Junk food, cowboys, static electricity—there’s a designated day for everything these days (mark your calendar for National Red Wine Day on Aug. 28!).
In honor of World Social Media Day this year, we’re highlighting five social media tips for startups and small businesses looking to grow their audience and their business.
1. Plan ahead
Social media is only one tactic in your marketing toolkit, and it’s important that your social plan tie back to a larger marketing strategy. By planning your content ahead of time, you can strategically promote that content through social media and email. Thanks to tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social, it’s easier than ever to devise and execute on a content calendar, allowing you to plan out your content a month in advance and carry out larger campaigns to promote your brand.
Bonus tip: Be aware of what’s scheduled, and be ready to pivot due to current events or changes in the industry.
2. Be consistent
From your voice and messaging to your visuals and posting cadence, consistency is key to any social media strategy. Rebecca Riserbato explains on HubSpot:
“Consistency in brand messaging is one of the many factors that determine the growth and success of your business …The same reasoning applies to content marketing, as well — your content needs to carry a unique and identifiable voice, style, and pitch across all distribution channels.”
In a competitive B2B or B2C marketplace, consistency is often the differentiator dividing the experts from the amateurs.
3. Use visuals
Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images, according to Buzzsumo, and visuals can improve learning by up to 400%. We’re a scrolling society, and with the growing popularity of platforms like Instagram and TikTok, images, infographics and video content are integral to an effective social media strategy.
Our eyes can register 36,000 visual messages per hour, and they’re processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. Make sure your visuals are enhancing your message.
4. Analyze and recalibrate
Analytics allow us to track performance and glean valuable insights to expand service offerings, improve customer service and drive business. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have overhauled their analytics reporting tools in the recent years, allowing users to track engagement and measure success. By understanding the impact of your social campaigns, you can recalibrate (or replicate!) as necessary to ensure your message lands every time.
5. Be human
64% of consumers want brands to connect with them, according to Sprout Social, and 51% say their relationship starts with a brand when they feel a brand understands them. Social media provides a unique opportunity to engage directly with customers, allowing companies to build their brands while building relationships. Make sure you’re promptly liking and responding to comments and direct messages, and always respond to reviews—whether they’re positive or negative. One bad interaction on social media could turn a customer away for life, and showing appreciation for your clients and customers on social can go a long way to cementing your brand’s place in the industry.
Social media is a low threshold way to connect with customers and build trust—for free. With these guidelines, you’ll be able to start that relationship off on the right foot—and just in time for Get to Know Your Customers Day on July 16!
