From brand awareness, to building trust and customer support, social media has become an important part of many small businesses' marketing plans. To help you step up your social media marketing, we’ve collected 30 quick tips to try for your small business.
To navigate more quickly, jump to a specific platform:
1. Keep business information up-to-date on your profile
As customers research to learn more about local businesses, Facebook is one of the most common places they go. In fact, ⅔ of Facebook users say they visit a local business page once a week. With this in mind, having an up-to-date page not only helps you look more professional, it can benefit your bottom line.
Here are the key things to keep updated:
Business hours
Contact information
Website link
Address
2. Create posts to drive traffic
Unlike Instagram, Facebook has the benefit of creating posts with clickable links. Use this to your advantage by creating posts that link to things such as your website, consultation form, products, or events you’re participating in.
3. Use Facebooks Ads
Organic post reach has been falling as social media platforms continue to update their algorithms. Facebook Ads are one of the quickest and most effective ways to reach your social media goals whether used to build your following or to get more sales.
It’s important to create click-worthy ads, which is why we’ve created Facebook Ad templates to make the process easy. Click here to learn more about ad creation today.
4. Take advantage of your Facebook page’s action button
Your Facebook page’s action button is an opportunity to highlight a quick action you would like someone to take when they land on your page.
To update this on your page, simply click “edit action button” and choose from one of the pre-made options.
5. Add a CTA to your captions
CTA is an acronym for “call to action”. When used in your captions, they tell your followers what to do next after reading your post.
Here are some common CTA examples:
Click the link to learn more
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6. Use templates for faster content creation
Templates make it easier and faster to create eye-catching content on social media.
Besides saving time, another benefit of templates is that they can help build a consistent look in your branding, which makes your business more recognizable online.
7. Use Facebook Live
During the pandemic, Facebook video jumped by 50%. People enjoy live video because it gives them an opportunity to interact with you in real time and ask questions directly.
Use Facebook Live for product demos, webinars, or a Q and A session.
8. Customize your tabs and templates
Tabs help visitors to your Facebook page quickly find what they are looking for. Click and drag a tab name to rearrange the order. The tab order also determines the order of the sections people see at the top of your page.
The templates are a pre-made organization of tabs that help visitors navigate your page.
9. Create and measure goals
In order to get the most out of your social media marketing, setting and measuring goals is a must. Think about what you are hoping to achieve with your efforts. Do you want to increase sales? Find new leads? Increase your follower count?
If you’re new to goal setting, check out our post on 3 common social media goals and the strategies to achieve them.
10. Respond to messages in a timely manner
Social media comment sections and direct messages are common places for customers to get their questions answered online. In fact, it is expected. 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.
Respond to comments and messages in a timely manner to build trust and customer satisfaction.
11. Use niche hashtags
If you’re looking to increase your reach on Instagram, hashtags are probably a big piece of your strategy. Niche hashtags are very specific to a target audience you're trying to reach. They usually have some sort of identifier in them, oftentimes a location or name.
Read the do’s and don’ts of hashtags here for more tips.
12. Step up your photo game
Instagram is a visual platform, so prioritizing high-quality photos is essential to attracting followers and customers. The good news is, taking quality photos is easier than ever before. All you need is your phone, good lighting, and a little creativity. Here are our top 5 tips for taking better photos.
13. Create an Instagram Reel
Last summer, short video creation tools like TikTok and Instagram Reels took the internet by storm. Due to their ability to make creative short form video and their shareability, it is easy to see why. For small businesses, Reels help you stand out from the crowd and have been shown to increase your visibility to lead to more followers.
If you’re not sure how to create a Reel, check out our guide to create your first one.
14. Take advantage of the bio in your profile
Your bio is your opportunity to tell the social media world who you are and why you stand out against your competitors. It is also the only place for a clickable link, so ensure it is always up to date and working.
15. Use Stories for flash sales
When used correctly, flash sales are an effective way to build your following on Instagram and give them an incentive to stick around.
Customize a template to share your flash sale.
16. Reshare tagged posts from your customers
Diversify your feed by resharing tagged posts from your customers. Browse through your tagged photos and brand hashtag to find high-quality user-generated content (UGC).
UGC helps your business on social media because it is seen as more trustworthy to consumers and can be the deciding factor for some. A study found that 88% of shoppers sought out UGC during their purchase decision-making process.
17. Use optimized image sizes
In order for your posts to look their best on your profile, ensure you are using optimized sizes for Instagram. Using the wrong side runs the risk of pixelation, grainy photos, and photos being cropped.
Here is a quick reference guide:
Profile image: 110px wide by 110px tall
Post photo size: 1080px wide by 1080px tall
Story size: 9:16 ratio, 1080px wide by 1920px tall
18. Create carousel posts
A carousel post is a multiple image post that can be up to 10 posts that followers swipe through.
Carousel posts are great for businesses because they make it easy to do things like share quick tips, step-by-step guides, or to showcase products and features.
19. Use engagement stickers in Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories have many options to drive engagement and keep you top of mind for your followers. Engagement stickers include: poll, slider, quiz, and question box.
These tools are helpful for building stronger relationships with your followers and increasing your engagement rate. Here are 7 ideas for engaging polls.
20. Engage with your followers
Don’t just wait for people to come to you—go to them first! Comment on posts and watch their stories. This helps to foster a two-way exchange and encourage them to engage with your content.
21. Use visuals to stand out
In the sea of text and quick thoughts on your follower’s Twitter timelines, use images and videos to make your tweets stand out. Tweets with video get 10 times more engagement than tweets without video.
22. Connect with customers
We don’t ever recommend you post and ghost but this rings especially true on Twitter. Because Twitter is meant to foster conversations, make sure you connect with your customers and others in your industry. This includes answering questions and retweeting customer love.
23. Jump on trends and trending conversations
Twitter’s Explore page is a collection of trending topics and hashtags going on in your region. Use this to find and join conversations related to your business.
24. Use polls for engagement
A Twitter poll allows you to ask your audience a question. Polls can help you gain traction by creating conversations on Twitter.
Create a poll by selecting the poll option, asking a question, adding your choice options (up to 4), and adding a poll length.
25. Update your pinned tweet
After your photo and bio, pinned tweets are the next thing someone notices when they land on your profile so it is essential to keep your most important information pinned to the top.
26. Network with other small business owners
Most social media caters to reaching and connecting with customers, so LinkedIn is unique as you can connect with other professionals in your field, in addition to customers.
Networking with your peers helps to build a sense of camaraderie with other people who understand your triumphs and obstacles. The other benefit of networking is that it can lead to future collaboration opportunities.
27. Advertise job openings
In addition to networking, people go to LinkedIn when they’re job hunting. Advertise your job openings to allow your networks to share the post and find qualified candidates.
28. Add your pronouns to your profile
Earlier this year LinkedIn took steps towards more inclusivity by allowing you to put your pronouns in your profile. This change makes it easy to know how people prefer to be addressed and respectfully address them.
29. Celebrate business milestones with a post
Prioritizing mental health is often overlooked for busy small business owners, but it is important for your and your employees’s sake. One easy way is to celebrate wins and milestones in your business.
Create posts about things like your first year in business, or the hiring of new employees, so your network can celebrate with you.
30. Encourage your employees to add your business to their profile
Build your business’ credibility on LinkedIn by encouraging your employees to add your business to their profile. This helps to get more eyes on your business profile and build brand awareness.
For more quick tips, check out our 7 time saving hacks for your social media marketing.
