It’s hard to ignore the impact social media has had on the world. It’s believed that people spend nearly two and half hours a day on social media platforms. So how can you make use of social media advertising to grow your small business?
Advertising online for a small business can be a very useful tool. You can use videos, imagery, GIFs, and more to create compelling copy that engages and amuses your client base. You can use the opportunity to build brand awareness, develop customer relationships, or even make sales directly on the platform.
Let’s take a look at some social media advertising tips for small businesses that you can use to engage with customers on another level.
Create A Business Page
No matter the size of your business it’s a good idea to create a specific business page. You’ll find your business is taken far more seriously than if you’re posting under your personal profile.
Make sure your page has all the important information for your business, including contact information, opening hours and more.
Add photos and tell the story of your business so your clients feel like they’re getting to know you. Create your first post – it can be as simple as a “Welcome!” or an introduction to your team, but you want to have some activity on your page before you invite people to like and engage with you.
Regularly Update Your Content
It’s no good having a page that sits there unused. You need to regularly update your content. This also helps keep the conversation going between you and your customers. If you opt to use Facebook advertising for small business users you’ll enjoy the added bonus of Facebook Insights, so you can see how many customers/users your posts are reaching. On Twitter, if you’re funny you might get retweeted, meaning your followers’ followers will see your posts when they might not have done so before.
If you’re worried about time, you can schedule posts in advance using their publishing tool to make sure you’re hitting your target audience at prime time!
Make Your Content Engaging
The top of our social media advertising tips for small business users is to make sure your content is engaging! You can post videos, photos, press releases, articles, your own blog, whatever you can think of to share! The more variety the better your page will appear.
Keep the tone of your posts in keeping with your brand. You want a cohesive on- and off-line personality. It’s a good idea to end posts with a question to encourage people to engage, comment or share.
You can make use of online polls to see what your customers want and help them feel as though they’re helping to shape the journey of your business. On Instagram, you can run polls on a story for 24 hours, and users will be able to see how the voting is going. The more included your customers are in the journey, the more likely they are to come along for the ride.
Beat The Algorithm
Much like Google and SEO-driven content, social media platforms have an algorithm that favors some posts over others. It’s disheartening if you’ve spent ages designing a fun, information business post, only to find none of your followers see it.
To beat the algorithm make sure your page has lots of activity. You want your posts to create a conversation so that you can have the chance to communicate with your clients.
Respond to comments, questions, and direct messages. It’s important to remember that these platforms are called SOCIAL media – so you should be social with your customers.
The more engagement your page has, the more the algorithm will favor you!
Use Your Profiles For Customer Services
With so many people online daily, it’s a good idea to offer customer support across your social media platforms, usually through the private messenger tool. Try to respond to all customer service inquiries in a quick and timely fashion.
If your customers know they can reach you quickly across multiple platforms it’s easy for them to drop you a quick message when they’re on the commute.
Run A Campaign
A great way to reach your customers and beyond is by running a campaign. Offer a prize for users that follow your page, share your post and ask them to tag a friend, or even three friends! Soon you’ll have a load of new followers or online connections. And it hardly costs you anything at all.
You can even team up with other like-minded businesses to offer a joint experience or prize. Ask people entering the competition to like and subscribe to both you and your partner’s brand pages. It’s also a great way to collect some potential customers’ personal data as they enter your competition.
Make Use Of It All
When you start advertising online, it’s important to take advantage of everything the platform has to offer. It’s far more than just static pages. You can create stories on Instagram or Facebook which expire after 24 hours to give your small business life. If your clients feel like information has a deadline or timeframe they are more likely to check back with your page more often.
Use polls, pictures, retweets, or even staff takeovers to give your customers a personal insight into who you and your team are. Why not challenge yourself and learn a Tik Tok dance with some of your employees?
Ready To Start Socializing With Your Clients?
Social media isn’t the only way to collect all important data from your client base. If you team with Glue Loyalty you can track spending, create a loyalty club and gain brand loyalty quickly and easily. Take a look at how you can transform your brand today!
