Focus Your Social Media: Fundamentals for Small Businesses

Entire businesses are built and run on social media. Because social tools are available for little or no cost, all businesses can leverage social to grow in meaningful ways. What is your current social media strategy? How do you organize your content & your team? What Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are you tracking towards your goals? If you’re just getting started with social media, answer these key questions to avoid spending time and money unnecessarily. If you’re unsure how to answer, that’s okay–write down your initial ideas so you can track and refine as you go. Today we’ve outlined a few key suggestions to help streamline & improve your social media marketing.

Don’t Over Commit

When starting to focus on social media for your business, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The large number of platforms, alongside the fact that algorithms are always changing, don’t make it easy. This is especially true for business owners looking to do it on their own, instead of hiring a marketing professional. To ensure quality and avoid being overwhelmed, start small with a few channels. Don’t feel like you need to be everywhere and for everyone. It’s better to have fewer strong social media outlets/audiences, rather than trying to do it all. To choose how to focus your efforts, consider your audience & positioning–choose the channels that will likely work best for your brand. Once you’ve chosen your focus, build a plan to execute regularly and foster engagement. Focus on the quality of engagement, not the size of your audience. Do they frequently comment on your posts, ask questions, and generally drive the conversation? This is far more important than the number of people following you.

Get Comfortable Trying & Learning

You may not like to hear it, but you don’t know what will and won’t work when establishing your social media channels. You must be prepared to test & learn. The beauty of social media is that it’s free, and there are countless opportunities to try. However, when you’re getting started, you don’t know what will resonate, so you must get comfortable experimenting. To track your results and strengthen your social plan, understand your goals. Identify and capture KPIs that relate to your goals. Then, adjust and continue to improve over time.

Systematize to Gain Efficiency

The easiest way for social media to fall by the wayside is to not have a plan to organize your content. It will take far more time, and likely be less successful, if you do not have a system for social content (i.e. what you post on social, such as copy and images). Start by building a calendar. Outline key dates, times, and elements each social media post will require. If you’re working with any partners or employees, ensure you have a process to create, coordinate, and approve content (such as photo rights, copywriting, etc.). Your social media should not feel like a scramble, but a well-oiled machine with key marketing moments.

Social media is an amazing tool for entrepreneurs. It’s free, low risk, and can be a fun & direct way to engage your audience. But it should not be taken lightly. If you want to dive into social media, don’t go halfway. It can look far worse to consumers if you have social pages that are inactive or uninspiring, rather than not have them at all. These suggestions take time, commitment, and energy, but many businesses thrive as a direct result of social media. Consider hiring a marketing professional to get started, or if you’d like to learn more, feel free to send us a note.

Tags: business growth, content development, content marketing, social media marketing