Social Media Tips To Help Your Small Business Grow!
Thursday, November 25, 2021When you run a small business, quite often, you are the one with ALL the responsibilities. All the jobs to do. With an endless and ever-growing to-do list. At that point, social media will constantly fall to the bottom of that list simply due to the lack of time pressure. So, I wanted to share some social media tips to help your small business. Here are some easy do's and don'ts that will help you run your account in a smarter way rather than you having to work harder!
Social media is a free form of advertising your business, but it requires a lot of time and dedication. Being active on social media can get you seen by a bigger audience. The more people see your products, the more likely you are to get some paying customers! It makes sense that social media becomes part of your marketing strategy rather than an afterthought as something you feel you need to do. Some of the best platforms for small businesses are Instagram, Tiktok and Pinterest. Each of those requires different approaches, time and dedication to grow and make it worthwhile.
Don't Post And Ghost Your Audience
If you are going to post a photo to your grid and take the time to write a caption, then don't just pop it on there and disappear. The magic of social media won't happen without help from you. Make sure you have time after you post to answer any comments made. This creates a mini conversation on it and shows Instagram that your post is of interest. If it recognises the activity, the algorithm will allow it to be seen by more accounts. It also shows good customer service, and people are more likely to purchase if their questions are answered. For example, someone may want to know the size of a product to make sure it will work for them. If you don't answer, they may not make that purchase and will go to a competitor.
Set Time To Work On Social Media
If you want your social media to grow, you need to set time aside for it. Just 15 minutes used productively in the morning will make a difference to your account over time. At this time, try to reply to comments and messages. You could also post new content or photograph things for later on. If you can spare 15 minutes just twice a day, to begin with, it will become a habit and part of your natural work routine. You don't have to spend hours on social media. Just make sure you're keeping up to date with it. I like to turn my notifications off after my time so that I can focus on work. However, make sure your notifications are on for around 30 minutes after you post to your grid. This will help with answering initial first comments, and you'll avoid missing anything important!
Avoid Joining Follow Loops
I regularly get asked to participate in follow loops through my DMs, and it's a bit frustrating to have. Let's say the reason your social media drops to the bottom of your to-do list is that you are time short. Follow loops require you to follow each participant and to like all of their posts. It doesn't make sense to waste your precious time going through and like every post from all the participants. These will be empty likes on your account and theirs. They will not magically convert into paying customers. You'll also have a lot of inactive and unengaged followers at the end of the loop. Some may even unfollow you, so you wouldn't be gaining anything. Spending your precious time engaging on other local business accounts because you genuinely like their products or services will get you seen by their audiences. Therefore, this will increase your visibility to a whole host of new potential customers. Makes more sense, right?
Answer As Many Comments As Possible
Now for this, I'm talking to the smaller accounts that obviously do not get hundreds of comments. As you grow, you could answer the main questions and like other comments to save you time. If someone comments on your post and you answer quickly, it doubles the activity on your post. Your potential customer will see that you are interested, approachable and are there to answer their questions. People will always buy from those they feel that they know, like and trust. Engaging with people on your social media starts that journey with potential customers. If you get a few comments and answer them quickly, Instagram will see that particular post as active. It will signal the algorithm to show the post to others, helping your account grow!
Use Your Hashtags Wisely
The whole hashtag issue can be a minefield. How many are best to use, when is the best time to post, what hashtags to use etc. Hashtags are forever changing and can be hard to keep up with. For now, I would advise you to look at the actual hashtags you are using rather than how many. Say, for example, you have a seasonal product for Christmas. If you actually search the #Christmas hashtag, you will see there are over 164 million posts! 164 MILLION. So what are the chances your little post will be seen at all in amongst accounts using it? Instead, try to niche that topic down to a relevant product that you make. For example, #christmasbaubles, you will see it only has around 157 thousand accounts using that hashtag. The number of people searching that particular hashtag goes down, but the chances of your post being seen by people go up. So be smart with your hashtags rather than worry about how many to use.
Post On Your Stories Daily
This is a brilliant way of keeping your account active even if you haven't got a formulated grid post to use. Stories are a much more informal way of engaging on your account. People want to be entertained. Show behind the scenes, memes, things that have gone wrong that day, or products you have going out to customers. Use the stickers, the polls by asking questions such as ' this or that' to gauge what customers prefer. Stories allow customers to see your personality and sense of humour. Being open and showing you're a person helps them to trust you and what you are selling. Stories also allow you to interact with your potential customers, so you know their thoughts, and they can learn more about you.
Don't Overthink Your Post
Sometimes the pressure to post can be so much that you feel you have nothing valuable to say or show on your grid. Especially if you do not post regularly. That pressure can actually stop you from posting anything at all because you want it to be so good or just perfect. Stop right there! For your social media to work, you need to post regularly. It doesn't have to be every day. It could be 3 times a week with stories running in between. To make sure the algorithms pick you up, you need to have regular content that people interact with. You could post anything! If you're struggling with ideas, here are over 100 social media ideas to try out! So, with that in mind, let go of perfection. Posting something original will always be better than not posting because you're waiting on it to be perfect.
Follow & Engage With Other Businesses
I don't mean anyone in direct competition to you, but other small businesses in your local area or small businesses you have bought from yourself. You could follow similar accounts, but try to build a good relationship with them, rather than copying ideas. Genuinely commenting on business posts will get your name in front of their followers, who may check out your account. It also may help you to form a support bubble when you need it most. Helping small businesses and giving each other advice is a great way to build relationships and gain followers. Share an offer or giveaway another local business is running will almost guarantee they will share their own stories. Again, this gets your business seen by their audience. If they then pop into your DM's and say thank you, it can start a professional relationship. They may even take the time to return the favour to you too. This sort of engagement is much more beneficial to standard business follow loops with rules and pressure.
I realise these are literally just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social media. There are so many things to be doing and so many things to avoid. I definitely think these are enough to get you started on the right path of getting your account to work harder for you without taking up all of your time. Let's face it, time is always of the essence, no matter what we do. What small business tips do you like to use when using social media? I'd love to hear what hacks you've come up with to grow your social media and make it better for your lifestyle!
About the guest writer
This wonderful guest post was written by Tracy from Just Me Being Mrs B! Tracy is a freelance social media manager and writer. Her blog is filled with social media tips, chronic illness stories and parenting. You'll find something to love on her blog, so I'd highly recommend having a browse. You can also find her on Instagram @justmebeingmrsb
4 comments
Thank you for sharing these ideas, I definitely have the problem of overthinking what to post and in the end the forced posts always have the worst interaction rates.
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome tips. I am guilty of posting and ghosting. I usually post at 9am on Instagram but I'm working then and don't have time to engage. I guess I should try switching to posting before or after work or during my lunch.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of work being a small business and solo. These are awesome tips to help and I pretty much try my best to follow them. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSeeing this post is well-timed for me. My social media marketing game is weak. I'm starting from scratch, so anytime I have an opportunity to get a little more information I hope it translates to some wisdom that will help me improve little-by-little. Thanks!
ReplyDelete