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As an entrepreneur, having a strong social media presence is a vital part to the performance and success of your business. Businesses no longer rely on word of mouth, instead they rely on the word of text. Some businesses only use online platforms to attract new business and customers, setting up a website and a domain is now as easy as setting up a Facebook account and online shops can be up and running within the day.
Research has proven again and again that being socially active can positively impact your business’s bottom line. It can also foster innovation and collaboration and can even help you obtain funding from investors.
Here, we share five key methods in which small business owners can use to nurture their successful presence on social media.
Like starting a business - you have a business plan. The same should apply when trying to develop your social media strategy. Without a clear plan, you have no defined goal for what you’re trying to achieve. Take the time to create a rigid and effective plan that ensures all your social media efforts supplement your business goals. For example:
One of the key reasons for using social media in a business capacity is so that you can target your customer-base. But before you do that, you need to understand who exactly your audience is. Start by compiling data on your current customers and then dig deeper using social media analytics to view your target demographic. By doing this, you’ll start to develop a clear picture of who’s buying from and interacting with you online. From this you can develop your marketing campaigns accordingly, ensuring that you are appealing directly to those who view your profiles.
Now you know exactly who you are targeting, you should look for ways to reach even more people like them. There are a variety of ways to do this. You could test ads on Facebook and Instagram to see whether your audience understanding remains when you expand beyond your original target group.
Perhaps the most important benefit of social media for small businesses is that it enables you to communicate directly with customers and followers. This enables you to cultivate relationships over time, rather than a one-time encounter. Research shows that more than 40% of digital consumers use social networks to research new brands or products. When people engage with your organic content or ads, it’s definitely worth engaging back. By responding to individual comments or queries you start to build a relationship which helps to build trust and form a loyal following. The more you respond, the more you are likely to see an increase in your followers. The more these followers start to share and promote your content, the more you will rise in the social algorithms and gain new, free, exposure, which could then develop into sales.
They say a picture tells a thousand words, and the same applies for social media. For service businesses, creating great imagery can be a challenge. But every business can tell a story through photos and videos. Even if it's not a product you’re showcasing, but rather your company culture with images from inside your office, you’re giving your followers and customers a taste of what your business is about and thus likely to increase the number of those willing to engage.
Now you’ve put in all the hard work of developing a strategy, it's important to keep track of what works and what doesn’t. Utilise each social media platform’s analytic tools to create a picture of your progress and help track whatever metrics are most important to you. No matter the size of your business, social tools can help you better connect with your audience, reach new potential customers, and increase awareness of your brand. If the possibilities seem overwhelming, start small.
Authors: Oliver Murphy & Sacha Bright
Disclaimer
To the best of our knowledge, the information we have provided is correct at the time of publishing. Sacha Bright is not a solicitor or accountant and we recommend that you seek professional advice on any topic discussed.
Tagged: social media business sme funding equity crowdfunding alternative finance
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