5 Ways to Promote Your Business Using Social Media

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It allows us to connect with friends, family, business contacts, and new people and brands. Popular sites include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and TikTok – chances are you’ve heard of all these social media platforms and countless more.

In your personal life you may have your favorites, but in business today, social media is essential. Whether it’s to create brand awareness or generate leads, social media connects your business to the world and can be an essential component of your overall marketing plan.

Think back to the last time you decided to purchase something. Chances are you either heard about the item on social media or looked up reviews online prior to your purchase. In fact, Facebook recently released data showing that after seeing product information on social media, 87% of survey respondents took action, such as making a purchase or following a brand.

Social media can help you engage with your customers and find out what people are saying about your business. You can also use social media for advertising, promotional giveaways, and mobile applications.

Social media can help your business to:

• Attract customers, get customer feedback and build customer loyalty
• Increase your market reach
• Conduct market research
• Increase revenue by building customer networks and advertising
• Develop your brand
• Recruit skilled staff, for example through job networking sites like LinkedIn
• Increase traffic to your website and improve its search engine ranking
• Keep an eye on your competitors

At first glance, social media can be intimidating with new platforms around each corner and constantly shifting algorithms rewriting the rules of the game. Read on for our suggestion of five ways to promote your business using social media.

1. Choose the Right Social Media Platforms

There are several different platforms to choose from when using social media for small business marketing, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest…the list goes on.

You should first identify your ideal client, figure out which social media platforms they are most likely to use, and sign up for those. However, if you’re not sure yet which platforms are best, here are a few good places to start:

• Facebook Business Page – A Facebook page is an easy place to start when promoting your business online. You can post updates, photos, videos, and other content to attract customers. If you have a website, you can link to your Facebook page so people who visit your site can see what’s going on at your company as well.
• Instagram – Although Facebook owns Instagram, you don’t automatically get an Instagram account when signing up for Facebook. Go to the platform separately to set up your account, and then you can connect your Facebook business page to your Instagram account and use them together in the Meta Business Suite.
• Facebook Advertising – With approximately 93 billion users, Facebook is the number one place for paid advertising. Facebook also owns Instagram, so you can post to two popular sites at the same time as well as advertise on both for the price of one.
• LinkedIn – Another social network with a large number of users is LinkedIn. This professional networking platform allows you to connect with others in your industry and share ideas. It also provides a space where you can promote your products and services. Consider joining a group – go to LinkedIn Groups and search for groups related to your industry. Once you find one, join it, and add your own posts (if they permit it).
• YouTube – If you haven’t done so yet, set up a YouTube account. You can do this by going to youtube.com/new. Create a username and password and then click “Create Account.” After creating your account, you will need to verify your email address. Then, you can upload your first video. You may also be able to create a YouTube handle, which is a new feature rolling out soon that will help increase the visibility of your new channel.
• Google Business – Filling out your Google Business profile is an essential piece of the puzzle. While it’s technically not a social media platform, Google has established itself as a household name and pretty much runs the internet. Having your business show up on Google, especially if you have a physical location, is essential to being found on the internet. And, since Google is the top authority on SEO (search engine optimization) having a properly filled out Google Business Profile can only help your business and website to be better found by your ideal clients.

For B2B businesses, it may be helpful to focus on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. For B2C companies, and especially those seeking younger audiences, adding Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest may be a sound decision. To get started, focus on setting up and maintaining three or four social media platforms. On each one, make sure you’re listing up-to-date, consistent information about your business and that you’re optimizing your profile for each site. Keep your info across each platform consistent, with similar language and descriptions, which will make it much more SEO-friendly.

2. Think Content, Content, and More Content

Are you wondering what you would possibly say once you’ve signed up for 4 social media sites? Don’t let thinking you have nothing important to say keep you from posting content. In reality, content ideas are all around you. Remember that you know your business, but your customers don’t. Let them know about new products or services, post a behind-the-scenes look at your office or facility, weigh in on a topic that’s happening in your industry, and invite comments from others. Incorporate holidays, observances, and community events. Highlight local people or businesses in your local area. Creating engagement is key – the social media algorithms across the board will reward the profiles that get people liking, sharing, and commenting.

Depending on the platform, consider adding videos or customer polls, which can be entertaining and engaging. You can also highlight information from your website which can maximize your web content and drive traffic to you. Whatever content you post make sure to include relevant imagery which will make your posts more likely to get likes and clicks.

3. Create Video Content

In addition to the continued rise of TikTok, Instagram is now a video-first platform, solidifying video as an essential element of a successful social media strategy. With the rise of these platforms plus Facebook introducing Reels and YouTube introducing shorts recently, there’s no doubt that video is driving the growth of content across all platforms. According to Sprout Social, half of social media users say they prefer video content, which supports why so many platforms are prioritizing this shift in their algorithms.

While video content can sometimes prove to be a costly investment, striking a balance between highly produced videos and organic and authentic video is something smaller brands can leverage, as social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram offer opportunities to create more content with a lower investment. By testing various strategies to determine what leads to the best results for your brand, you can adjust your goals and budgets appropriately, making sure you’re investing in the programs that prove successful.

4. Content is King, Consistency is Queen, and Interaction is Essential!

Make social media part of your daily and weekly tasks – having content that is engaging and relevant is only one piece of the puzzle. Content may be king, but consistency is queen, so depending on your audience and platform, you’ll want to post, share, like, follow, or retweet several times a day or a few times a week. To make things more efficient, create a social media calendar to generate and coordinate your posts, and schedule bulk-posts using software platforms like Hootsuite or Sendible.

Remember that social media is social. Just like your business often grows through word of mouth as well as networking, your business can grow by interacting, commenting, sharing, and participating in social media. Interaction is essential to being successful on any social media platform.

In the world of social media, this is called engagement. When you post, invite others to comment, and don’t be shy about posting on other businesses’ pages. Posting and commenting keeps you in the conversation and top-of-mind to viewers. Every time someone sees your profile picture, your brand is reinforced.

5. Pay to Play

The ever-changing algorithms used by social media platforms can make it challenging to guarantee that your customers and prospects actually see your content, which can be frustrating after you’ve invested the time and effort in creating it. So, placing social media ads can be a valuable way to get your message out there for people to see.

Most social media platforms offer the ability to advertise and compared to other forms of advertising, it’s not prohibitively expensive. To get started, focus on which platform your ideal clients are most likely following you on. Then, determine your business objectives: Do you want to raise awareness, increase engagement, boost traffic to your website or generate revenue? Depending on your goals, the platform can guide you through options in graphics, timelines, and audience.

In Summary

Social media can boost your marketing efforts and add visibility and credibility to your brand. If you’re just starting out, take the time to learn which platforms will resonate best with your ideal clients and set up your social media accounts. Social media can help you engage with your customers, find out what people are saying about your business, and reach new clients through advertising.

Social media is one of those marketing tactics where the more you put into it, the more likely you are to see results. Invest in your strategy, test your content, and grow your community, and you’re likely to see a return. If that sounds like something you can’t add to your plate, consider delegating it to us!

At Obsessed With Success we are a full-service digital marketing agency dedicated to your success. We focus on small business owners, entrepreneurs, and real estate & mortgage professionals who want to leverage digital marketing strategies to get more clients. If you’re ready to explore how we can help you tackle your social media presence and achieve your business goals, let’s connect and get you scheduled for a free, no-obligation, strategy session today!