Date
Social Media for Small Business: Value and Strategy
As we continue working with clients on their website development, search engine marketing (SEM), and search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, more questions are being asked about how social media can be utilized for their business marketing, and where to start depending on budget and industry.
First, business owners and marketing managers should realize the value of social media regarding virtually all aspects of marketing. By now, chances are you have been inundated with statistics and success stories that illustrate this value. However, it is still hard to wrap your head around an effective and sensible strategy for your business.
The truth is, there are so many different ways to attack social media and creativity has no ceiling, which is both extremely exciting yet horribly daunting at the same time. To maximize marketing return, successful businesses know to focus on the following aspects of social media:
First, business owners and marketing managers should realize the value of social media regarding virtually all aspects of marketing. By now, chances are you have been inundated with statistics and success stories that illustrate this value. However, it is still hard to wrap your head around an effective and sensible strategy for your business.
The truth is, there are so many different ways to attack social media and creativity has no ceiling, which is both extremely exciting yet horribly daunting at the same time. To maximize marketing return, successful businesses know to focus on the following aspects of social media:
- Branding
- Awareness
- Leads
- Join/build communities
- Business development
- Displaying recent activity and credibility
- Customer support/FAQs
- Educate
This step will also allow you to see which platforms would be best to utilize. Most businesses should consistently post on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Yelp, Google My Business (GMB), and Twitter. These platforms have been proven as effective platforms for connecting with any audience, but also are the platforms that customers will go to when researching your business.
If you have shown recent online activity, post quality information/images/videos with no errors, and display basic business information, a customer is willing to trust you more before contacting. Outside of these, experimenting on alternative and more industry-focused platforms as well is also a great way to build communities, collect information, and generate leads or sales.
Over time, businesses should be monitoring the results of their efforts and adjust strategy accordingly. Before starting, create SMART goals and identify key performance indicators to get a better understanding of the results. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. For example, here is a SMART goal for growing on Instagram:
“Increase followers on Instagram to 10k over a 6-month period.”
Once your goals are created, brainstorm content strategy based on your services, brand, target audience, and competitors. If 10k followers on Instagram in 6 months was my goal, I might make a point to review data insights every month to identify the strengths and weaknesses of my efforts to fine tune the strategy and give myself a better chance of meeting that goal. Because organic reach can take a while to accumulate an audience, consider allocating budget to paid promotions on these platforms to get in front of more eyes in your target audience more quickly.
At SEO Idaho, we care about delivering results for our clients. If you have any questions regarding social media strategy, SEM, SEO, website development, creative work and paid advertising online, or digital marketing in general, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 208-759-0777 or submit a contact form on our website.
If you have shown recent online activity, post quality information/images/videos with no errors, and display basic business information, a customer is willing to trust you more before contacting. Outside of these, experimenting on alternative and more industry-focused platforms as well is also a great way to build communities, collect information, and generate leads or sales.
Over time, businesses should be monitoring the results of their efforts and adjust strategy accordingly. Before starting, create SMART goals and identify key performance indicators to get a better understanding of the results. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. For example, here is a SMART goal for growing on Instagram:
“Increase followers on Instagram to 10k over a 6-month period.”
Once your goals are created, brainstorm content strategy based on your services, brand, target audience, and competitors. If 10k followers on Instagram in 6 months was my goal, I might make a point to review data insights every month to identify the strengths and weaknesses of my efforts to fine tune the strategy and give myself a better chance of meeting that goal. Because organic reach can take a while to accumulate an audience, consider allocating budget to paid promotions on these platforms to get in front of more eyes in your target audience more quickly.
At SEO Idaho, we care about delivering results for our clients. If you have any questions regarding social media strategy, SEM, SEO, website development, creative work and paid advertising online, or digital marketing in general, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 208-759-0777 or submit a contact form on our website.