Do you ever wonder if your social media efforts are really helping your business? If so, you are not alone. Social media is an extremely valuable way to build your brand, your brand’s reputation, and the perceived authority you have in your industry. And did we mention social media marketing is free? Except for the paid ads, of course.
So let’s talk about why being on social media is so important. We will then give you some social media tips for small business brands that will help you increase your social media marketing efforts.
Why Is Being on Social Media Valuable?
When people are looking for a product or service, they will often look on social media platforms and look for social proof about that company. They want to know your brand is reputable, provides quality products and services, and that it can be trusted. People rely heavily on peer validation and that’s exactly what social media gives them.
Additionally, people expect a reputable business to be active on social media. So, if you are not active on social media, your potential customers might perceive that as a red flag or perceive your company as not being professional and, therefore, not trustworthy.
Another reason that social media is so valuable is that many people use these platforms as a research and discovery tool just like Google. People realize that sometimes the best way to get honest answers to their questions is to ask someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in the company they are researching.
That’s where social media comes in. Social media gives your potential customers a way to interact with others who have already done business with you. They want a true and honest insider view into what to expect when dealing with you. Social media feedback, for the most part, provides a true third-party view of any given business experience versus reading reviews that the company either paid for or posted themselves. People want to see results and how much success others have found when doing business with you.
Social media feedback provides the type of social proof people look for to make educated decisions about whether or not your company is suited to their needs. And that makes social media an invaluable tool every small business should be using to its advantage.
Now let’s talk about social media tips for small business brands.
8 Social Media Tips for Small Business Brands
Have you ever heard the expression “Content Is King?” Most everyone has and truer words were never spoken. Content takes many forms. Content consists of written text, images, videos, infographics, etc. In fact, content could be just about any type of available information that provides people with whatever they are searching for online or offline. Content is a catch-all phrase that includes all forms of online information.
Review these eight social media tips. These will help you improve your social media marketing.
1. Consistency Is Key
Consistently posting fresh content and sharing visually appealing images and videos will help build your brand, reputation, and authority in your industry. It will also help build public trust. The more places people see your name and content, the better your public image will be. Social media exposure will lead to name recognition, positive word of mouth (usually), and, in most cases, an increase in traffic.
2. Always Use Media That Matches the Platform
Every social media platform has its own format and algorithm. And people use each social media platform differently. For example, the way people use Facebook is much different than the way they use TikTok. So you want to create content that matches each specific platform and the way people use that platform.
3. Be Responsive
Social media platforms are designed to be interactive and engaging experiences for everyone participating. That means your company should be interacting with your audience. It also means that whenever a visitor asks a question or makes a comment about your company on social media, whether it’s your social media page or not, you should respond.
4. Be Authentic
When interacting with your audience on social media, your comments should reflect the tone of your business and business personality. You want to come across as eager to help while showing gratitude for someone’s review, comment, question, or concern. People will be able to tell if you’re not being sincere. And they definitely don’t like generic auto-replies to their questions and concerns. So strive to be authentic at all times.
5. Educate Your Community
Social media can be used to educate your community of followers. Additionally, social media helps you provide your audience with high-quality content. Content that will answer their questions, provide how-to information, unique tips and hacks, or offer other helpful content that makes their lives easier.
6. Set Goals and Be Strategic
It’s best to set goals and be strategic when it comes to nurturing your social media presence. This will help you get as much as possible out of your social media pages. Strategically craft every piece of content you publish. You want to make everyone who sees your content feel as if you are speaking directly to them.
You want to come across as a trusted friend they can count on. This is the best way to nurture your audience. And, if you do it right, your audience will be eager to share your information and will rave about how much you’ve helped them. Then they will recommend your company to all their friends. Free word-of-mouth advertising and viral content are priceless!
7. Negativity Neutralizer
You can’t please everyone all the time. It’s impossible. So it’s inevitable that you will, from time to time, encounter negative comments and feedback about your brand. This is your chance to shine.
Social media is designed to be interactive, making it easy for you to respond positively and professionally to those who are not happy with your products and services for whatever reason. You can respond to all negative feedback by telling your side of the story. Then you can explain what you did or will do to resolve the situation.
Responding quickly and professionally will show the public you care. And if your company was at fault, it will show you are willing to take responsibility for that mistake and make it right. Admitting fault and making it right when your company makes a mistake will go a long way. Especially when it comes to creating goodwill, not only for the person who left the negative feedback but for anyone else who might be reading that feedback. This will generally help neutralize any negative feedback you have received.
Most people realize there are negative commenters everywhere and they know that usually those types of people just like to complain. So by engaging with your audience and responding positively and professionally to all negative feedback, people will be able to see that negative feedback for what it is and ignore it.
8. Exclusive Offers
Social media is great for rewarding your followers with exclusive specials and offers. And it’s a great way to say thank you for being a loyal follower. Giving them exclusive offers will keep them engaged and eagerly awaiting your next post. It will also help create a buzz about your brand, which will generally lead to gaining even more followers.
Now let’s take a look at an online marketing platform that will take your daily marketing tasks and make them much quicker and easier. It’s called Surefire Local.
What Is Surefire Local?
Surefire Local is the leading online marketing platform that can help you perform nine of your daily marketing tasks quickly and easily all from one place. When using this tool, you will no longer have to log in to multiple marketing tools to perform an individual marketing task on each one. With Surefire Local, you and your team will be able to perform your most important daily marketing tasks from a single dashboard.
Surefire Local consistently helps its clients get an average increase of 34% in SEO traffic, 82% more online reviews, and receive a 385% return on investment.
Here is what Surefire Local can help you with.
- Location-Based Marketing Using Geo-Location Check-Ins
- Content Marketing (generating, scheduling, and distribution)
- Ratings and Reviews
- Business Directory Listings (70+ directories)
- Lead Generation
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- Competitor and Keyword Analysis
- Online Advertising Using Local Paid Ads
- Analytics and Reporting
Surefire Local can also help you manage and maintain your online reputation on social media platforms, business directories, and anywhere else your company shows up online.
So why not attend a Surefire Local demo today. This will give you a chance to try everything Surefire Local has to offer and give you enough information to decide if it’s right for you.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo
Surefire Local offers business intelligence marketing software at a cost much less than other online tools, software, and resources. And significantly less than what digital marketing agencies charge for these relatively simple daily tasks that you can easily do yourself.
What’s Next?
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo Today! We hope you have enjoyed this article about Social Media Tips for Small Business Brands. We look forward to helping you take your small business to the next level.