SOCIAL MEDIAFOR SMALL BUSINESSES

B E G I N N E R ' S G U I D E T O

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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A. WHY GO SOCIAL 3

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B. GETTING STARTED

C. TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

Set Goals

Pick Social Platforms

Setting Up Your Social Accounts

Find Your Audience

Social Media Management Tools

Create a Strategy

Contests

Tag a Friend

Respond

Weekly Series

Community

Cross Promotion

Local Targeting

A. WHY GO SOCIAL?

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As a small business owner or employee, you probably wear many hats to keep your business running smoothly. Social media might seem like just another thing to add to your long to-do list, and that can feel overwhelming.  

If you are not utilizing social media, your small business is like a plane sitting on the tarmac, waiting to take off. You have a team of co-pilots and flight attendants. You have an aircraft full of passengers who trust you to get them from point A to point B. The only thing missing is an engine powerful enough to give you the lift you need to take flight. Social media is your engine. 

Nearly one-third of the world uses social media networks regularly (eMarketer, 2016). Not only are people using social media, but social platforms provide inexpensive ways to target your specific audience based on demographics, location, purchasing behavior, interests, and more. 

According to Social Media Examiner, 90 percent of marketers indicated that their social media efforts generated exposure for their business, and more than half of marketers who have used social platforms for at least two years report improved sales as a result.

For small businesses, the question isn't "Should I go social?" - it's "How do I get started?"

B. GETTING STARTED

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1 - SET GOALS

Imagine that you've just boarded a plane, and the pilot's voice comes over the intercom, "Welcome aboard, folks. I don't really know where we're going today, but I hope you enjoy the ride." 

As a small business owner, you are the pilot of your company. If you don't know where you're going, neither will your customers. It's important to set specific and measurable goals for your business, so that your social campaigns have direction and purpose. Maybe you're aiming to increase brand awareness in your local community, or maybe you are trying to drive traffic to your brick and mortar location. Identifying your goals is the first step to creating social campaigns that will achieve real business results.

2 - PICK SOCIAL PLATFORMS

The social platforms you choose depend on two things - your business goals and your industry. You wouldn't board a fighter jet for a commercial flight. Similarly, not every platform is appropriate for your business, so it's important to know which platform is right for your industry and goals.

B. GETTING STARTED

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3 - SETTING UP YOUR SOCIAL ACCOUNTS

Use this Best Practice Checklist to ensure you don't miss a step when setting up social media accounts for your small business.

B. GETTING STARTED

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4 - FIND YOUR AUDIENCE

5 - CREATE A STRATEGY

6 - SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT TOOLS

The final step to managing your social media accounts is utilizing the right tools to help you plan and automate your content. This is the point in your social campaign where you've reached cruising altitude. You might be free to move about the cabin, but that doesn't mean you can go on autopilot. Social media management tools, like Sprout Social and Hootsuite, help to streamline your social accounts, so that you have more time to interact with your audience, answer questions, and be, well, social. 

Your social media strategy should align with your business goals, so create social campaign strategies with your end goal in mind. Your strategy should include who will be posting to your social accounts, how often you will post to social media (we recommend 3-5 times per week), and who will manage and respond to comments around the clock. 

A plane without passengers, no matter the destination, serves no purpose. Your social campaign might be amazing, but if it'snot reaching your audience, it's not doing anything for your business.

To narrow down your audience, start with your current list of customers or subscribers. If you don't know who your audience is, you can use Audience Insights to dig deeper into their demographics and interests.  If you're building your audience from scratch, go to your competitor's pages to see who is interested in your industry, products, or services.

C. TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

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Social contests incentivize your audience to promote your posts. Give people a chance to win local tickets, VIP passes, or discounts by liking and sharing your social media posts.

CONTESTS

Responding to comments is one way to engage directly with your audience. Personalized comments add a human touch to your brand. Never delete a negative comment, unless it's obscene. Instead, respond to all negative comments with empathy, sincerity, and positivity. 

RESPOND

One of the best ways to reach a new audience is through your

current followers. Encourage your devoted followers to tag a friend.

Not only does this put your content in front of more people, it

also helps to build a sense of community around your brand.

TAG A FRIEND

C. TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

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As a small business, you have one big advantage - a community of other small, local businesses to team up with. Cross-promotion with other local businesses allows your content to be seen by audiences that you couldn't reach otherwise. 

CROSS PROMOTION

Using Facebook's locationtargeting, you can target peoplebased on their current location,

residence, or recent travels. Youcan also implement radiustargeting around a specific

location, like your business or alocal event venue.

LOCAL TARGETING

If you have a devoted group offollowers, give them a social series

to look forward to and participate in each week. This could be an

employee of the week, a weeklyblog post, or a hashtag like

#throwbackthursday. 

WEEKLY SERIES

C. TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

READY TO TAKE FLIGHT?

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COMMUNITY 

As a small business, you need your community to stay afloat. Get involved in local charities, sporting events, and festivals to show how much you care about the community that keeps your doors open.

Now that you have your goals, strategy, and tools in place, it's time to get out there and get social. Try out

these tips on your small business' social media channels to engage with your local community and target

potential customers near you. You have everything you need to get started. The only thing left to do is take flight!