The world of social media can seem like a daunting place for people who aren’t too clued upon it. To some generations, the online world is second nature now, but to others, the struggle is very much real. It needn’t be the case, though.
When it comes to business, mastering social media can be highly beneficial to your brand. It’s a powerful marketing tool, which is exactly why a wide variety of brands are on there. For example, sports brands like Nike and Adidas continually push products and promotional offers on Facebook. You have musicians sharing their latest album cover on Instagram, alongside casino operators who end up sparking a debate which could lead to gamers sharing blackjack surrender strategy tips on Twitter, for example. Additionally, numerous fast-food chains use social media cleverly, as do news organisations with their continual rolling news updates, such as the BBC. Essentially, social media enables brands to interact with their consumers and generate debate, discussion and interest in their business.
On Facebook, for instance, you can market your business on a fairly small budget and with great results. So, with that in mind, here are some Facebook marketing tips for small businesses on a budget.
Know your audience
Get to know your audience and the type of content they want you to share to them. Thankfully, Facebook has a few handy tools to help you with this. Facebook’s Ads Manager, for example, allows you to target specific people depending on their age, gender, interests and location. Even if you don’t intend on spending any money on ads, it’s still a useful tool to use. Also, in Ads Manager, you can view Audience Insights, which helps you learn about the people who are already following you, in terms of gender, job title and education, for example.
Talk with them, not at them
The main reason you’re on social media is to build up and promote your brand, but that doesn’t mean you should just endlessly plug it. Creating engagement and interacting with your followers is vital if you want your business to grow. If all you’re doing is sharing products or offers, then it can easily turn your audience off. Ask interesting questions, hold contests, do polls and quizzes, hold caption competitions and any other things along those lines. Showing a little bit of personality can go a long way too, but be sure to remain professional. There’s a fine balance.
Content is key
Instagram is fairly similar to Facebook, although the imagery is key there, whereas, on Facebook, it’s not as important as copy. Good content is key. Nobody will interact with your brand if the page is full of cliched, boring posts. Be sure to share engaging, original content and always make sure your grammar and spelling are accurate. On top of this, share content from around the world that will interest your followers.
Know when to post
Posting at any time can still bring in results, but posting at the right time is much more impactful. But when it the right time? A great tool to help you with this is available from your page. Click ‘Insights’ and then you’ll see a ‘When Your Fans Are Online’ tab. From there you are given information around your fans and when they are usually online, and therefore most likely to see your posts. Then, with that acquired knowledge, you can schedule posts for the best times of the day. Simple and effective.
Other useful things to do are: work with influencers, share video content and spend wisely on Facebook ads.
