Whether you're a social media beginner, or you've had social media for your business for some time already, these twelve quick social media marketing tips can help you make sure that you're getting the most out of your social media efforts. These tips can help you develop effective social media marketing strategies and guide you on how to use social media for business.
Read on for twelve quick social media marketing tips for beginners and small business owners.
1. Optimize your social media profiles and bios
This should be the first thing you do as a small business owner on social media. Make sure to take advantage of all the different ways Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow you to personalize your page for your business. Facebook and Instagram allow you to include action buttons so customers can shop or schedule with you, and all three allow you to include a website link. Don't pass these optimizations up! They can only help your business to be more successful.
Optimize your business page on Facebook
Read through our optimization post for Facebook to make sure you have included all of the following in your Facebook business page:
about section, which includes your contact information, website link, and more
username
custom URL
profile image and cover image
call to action button
customize your page tabs
pinned post
Optimize your business account on Instagram
Be sure to create or switch over to a business account for your small business. And be sure to update...
your profile picture
category
your bio
website link
contact info
action button
Optimize your business account on Twitter
Make sure you add and adjust the following on your Twitter business page:
username
banner image
profile image
page link
bio
pinned tweet
2. Diversify your social media feeds
One of the ways to diversify your feed is by sharing some behind the scenes content. Whether that's what you did over the weekend, a family activity, or a community event you're participating in, your followers will appreciate a mix of promotional and more down-to-earth content. Including a mix of personal content, promotional content, and inspirational content on your social channels can keep followers engaged, humanize your social pages, and make you more relatable.
3. Use a mix of specific and general hashtags
It's important to use a mix of niche and general hashtags on social media. Niche hashtags are tags that aren't populated with as many posts as more popular hashtags. Niche hashtags might include locations, specific phrases, or may be branded. Learn more about niche hashtags in our post about the do's and don'ts of hashtag use and start implementing a winning hashtag strategy today.
4. Respond to comments and direct messages in a timely manner
Don't let comments or DMs sit for too long in your queue—you might miss out on potential clients or sales! Always respond to comments and direct messages on social media in a timely manner, and make sure your messaging is always positive and helpful. A good practice is to set some time aside each week to sit down and respond to people on social media. Combine this time with outreach and community engagement, and you're sure to be successful!
5. Be consistent
Consistency is key in social media marketing. Practice a cadence to posting on social media that is realistic and sustainable for you. Once a day, every other day, 3 times per day—whatever that is! Just keep it up and don't get discouraged—it takes time to gain a following!
6. Track the results of your social media marketing efforts
How will you know if social media is working for you and your business if you don't track it? Learn the best ways to market on social media for your business by tracking your social media metrics and adjusting based on performance. Likes, comments, and shares are the most common, but here are a few more social media metrics to explore:
Post impressions
Post reach
Follower growth
Number of brand mentions
Uses of branded hashtag(s)
Number of retweets on Twitter
Number of actions taken on stories
How many DMs you've received
How many referrals you've received on social media
Amount of pins on Pinterest
Number of five star or positive reviews you've received
Social media metrics can be the keys to social media success, so start tracking a few and monitoring performance today!
7. Use features like stories and Reels on Instagram and Facebook
As much as you can, you should try utilizing the newest and most popular features on each social media platform. For Instagram and Facebook, that means Reels and stories.
Read our Instagram Reels tutorial for an easy step-by-step approach to Instagram's newest feature.
Plus, learn how to use stories for business success on social media.
8. Try posting more video content to your social channels
It's no secret that video marketing content is gaining more traction than ever across every social media platform. 72% of customers prefer learning about a product or service through a video (Social Media Week). Try creating some video or animated content in Ripl to showcase your product—there are tons of video template options to choose from!
9. Don't forget to post links and CTAs on your social profiles and posts
CTA stands for "Call to Action". CTAs are super important for generating conversions and leads through social media. Include a call to action on most of your social media content (examples: "swipe up", "tap to shop", "tap here", "visit the link in our bio", "visit our website", "sign up", etc.) and be sure to include an action button on your social media bios in order to drive customers to your website, to a sign up page, or to another important piece of content you want them to see.
10. Ask for feedback and share customer testimonials on social media
If you don't already do so, it's a good idea to ask your customers for their feedback or a review on your services/products. This will help you build up an understanding of how customers view your product and your business. Using this information, you can strive to make your customers even happier. Plus, you can share positive testimonials on your social pages!
11. Post at the right times
Are you posting at the right time on social media? Ideally, you'd post every time your followers are online. With a business profile on Instagram and Facebook, you can use Insights to determine when your followers are online the most during the day. Use that information to schedule your posts during those time periods!
12. Post professional, eye-catching visuals
Have you tapped into the Ripl app lately? We're making it easier than ever for you to customize eye-catching, thumb-stopping, engagement-generating social media content for your small business pages. With Ripl, you can create a social media post, an ad, a story, a video, and more to showcase your brand and your product. Ripl makes it super easy to create content that you can be confident sharing to your social channels. Check out the latest collections in the Ripl app and start creating today!
A sneak peek of the home screen on the Ripl app, showcasing the newest template collections.
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