of loyal followers - you’ll find that creating your content becomes much easier.

Consistency is key when it comes to building a community. Think of it like this - if you start working out once a month, you won’t really see much progress would you? The same principle applies to creating your social media community - be consistent, and provide good quality content and you will reap the rewards.