If you’re a small business, you absolutely should be using social media in your marketing mix.
In today’s environment, social media is one of the most powerful and popular marketing tools to use to improve your business. It helps build authority, brand awareness, and generate contacts. It can also save you a lot of money on marketing, but it has got to be done right.
If your online presence is not rewarding you as much as you hoped, it might be time to switch up your approach.
WHAT ARE YOUR REALISTIC AND MEANINGFUL GOALS?
Goals are great. They keep you focused on the task at hand, but they must be achievable and realistic.
Social media marketing can have many goals, but too many goals can be damaging. Find goals that are important to your business and stick to them.
Do you want to build your brand? Do you want leads? Or are you looking for networking opportunities?
Once you have a focus, you can create a unique marketing plan to help you achieve your goals.
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?
It’s crucial to understand who you are trying to target. Often your product or service isn’t suitable for everybody.
Establishing your target audience allows you to modify your message. You can talk in a language that they understand. The biggest pitfall of social media marketing is speaking to an overly broad and diverse audience.
Try creating a client persona. This will help you to understand your ideal customer’s favourite things, where they go, what they like to do, and how they like to be communicated with. Every piece of content you create going forward should talk to them.
WHAT PLATFORM SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
It’s important to have a social media presence and you can create profiles for them all, but is the time investment worth it?
Once you understand your target audience, choose a platform. For example, if your target audience is aged 18-24, you may consider using TikTok or Instagram.
If you are a B2B businesses, you may focus your efforts on LinkedIn. This is often seen as a professional alternative to Facebook.
Many industry gurus offer advice on this platform and it is a great way to demonstrate thought leadership.
If you are a recruitment business, you may find LinkedIn is the best social media platform for you as there are lots of experts looking for new roles.
A YouTube channel is a great way to offer free advice and increase your brand awareness. Lots of businesses use YouTube as it can really drive traffic to your business as you can be seen as an expert in your field.
Don’t stick to one platform as you do want to maximise your exposure, but it’s worth considering what is a valuable use of your time.
WHAT CONTENT SHOULD I SHARE?
As individuals, we all like to digest information differently. Some people are visual learners and will prefer video content, whilst some are reading and writing learners so would prefer written content.
You should aim to use a mix of content as it doesn’t segregate your prospective clients.
It’s important to keep some of your trade secrets for paying customers, but it does no harm to provide an insight into the type of advice or service you can offer.
The key is to find the right balance.
SHOULD I FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION?
Using scheduling software such as Hootsuite can be a great investment, saving both time and money.
However, it’s important to monitor social media as you don’t want to miss any comments or questions.
It’s also important to keep a close eye on anything topical and update your social media schedule accordingly.
Social media is an excellent way of starting conversations with prospective clients on the topics that you cover.
The more you communicate, the easier it is to expand your reach and stay relevant.
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Any questions?
If you’d like a meeting or a video call to discuss this, please get in touch with your favourite Liverpool accountant
