Now that you’ve started your business, it’s time to get the word out about you! In this day and age, that means you will need to be on social media. Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that leverages the power of popular social media networks to achieve your marketing and branding goals.
Each month, there are over 4.5 billion internet users around the globe – over half of the global population. Of that number, over 3.8 billion people spend two or more hours per day on social media. With interaction that high, it’s imperative that you have a business profile on each of the most popular social networks.
Over 54% of users research products through social media and 71% of users will recommend a company if they had a positive experience with a company on social media. These are two of the best reasons to be on social media.
Need more reasons? We don’t blame you! So, let’s just say a $50 ad spend can potentially get you 100x that value in sales, new customers and brand recognition.
1. Choosing a Network
The first thing you need to do when you’re selecting a social media network is to find out where your ideal clients are located. Every person has a preference for a specific network, and knowing which network your buyers prefer is critical.
You can find your network by tracking your analytics and seeing where your referrals are coming from. If Facebook or Twitter is sending you the majority, that’s where you need to be active. Not sure how to do that? Moonlit Media can help with our Social Media Marketing services.
While you can accomplish promotion on any network, choosing the right one for your business is important. For example, if you’re a jewelry maker, you should seriously consider Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. If you’re a writer, you may find the best success on Twitter or Facebook. Each platform has different strengths and attracts a different type of buyer.
Also, within each platform, there are a variety of types of posts. These range from reels and shorts to single image or carousel posts. There are also a variety of groups available and methods of reaching individual users via direct message.
Whether you choose to be on every popular network or to be active on a few, these are the numbers you need to consider.
| Social Networks | Types | Active users, monthly |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Shorts, videos | 2.6 billion |
| Reels, stories, feed, groups, live | 2.37 billion | |
| Reels, stories, feed, live | Over 1 billion | |
| TikTok | Posts | 800 million |
| Posts (Tweets) | 326 million | |
| Posts, stories | 303 million | |
| Pins, live | 300 million |
2. Create a strategy
When you embark on marketing via social media, it’s important to have a strategy. Entertaining posts of memes are fun and they can help attract an audience, but use them with caution on a business page or you risk offending potential buyers.
When establishing a social media strategy, think about how you can best get the word out in a way that matters. If you’re an artist or author, stick with posts that inform and entertain about your art or book. If you’re selling chairs, consider posts that discuss different types of chairs for specific tasks, such as gaming or working. Always remember to bring your business name and branding into videos and photos, so the audience understands who they are seeing and why.
The types of posts you add to each social media platform also matter.
3. Be consistent
Always be consistent in posting – even when running ads. Utilize a scheduler (like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or other platforms) or hire a social media person so that you are consistent in delivering daily or weekly content. You will also want to make sure that your posts embrace your business messaging in terms of color, style, and format.Â
4. Create Engaging & Interesting Content
When you are considering what to post, think about what your customer wants, not what you want. This will vary dramatically according to customer and platform. You may not know right away what your customers want to see, but business analytics will give you a great idea.Â
5. Evaluate engagement thru metrics
Check analytics frequently to ensure what you’re posting is effective. If you’re not getting ongoing comments or page likes, it may be time to switch up your strategy. Identifying your audience is not always easy, but it’s an important part of your business strategy.
Engagement will also tell you more about your ideal customer and provide insight into what they want. You may find you have a better interaction in groups or via video, while some businesses find posting user photos are the best way to encourage interaction.Â
Don’t be afraid to share curated content! Inspire and inform your fans with posts about techniques, fun facts, or articles.Â
Analytics are your best friend as a business owner. They can tell you a great deal about your audience and the types of posts they want to interact with. Not only does it help others to share, but it can also inspire you to create content that is successful by mirroring what similar businesses are doing.Â
By identifying your ideal customer and gathering data via cookies or other strategies, you can identify new markets. Nearly all of the paid social media functions offer a “lookalike audience” that enables you to create a new audience of buyers who share the same characteristics as your current audience. This can expand your audience exponentially as you embark on your journey as a small business owner.
