Do you want to use social media for your small business, but don’t know where to start? It can be daunting. Luckily our team of social media experts are on hand to give your suppot and guidance on how to establish and grow your online following. Read on for some tips on social media best-practices.

It’s surprising that only 57% of UK small businesses use social media to market their products or services.

The other large percentage of small business owners claim that they don’t have the time, money or resources to tackle the social media marketing space.

In all likelihood, you have probably tried and tested some social media posts for your business in the past, but after seeing no instant results, you didn’t pursue it any further. After all, if there’s no ROI then there’s no point right? Wrong. Most forms of organic marketing (including social media, email marketing and SEO) are a waiting game. You have to put in time and energy from day one, with the view or reaping the results in the long-term. Social media can offer great ROI – you simply have to be patient and remain focussed on your long-term goals.

With more users than ever relying on their phones and smart devices to tell them where to eat, what to buy and what is in trend, it’s now imperative to start paying attention to social media for your small business.

Social media marketing alone is one of the main reasons that some small businesses have seen escalated growth even through lockdown. It is likely that many or your competitors will already be using social media to get ahead of you, reaping the benefits of online exposure and becoming the go-to company in your niche area of business.

Why your business needs social media?

Over the last couple of decades, social media has certainly proven beneficial for small business marketing. With over 4.20 billion active social media users on the planet, there is plenty of people to market to. Once limited to local footfall, small businesses can now reach potential customers all over the world – offering you unlimited growth and sales opportunities.

Below are some further reasons why your business needs to be active on social media:

To increase your website traffic

Social media business marketing can have a positive impact on your website traffic.

As well as the SEO benefits that come with sending customers to your website through building strong backlinks with social platforms, social media platforms also send signals to search engines such as Bing and Google to show that your content is shareable and popular.

Although it’s not confirmed (Google like to leave some mystery around the exact workings of their algorithms!) there is a positive correlation with search engine rankings and the number of post likes, comments and engagement rates on social media.

Become an authoritative figure in your niche

Being an authoritative figure means that your or your business are seen as trusted and reliable sources in your particular niche.

The more you post informative, engaging content on your business social media, the more you will build trust with potential customers and even search engines.

Once established, you will become the go-to business in your niche and your presence will be more visible on social platforms; helping you to reach new potential sales.

Drive more conversions

Traffic is good, but conversions are better.

You can utilise social media to showcase your product or service benefits and how they can help your customers. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are regularly introducing new integrations and features to enhance the user experience with brands on their platforms. Be sure to use these features to grow brand awareness and maximise sales opportunities.

Add strong calls to action on your social media posts to incentivise more sales.

How to best use social media for business

Use social media to tell your brand story

We all love a good story, don’t we?

Businesses can use social media to differentiate themselves from competition, and to portray a compelling brand story that will win over your potential customers.

Consumers make purchasing decisions with their emotions.

Telling a compelling brand story can help to build deeper connections with your customers and they will begin to resonate with your ethos.

Give your customers free value-based content

All of our social media feeds are bombarded with paid ads trying to sell us the next best product, aren’t they?

Well, one way to really build an engaged set of followers on your business social media is to offer value-packed content, for free.

Before trying to over-sell, use social media to provide useful content that will help them to solve their problems, share your top tips and any updates from your industry. This will help you to build a loyal set of fans that will keep coming back.

Create brand recognition for your business

Nowadays, with new businesses popping up everywhere, consumers like to buy from brands that they recognise.

Social media is much more effective than traditional marketing medias because it allows you to spread the word about your brand quickly, easily and for free.

It also helps you stay at the forefront of customers minds, even when they are not thinking about your brand.

Share engaging video content on social media

There are lots of ways that you can use video to keep on growing your engaged social media following.

A great social media tip for businesses is to share a behind the scenes video – we all want to know where the companies we buy from work and put some faces to the name!

You can also showcase your company’s new product launch and engage them with videos of your products in action.

User generated content is king

Yes, user generated content can help your business to rapidly grow its social media following.

User generated content is an upgraded word-of-mouth technique, that businesses can benefit greatly from.

It is a win-win situation for both brands and consumers, as both will get social exposure. The process is simply sharing and re-posting your followers content, with your product or service in shot.

When your followers start to see real customers using and benefiting from your product, they will attract a fear of missing out – meaning they are more likely to purchase from your business!

Social media marketing for business definitely has its advantages, so we highly suggest, if not already, to get your business online. Start to post relevant and engaging content to attract your first few followers and encourage users to share your posts. Consistent and regular posting will help to build your profile and increase your organic follower growth. With a strong social media strategy, you are bound to increase website traffic, drive more conversions and achieve a better SEO ranking. So, what are you waiting for? Lets get social!