Many individuals have been forced to adapt to a changing business landscape in the technological age we live in. As a result, businesses have had to evolve and change. These companies often use social media platforms to expand their brand name and reach a more extensive customer base. By doing so, small businesses have grown both locally and nationally. However, it can be difficult for many entrepreneurs who are just starting to navigate this field without prior experience. Many people might wonder how they can use social media for small businesses? Well, here are some simple steps that will help you create an online presence without too much hassle:
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Business Profiles
When creating your profiles, the most important thing is to ensure you use consistent information. For example, if you’re using Twitter, make sure that your profile on Facebook has the same picture and header image that you have chosen for your Twitter account. This will help your customers get accustomed to one another and provide them with vital information about what you do. Another benefit of this strategy is that it increases the chances of getting referrals for other social media platforms since these individuals can quickly access more than one form of social media at once. For example, if someone follows you on Twitter, they’ll be able to find out if you’ve recently launched an Instagram or Pinterest or any other accounts when they view their profiles.
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Your Content
Make sure your content is relevant and valuable for your target audience. The worst thing you can do is post irrelevant or offensive material without putting too much thought into it. It is always best to make yourself relatable and not boastful when branding yourself on social media platforms. If you constantly bombard people with self-promoting posts, eventually, they will turn away from you in favor of a company that doesn’t come across as obnoxious in their posts. Keep your posts balanced and treat them like an editorial column where there will be some promotion but also valuable information about the aspects of whatever product or service it may be that you’re selling. ContentBASE offers social media templates that you can use to promote your online business. Check out their freebies to get a taste of their promo content.
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Interact with Others
As with any form of marketing, a critical aspect of effective advertising is the ability to interact with other users on your platform of choice. For example, if someone takes the time to comment on your Facebook post or tweet at you, take the time out to respond. This will allow for a more personalized experience between you and your consumers, building trust. Also, if you are active, people are more likely to have confidence that they are dealing with any storefront and an actual person who cares about their well-being.
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Be Consistent
If it has been a while since you’ve updated your social media accounts, don’t be afraid to do so, even if you feel there’s nothing new in your company/storefront. People appreciate knowing what is going on, and if there was a sale, new product or even your business closed for an extended holiday. It helps people feel like they matter and helps build goodwill towards you, which can go a long way in getting customers interested in what you’re doing.
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Stay Active
Once you’ve launched your accounts and updated them regularly, it’s essential to stay active and continue posting about timely issues about your business and customers. Suppose someone is trying to sell handmade jewelry. In that case, they should be posting different types of accessories such as necklaces, earrings or rings to appeal to more potential buyers/consumers who might want something different. If they only show people bracelets, then it’s likely that people will assume they only sell one type of jewelry and aren’t willing to expand their horizons.
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Experiment With Different Platforms
Just because you’ve found success on Facebook doesn’t mean other social media platforms can’t work to your advantage. Try out different ones like Stumble Upon or Reddit, see which ones get you the best sort of response and try to branch out from there. While this might take more time than simply sticking with what you know, it might also pay off in huge dividends later on down the road if you’re able to develop a new marketing strategy for your company/storefront.
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Make it Personal
Finally, in addition to staying active and consistent with your social media accounts, you also want to remember that every post should be personalized somehow. Whether this means responding directly to someone who has commented or tweeting about topics related to the ones you’ve made posts on, always try to take time out of your day so that people feel like they’re dealing with a natural person instead of just another storefront.
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Avoid Replying Privately
If you get a message asking for something or someone is being rude to you on your account, don’t just reply via private message. This will only frustrate the person even further and can damage your public image depending on what they are saying. Instead of giving them the satisfaction of knowing that they have gotten under your skin, try to take time out of your day to publicly address their issues so that everyone reading your posts knows professionals handle specific problems when they arise. Then, if there’s a need to deal with things in private, you can always send a personal message that won’t spoil anything for anyone else who might be following along.