Mar 11, 2019
How to Use Social Media To Brand & Grow A Small Business
Social media is more than just pictures and networking, it’s also a business tool. It’s such a great business tool because not only is it free it also gives you, the business owner, complete direct access to your potential customer and competitors. Years ago it would cost a business owner a lot money to purchase an ad in the yellow pages or newspaper or create a commercial to air on local television. Now a days we have IGTV, YouTube, Facebook ads, and so on. All of these social media platforms are free but if you want to reach more people and target a specific audience than you may have create a digital marketing budget. But if you do it right you’ll earn way over what you spent on you social media ads or boosted post.
The internet and social media are world wide and everyone online is a consumer that you can instantly connect to. If you’re a business owner and don’t have a social media marketing strategy/plan I would suggest creating one or hiring a expert to create one for you. Having a marketing plan in place will give you direction, especially if you’re managing multiple businesses, pages, or brands. Here are some questions to keep in mind and add to your marketing plan that will give you direction on how to plan and execute all your digital marketing efforts:
- Why did you start your business?
- What is your mission statement?
- Why is what your offering valuable?
- What is the purpose of your services, brand, or product?
- How do you see your brand/business expanding?
- How will you communicate your brands message? (What will it look like, sound like, what tools will you use?)
- How would you describe you products and services in under 140 characters?
- What are 5 words that describe your brand/business?
- What kind of connect can you create to attract customers/clients?
You’re personal page and business should never be the same thing. Separate yourself from your brand online. However if you are a content creator, blogger, or influencer and you are part of your brand then always make sure your pages and platforms reflect who you are, but still keep you’re content quality, consistent, and professional. As long as there is some sort of distinction to help your audience and search engines identity you who you are and what you’re doing or selling/pitching.
To start off every business should have a page built on at least one of the following social media platforms.
- Google Business
- YouTube
Not only does your business or idea need to have website you also need to have at least one social media platform to market your self or your product on. Social media is a tool that every business owner can use to their advantage.
Each platform however serves a different purpose and has different audience and reach potential. Certain age demographics and niche groups use some platforms more than others. So it is important to be very specific about who you’re potential client/customer is and how you want to use your social media page to connect with them.
Here are some questions you can fill out or add to your marketing plan to help you fully understand your target consumer and how to reach them:
- Who are your products/services intended for?
- How much money does your demographic earn and spend on average?/What are your customers spending patterns?
- How old are you customers?
- What do your customers care about/pay attention to?
- What are your customers interest? Do you align with your customers interest?
- What related services/products are your customers interested in?
- Which social media platform(s) are you customers the most active on?
Once you come to a conclusion about who exactly you potential customer you can create content that appeals to them and then you’ll see more engagement which means more leads and an increase in sales.
Want more information on how to use social media to improve your business, blog, or brand? This information will be included in my e-book “Social Media Slay” a 4-week course and workbook to help you reach your social media goals. Keep a look out for it’s release and my other resources and e-books on my website.
