How to Run a Social Media Page for Your Small Business
- Hannah Sacca
- Dec 4, 2019
- 4 min read
Having a social media page for your small business can act as a way to get some free advertising. You can interact with your customers and promote your products or services. Generating a following and attracting engagement can be difficult at first. It involves a lot of time and strategizing. This strategy also differs depending on the social media platform. If you are using Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, here are some quick tips to get your page up and running.
1. Decide Which Platforms to Use
Not all social media platforms are the same. Figure out your target audience and overall goal, then consider this when thinking of what platforms you're going to use. I highly recommend Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites, and almost everyone has a page. There are over 2 billion users and 1.5 billion are considered daily active users. Basically, you need a Facebook presence.
Instagram is a close second. While the Facebook age range is 22 to 55+, Instagram users are mostly women and between the ages 18 and 35. This platform is great for catching the younger audience. It's great for visuals and aesthetics, and basically doubles as a shopping app. There are tons of great features for e-commerce. Although, Instagrammers expect you to have some high-quality content that can tell a story, so you need to be more strategic with this one.
Twitter is also a great resource for spreading information. It is less of a visual representation of your business and more of a news outlet. This platform requires you to post frequently, at least once or twice each day. Most consumers tweet a company if they have any issues with a product, making it a place for customer service too.
LinkedIn is a networking source and where to find your next employees. If you are looking to grow your business, you need to have a presence on LinkedIn.
2. Have a Strategy
You don't have to plan out all your posts exactly, but if there is a certain event, plan some time to figure out what cool things you can show from the event. Also, figure out how your posts work out on a timeline. Try to create some sort of narrative. Figure out your audience and try to engage with the right type of followers. Different age groups use different platforms. If your budget allows it, promote your page and products to your target audience with promotions from popular accounts or buy ads on the platform.
Figure out a posting schedule. It's great to post at least once a day, but be mindful of the time. There are tons of great social media management apps that can help with your posting schedule. Also, make sure to interact like a human. Respond to comments and spark conversation. Engage with your audience and let them know that you're listening. A good way to get this following is to regularly host polls, Q&A's, and giveaways to give your audience ways to interact with you! Give them an incentive to go on your page.
3. Focus on Quality Rather than Quantity
I mean, it's okay to use stock photos, but try to have some wow worthy content. You don't need to be out trying to get some photos each day, try to set some time aside to shoot a bunch so then you can use them for the weeks to come. Offer some value to your photos, don't just pitch and sell. Your audience wants to engage with you as a brand. Again, be a human and be honest.
4. Track your Success
My biggest advice is to not to rely to heavily on the data analytics. Focus on your actual engagement with real accounts. This means replies and comments. Retweets and likes are great, but they're essentially meaningless compared to those who spend the time actually saying something. Make sure these accounts are real and not fake. A lot of bot accounts can generate automatic responses, so you want to make sure they're the real deal.
Followers are important too. It's useful to follow a mass amount of people, but your page can actually lose some credibility if your following count is higher than your followers count. After following a bunch, I suggest going back the next day and unfollowing the fake accounts after they've followed you back. Shady, I know, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
5. Hop on Trends
Whether it's a meme, hashtag, or breaking news, relate this back to your own content. This can help your company go viral too. Comedy can help show you are human and generate a response. It also gives your business some personality.
6. Optimize your Account for Engagement
This means putting a link to your promotions or website in your profile. Make sure the right information is there. Keep it short and sweet. Add relevant keywords, share content related to your industry with some hashtags, and connect with others in your industry. Make your company's goals clear and choose the right profile photo to represent you. Link your products back to your site. Make sure if you have multiple accounts on different platforms, to link them to each other.
The biggest takeaways from all of this is stay active, be human, and create relationships. A pitch and sell strategy won't work when taking your business to social media. Make sure to interact with your consumers, and stay away from those automated replies. Don't be afraid of spending a little money either, or straight up asking people to follow you. It can be a slow start when first creating your page, but if you pay attention to what keeps your followers engaged and cater your posts to them, soon enough you'll see some results. If you end up needing some help and guidance with your page, I do offer my services as a social media manager. Check out my services page to see how! Good luck!
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