Social Media Marketing for Small Business: 70 Strategies, Ideas & Examples – Business 2 Community
A large social media following can be a powerful tool for any small business but not many are willing to put in the work. Social media doesnt have to be a chore, armed with the right information your business can become a social media superstar.
In this article well show you how to get a leg up on the competition on each of the big 3 social media networks Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Experiment with these 70 social media marketing strategies, ideas and examples for your small business.
Completing the about page of your business page is crucial. Your Facebook business page can often be the first place your visitors arrive on after a Google search. Make sure all of your digital information is in order including your website, social links, and contact information are filled out.
A Facebook contest is a fun and engaging way to grow your Facebook audience. The right prize and an exciting theme can give your business just the boost it needs.
To highlight a new promotion, contest or giveaway change your cover photo to make every visitor aware.
After sharing an update about a new blog post, promotion, giveaway, product etc. pin the post to the top of your Facebook news feed so its the first post visitors see.
Experiment with the way you share links with your Facebook audience. Sharing an update with the entire link can provide another CTA for readers to click but removing the link can help the post look more clean and refined. Test and see.
Does your Facebook followers engage more with photos posted individually or in album format? Test out both and see which format garners more engagement.
Video is soon to be the majority of all the content posted on Facebook in the near future. Get in before it becomes too saturated. Video production is much easier and low cost than it was years ago. A simple video recorded on your cell phone even can create more engagement than a written update.
Sharing live video is quickly becoming the format of choice for many big brands. Live video has many different applications. An inside look, a live show, or a big event are only a few of many possibilities for live video.
Facebook media comes in all shapes and formats making it a perfect way to hold a Q&A session with your followers. Post a start date and time for questions. Then post an update to request questions from your followers. Answer those questions live, pre-record a video, or just simply write in some replies. The choice is up to you.
Attention spans are in short supply these days, especially for those clicking from page to page. Keep your Facebook updates short and snappy to have maximum effect. Research shows that longer updates dont receive as much engagement as a quick one-liner. Experiment and see what length works best with your audience.
Take the best quote from the blog post youre about to share and include it in the Facebook post. A compelling fact or piece of data for example, is enough to create curiosity and create action from your followers.
Did you know Facebook allows you to create your very own custom page right on your Facebook page? What that page does is entirely up to you. Use it to collect emails for your newsletter. Run a Facebook giveaway. Answer customer support questions. The options are endless.
Studies have shown that posting photos from your Instagram page to your Facebook feed receives high levels of engagement. This is because it involves both of the biggest social networks on the planet. Once youve posted a photo on Instagram, click on the options to share it to your Facebook page OR set it up so that it is done automatically with each new post.
Your organic reach on Facebook has dwindled in recent years (if you havent noticed). This means that only a small percentage of your followers see the content you post everyday. A post that has performed relatively well can be posted again a few days later. Posting repeat content only ensures that more people see the great stuff youve created.
In your Facebook insights you can see when most of your audience is online. Post during those times to reach as many of them as possible.
Dont forget to keep your Facebook insights in mind when developing the content you post. Youll be able to see the demographics (age, sex, location, etc.) and tailor the content towards that group of people.
Not sure about what content resonates best with your target audience? Test them with Facebook ads! A few dollars can help promote a few of your blog posts to a wide audience and see what receives the most engagement. By promoting blog posts with varying topics for example, youll see what your audience likes the most. That way you can focus on creating more of that type of content.
When it comes to Facebook ads, creating lookalike audiences from pre-existing email lists or past ad campaigns can be a powerful tool. A lookalike audience is an audience similar to one that youve already had success or interactions with, which makes them more likely to be interested in your business.
Stop posting Facebook updates one at a time. Schedule all of them at one time and free up your time for other things. This can be done when you create a post or in the publishing tools section of your Facebook page.
Just because you have the weekends off doesnt mean your audience takes it off too. Youre missing out on valuable engagement on the weekends! Schedule content for the weekends to keep the conversation going.
Support and visitor questions can now be handled live with Facebooks messenger either right on your Facebook page or with an embed on your website.
We can all agree that creating high-quality, high-value content can be time consuming and resource intensive. But it doesnt have to be. You can work smarter, not harder by getting some help from your followers. User generated content (UGC) are things like photos from fans that use tag you in their photos, or submissions youve received from a contest. Share that content with your followers and involve them in your brands story.
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People love quotes. You see them on almost every social media channel and Facebook is no exception. Research a few quotes related to your industry and style them in your look and feel for easy content that will last months.
A fun little way to engage a few of your followers is to post a fill-in-the-blank type update. Ask your followers to fill in the blank of a quote, photo caption, or memorable song.
Photos always need a caption or some sort of description. Get your followers in on the action by asking them to submit their own captions.
The whole point of social media is to be social right? Have conversations by asking questions to your audience. A question needs an answer after all.
Get your audiences opinion on a hot topic or trending news story with Facebook reactions. The recent reactions feature on Facebook posts are a great way to poll followers. Yes can be the happy face, while No can be the angry face. See how your audience feels with Facebook reactions.
Give your followers a reason to follow your Facebook page with source exclusive discounts and promotions. Exclusive discounts or promotions only for fans of your Facebook page are a great way to encourage following and to make them feel special.
Get all of your social channels involved in the action by cross-promoting your content on each platform. Adapt and recycle posts from one channel to another to reach the audience on each network.
A little bit of humour can make a big difference. Humour creates an emotional reaction, happiness, and is something that people are inclined to include in their life. I follow the Dennys Facebook page for example, not because I like Grand Slams, but because their content manages to brighten up my day a little bit more.
Direct people towards your conversion goal with a Facebook page call-to-action. Have a new ebook? Offering a new service? Your CTA will direct your Facebook page visitors to it.
Respond to your Facebook comments and reviews as quickly as possible to show that youre active and responsive. Respond quickly and Facebook will mark you as very-responsive which will encourage more visitors to respond and engage with you.
Having a complete, informative, and snappy Twitter bio is important. Its the only section where your visitors can get to know a little about you and what you do. Its also the section that links back to your website so make sure to direct folks to the right place.
Twitter is largely a platform for having conversations, so start one by posing a question.
Dont just share articles and retweets, be conversational. Include yourself in other conversations or start one of your own. The tone of your tweets determine if and how a follower will respond.
Tweets generally have a really small lifespan, about 3-8 minutes. After that they pretty much disappear into the abyss. Thats why its important to report or Buffer your tweets more than once to make sure your followers see it. Popular tweets, especially, should be reshared multiple times to maximize the engagement it receives.
Know when the majority of your audience is on Twitter and tweet during those periods to maximize engagement.
Looking for some feedback? Opinions? Or just some fun conversation. Pin a Twitter poll to the top of your feed so that anyone who visits your page can have their say.
Tagging the original poster or the author is critical because tweets often get lost in the fold. Dont depend on high profile influencers to see that youve shared their content, give them a heads up by tagging their account each time you share.
When sharing a blog post directly from a company blog, make sure to include the author in the tweet. Typically, pre-populated tweets will not include the authors Twitter handle so make sure to include them when you share.
If youve managed to build up a large following on Twitter, experiment with live Periscope video. Engage with your fans in real time to further strengthen your relationship with them.
A Twitter app like CrowdFire provides a host of other Twitter functions to help you grow your follower count. Youll be able to see whos following you back, who to follow in your niche, who your competitors follow, and much more.
Twitter will show you the trending hashtags of the day, join in on relevant conversations. The more you attempt to be social the more you will get noticed by people in your industry.
Activate and manage your Twitter account from your Twitter business dashboard. The business dashboard provides additional analytics and scheduling features to help you optimize your efforts.
When you follow hundreds, or even thousands of people on Twitter your news feed can get rather crowded. Twitter lists allow you to curate selected users and organize them into bite-sized lists that you can actually handle. Make lists of high-profile business and influencers. If you ever decide to use Twitter ads you may want to advertise to those lists first.
Instantly share your photos from Instagram to Twitter by linking your accounts. As we mentioned before, cross-promotion is a great way to get more exposure for your content.
To receive more shares and tweets for you content include pre-populated tweets in your blog posts and email newsletters. Extract quotes and data from those tweets and make it easy for your readers and subscribers to share with a single click.
A unique hashtag that to use with every post you share is meant to organize all of your content under one searchable tag. Your followers can then participate and join in on the conversation by using the same hashtag.
An optimized bio complete with a trackable link is important for every professional Instagram page. A short description, related tags and hashtags, and a link to a webpage of interest is all you need.
Pro Tip: Ecommerce stores can make their Instagram feed shoppable with tools like Like2Buy. The app takes your Instagram feed a hosts it on a separate page with links that redirect to your product pages.
Hold a hashtag contest to get all of your followers in on the fun. Pick a prize to giveaway, lay out the rules, and create a unique contest hashtag for participants to use. Generally the rules require participants to use the hashtag, tag 3 friends on the post, and share the contest post. Mix and match these rules or create your very own and watch your following grow quickly.
Each post shared on Instagram is allowed a maximum of 30 hashtags. Why not use them all? Using the maximum amount of hashtags will allow your photos to be seen by more people searching Instagram. BUT make sure youre only using hashtags that relate to your business niche and avoid using generic popular hashtags (e.g. #love, #cats, #dogs).
Instagram stories are meant to keep your engagement with your audience going. Because its not wise to post 20 times a day, Instagram stories allow you to post quick and casual updates for your followers. Use this tool to give them a little insight into what youre doing or working on right now. Its a fantastic way to build a stronger relationship with your followers.
The direct message feature on Instagram is often forgotten but can be used to message influencers and request features. Tagging high profiles Instagram pages can often go unnoticed for example, send a direct message to give them a heads up so they can return the favour.
Instagram live is new feature, much like Facebooks it gives your followers a real-time look into your activity. Giving your followers a live feed of activities like events, new product release, or just a behind the scenes builds a stronger relationship.
Because of Instagrams visual nature it can be difficult for B2B businesses to build much traction on it. Instead of trying to posting compelling photos and videos, Instagram can be a great tool for behind the scenes content for potential employees and partners. It adds personality to the brand and strengthens the relationship brands have with their followers.
Along with maximizing your use of hashtags, dont forget to tag related influencers and businesses in your posts to alert them.
Along with tagging people in your descriptions, tag them directly on the photo itself. It sends them an alert and includes them in their own pictures of me section on their profile.
If youve maximized your 30 hashtags it can make your posts look a little crowded, albeit rather spammy. To get around this, include your hashtags in a separate comment after youve published it. The hashtags will get hidden inside the comments and not interfere with your original post.
Instagram stories now have the ability to include outward links to external sites. Originally it was only your bio link that could redirect traffic but now a link in a Instagram story can do the same.
Link both your Facebook and Instagram business accounts together to share your content in one cohesive circle. Each post published on Instagram can be automatically shared to Facebook. Linking both accounts can also lets your Facebook ads be shown on Instagram.
Instead of manually uploading all of your Instagram content to your website embed your entire profile. Websites hosted through WordPress can download a simple Instagram plugin to have their entire embedded on their website. This way website visitors can browse and become your Instagram followers as well.
Now that we all have high quality photography tools that fit in the palm of our hands theres no excuse for poor quality photos. Post in the right square, landscape, and portrait dimensions, Instagram users notice things like this. Accounts with well executed photography generally outperform accounts with grainy, blurry photography.
The default filters on Instagram certainly get the job done. But if youd like your photos to stand out from the crowd its best to use a third-party app with better photo editing capabilities. Apps like VSCO and SnapSeed are only a few of hundreds of excellent photo editing apps.
If youre attempting to grow your following its important to follow other accounts. Wed all love to have a stellar follower ratio but itll restrict you from growing quickly. Unless youve got something entirely unique to offer an audience then its important to return the love.
Following the same people who your competitors are following is a quick way to get the attention of those in your industry. Because theyre following your competitors, its likely that theyll be interested in what you have to offer as well.
Connect with a popular influencer in your industry and host an Instagram takeover. A takeover involves an influencer posting content of their choice for a predetermined amount of time and connecting with their audience. Its a fun and interesting change of content for your followers and encourages those following the influencer to follow you as well.
Not ready for a takeover? No problem, connect with a popular influencer and request a feature. Admittedly this could mean paying them or sending them free product but it will allow you to reach their audience with ease.
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Social Media Marketing for Small Business: 70 Strategies, Ideas & Examples - Business 2 Community