As a small business owner, you have things that are important to you and some challenges facing your small business. Small business owners try tons of different ideas from posting online, usingpress release distribution services, running social media ads among many other strategies. Small business owners are not usually harmed with deep pockets so they face an array of challenges trying to earn a living. Among the challenges faced by small business owners, five stands out:
- Balancing Quality and Growth (The issue of growth will be dealt with using helpful tips)
- Client Dependence (As a small business you should avoid depending on a single client)
- Money Management (You should get professional help to help you focus on operating concerns)
- Fatigue (Finding the right balance between long working hours and business success is essential)
- Founder Dependence (You should learn that starting a small business is not the same as working as a freelancer)
In this article we will not be talking so much about content writing, SEO, link building or press release distribution. However, NewswireJet is a great press release distribution service provider dedicated to helping small business owners gain instant media traction.
In this article you will learn helpful tips that will help you make the best of social media for supper fast growth in your small business.
Social media can help you to grow your business without the great investment required in advertising and marketing available to large-scale businesses. Growth in business just like any other being or entity is very important because without growth death is inevitable and you sure would never want that for your small business. Your desire is for the small business to become a large-scale business and super-fast growth is possible.
Social media like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the likes are a category of online media that enable people to talk, participate, network, share and bookmark things online.
Now the marketing side of these platforms usually regarded as Social Media Marketing is making use of the platforms to reach the target and new audience of consumers, and to create awareness for your product brand. Social media marketing aims to gain greater legitimacy for a message by spreading the word of a product from user to user usually regarded as trusted “friends”.
Why should you focus on marketing on social media you ask? Well as of this year some statistics point to the existence of over 4 billion active social media users that spend an average of over 2 hours every single day on social media channels. This time spent is an incredible opportunity for you to:
- Build awareness for your brand
- Make direct sales via these platforms and
- Develop great customer relationships
Here are 6 tips that will give your small business super-fast growth.
- Have a Plan
- Choose the social media platforms right for you
- Know and expand your audience
- Build up relationships
- Do not ignore trends
- Use social commerce to sell your products
Have a Plan
There is a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” which applies to everything including using Social media to grow your business. Yes, social media is easy to use and even free to use but you should remember it requires your time investment. Also, have it in mind that every great business strategy will require planning. So do not just jump into it without having a clear goal of what you want to achieve.
Create a plan which should include:
- Social media goals and objectives: The goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. They should be based on metrics that will have a real impact on your business.
- Research of the competition: learn (not copying them) about what your competitors do on social media, this competitive analysis will help a lot.
- Carry out a social media audit: this is for those already on social media to evaluate their existing efforts with the knowledge they have now.
- Be inspired: learn also from the social media success stories of other businesses not related to your niche.
- Finally, create a social media calendar: this helps to post the right content at the right time on your social media channels. Your content should focus more on informing, entertaining, or educating people than just solely promoting your brand.
Choose the social media platforms right for you:
Assumptions should not be made when it comes to determining where your audience spends most of their time when online. Use facts available for which age groups are most active on the platform you are choosing.
Know and expand your audience: the ability to micro-target your audience is one of the reasons the use of social media is effective for business. Start by getting data on your customers then get to know who is buying using the various social media analytics. Having a clear picture of your audience can now lead to changes in your social media plan which would yield more effective results.
Build up relationships: the ability to communicate directly with your customers and followers is a unique benefit of making use of social media marketing. This helps build relationships over time rather than just asking for a sale upfront. When you take time to nurture this relationship you help build a loyal community for your brand. Tips for building relationship includes:
- Creating a group on your social media platform
- Connecting with other small business owners and influencers in your niche
- Mentioning your followers in your stories and posts
- Make the best use of interactive tools available on your platform of choice
Do not ignore trends: the idea is to pay to what is trending on social media so you can create contents that resonate with what people need or feel per time. This act is regarded as Social listening by some and it is a valuable information-gathering tool that helps you know what your audience expects from your brand.
Use social commerce to sell your products: Social commerce is the new inclusion to social media marketing over the years. Social commerce is the ability to sell your product or service directly using your social media channels. All social media platforms have experienced an increase in purchases made directly on them. As a small business owner, you should utilize this feature well to drive the growth of your business through sales.
When you make use of these Social media tips as a small business owner< your business will experience the super-fast growth you desire.
