How Social Media Can Elevate Your Small Business

Social media has paved the way for businesses to get their message across to new audiences. With over 3.2 billion users worldwide, it comes as no surprise that many businesses have turned to this digital marketing solution to reach new customers, increase sales, and drive online and in-store traffic. The question begs, is your small business poised for success?

For many small businesses, social media is intimidating and they don’t know where to begin. Small businesses don’t know how to qualify the success of their social media campaigns. They also don’t know how to build and target the right audiences and then convert them from a lead to a customer.

Have no fear, we ran a survey of small businesses to get to the root of the problem and come up with effective solutions. What we found was telling. 

In this blog, we’re going to discuss our findings and show you just how social media elevates small businesses. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.

The Rise of Social Media Marketing

Ten years ago, the use of social media was taboo for many businesses. Today, however, with the rise of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook many companies have come to see its value. 71% of consumers who have had a positive social media experience with a brand are more likely to recommend that brand.

The boom of social media influencers and content creators has opened businesses of all sizes to new doors of opportunities. Influencer marketing isn’t the only perk of investing in social media marketing. For small businesses, in particular, there is a world of opportunity in the realm of hashtags, likes, and comments.

Benefits of Social Media Include: 

1. Reach new customers. Social media offers you free access to a large audience of potential customers. It’s safe to say that a majority of businesses are already utilizing social media to market their products and offerings. Even small businesses like yours can take advantage of this opportunity!
2. Cost-effective. Many small businesses assume that these platforms are only for larger companies and corporations that have endless amounts of money at their disposal. However, this isn’t the case. Social media provides opportunities for small businesses to grow and expand their reach with new and existing customers. 
3. Increase Brand Awareness. 90% of marketers have stated that social media has increased their brand exposure. With social, you are able to spread information about your business in a quick and cost-effective way allowing you to reach millions of potential customers⎯both new and existing. This can translate into more followers for your business, more sign-ups for your services and offerings along with higher conversion rates for your marketing campaigns.
4. Increase Traffic. 57% of consumers will follow a brand’s social media profile to learn about new products or services. After following brands on social, 91% of consumers visit the brand’s website or app and 89% will buy from the brand. Linking your social media to your website will help increase your website and in-store traffic tremendously. 
5. Acquire New Customers. Social media is an easy way to connect with new customers. With 1.5 billion monthly users, it offers small businesses a compelling forum to help them acquire new customers. With a few simple yet creative methods, you can turn social media into a customer-generating goldmine.

Steps to Get Started on Social Media

Before doing anything, you’re going to want to make sure that all the basic information on your TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube profiles think your website, logo, phone number, physical address(if applicable) are all up to date and correct. 

There are some baselines rules around posting content. For example, videos generally outperform all other types of content. Don’t let this scare you though! This doesn’t mean that you need to invest in high-tech video strategies. 

Your video on social media doesn’t need to have insane production value. Consistency is key. Set aside time to pre-schedule posts and have an overall plan for your weekly content to make your communications more structured. 

While a certain amount of planning is required, too much planning can be the nail in the coffin. Approaching your social output as something fun doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your professionalism. In fact, experimenting with your content helps ensure you find your voice. 

Employing social media as part of your small business or startup marketing strategy can generate huge payoffs that can help you accelerate your business and scale quickly and efficiently.