In this day and age, regardless of the size of your business, there is one important aspect you cannot ignore – social media presence. Being active on social platforms can help a small business spread the word, connect with its customers, boost its sales and so much more. Luckily for you, small businesses have an easier job conquering social media than giants, and here are some ways how investing in social media marketing can benefit you.
Raising awareness
In order for your company to be successful, you need customers. And you cannot get those customers if they do not know you exist. Seeing as how creating a business profile is free on all major platforms, this is an amazing way to spread the word about your business. One thing you cannot overlook here is your goal. Do you want more online sales? Do you want to attract more customers to your shop? Once you figure that out, you can plan your strategy and decide which channels are best for your company.
Encouraging engagement
If you are not a particularly tech-savvy person, keeping up with all the updates and features of social media can be a tedious task. However, there are a few basic things that you need to know about and utilize them to get ahead of the competition. For example, you can organize a Facebook Live event or TikTok campaign. Once a week, you can give people half an hour or so to ask you various questions about your business and offer you suggestions. That can lead to a better understanding of your audience and their preferences. Another idea is to provide them with some behind-the-scenes footage of your business and operations on Instagram Stories. Furthermore, offering them all sorts of various tips and recommendations will result in a higher number of likes and shares.
Building a community
Because you are a local business, you probably rely on the people in your community. This can actually be a great thing – you should not have any issues with handling their comments and various questions due to their smaller number. Make sure you do not ignore anyone and reply in a timely and polite manner. Seeing as how your customer base is not global but quite specific to your area, you should have an easier time connecting to them and understanding their needs. This actually goes hand in hand with engagement, seeing as how you can ask them to post photos of your product on their social media and you can even come up with a hashtag that is unique to your business. That way, everyone who uses your products can connect with similar people.
I’ve been using Cloudways since January 2016 for this blog. I happily recommend Cloudways to my readers because I am a proud customer.
Affordable advertising
Social media is a great way to advertise your business. What is amazing here is that this is for the most part free. And even if you do decide to pay for your ads, you will not have to spend a fortune seeing as how you only need to reach potential customers within a specific radius. On the other hand, if you would like a campaign done by professionals, you can always turn to an Instagram advertising firm that will make sure that you experience tangible and long-lasting results. They can determine the best hashtags for your business as well as find the best time to post.
Establishing trustworthiness
People like to check out a company before they do business with it, and having profiles on social media can prove to them that you are worthy of their time. Other than your website, your social media should be full of useful information. Make sure to post relevant content and have a good relationship with your followers. All of this will help you look more experienced and knowledgeable in their eyes.
Showing uniqueness
In today’s world, it’s hard to find a business that is unique. If you truly believe that your company is one of a kind, social media can provide you with a chance to prove that. Use Instagram or Twitter to connect with your audience and show them what you can do for them. They want to see real people, so show them how funny or smart your employees are. Tell and show them what it is that you do differently – it can make a huge difference.
Easier problem resolution
We already mentioned how having a potentially smaller customer base can make it easier to handle the interactions. Well, it is also of great help when it comes to solving your client’s issues. You should focus on each and every one of them and try to find a solution to their problem as fast as you can. Thanks to the many platforms you can have an account on, offering help can be somewhat faster than talking on the phone. Work on building your reputation by answering promptly to all concerns and make sure to always be friendly. Make your customers feel heard and try to improve your company based on their criticism.
These arguments should be enough for you to realize all the benefits social media can bring to your local business. So, don’t wait and implement it into your marketing strategy.
