Everyone hates to waste time and money. As a local business owner, it's all too easy to feel like you are constantly chasing the newest trends in digital marketing. The process can be daunting and downright frustrating to the point where you want to throw your hands up in despair and give up. Am I using social media correctly? What is the best way to generate leads?
Check out our top five tips for excelling your small business online:Have a plan
Social media lends itself to spontaneity. It's easy to post whenever or whatever catches your attention at the time. While spontaneity can spark creativity, planning makes the business go round. It allows businesses to set realistic goals and assists with staying on track to meet them. It can serve as a guideline to making informed decisions about the best ways to reach your intended target markets.
Download our eBook: How to Manage Social Media for 10 Minutes a Day
Focus on your demographics
Knowing exactly who your follower base is and what their wants are, is the only way to have a successful business.
- Who uses your product?
- What is their age?
- What are their interests?
Engage with your followers
The key to a successful following online with positive results is engagement. How do you know how many times to post per day, per week, per month? How much is too much? Depending upon the number of followers you have, you should be able to gauge what they like the most, the least and why they began following you. Although it is great to generate daily content, you don’t want it to be too pushy. Why? Because posting too much can negatively impact your business. Your followers will begin to get annoyed and ultimately take their business and following elsewhere. So what do you do? It’s all about quality, not quantity. Focus on posting what your followers like seeing the most and go from there. Those few but mighty, quality posts can end up reaching the most amount of people.
Be Consistent
One of the most essential components of a good marketing strategy involves consistency. If you are a business sending out important information about products, services or offerings through emails, social posts or blogs, it’s easy for your followers to get lost in the messaging. Getting lost not only leads to frustration, but also the likelihood of losing their business.
By setting a consistent schedule, you can build trust with your followers. They will begin to notice a trend in the emails and social posts being posted for them. Not only are they looking for quality content, but they are also looking for your knowledge in the field.
For many, your posts, emails and messaging will become a source of expectation. Just like with any subscription list you are on, you come to recognize and expect the messaging being sent out. So do your followers! When a consistent schedule is followed, instead of providing them with too much or too little, it helps to meet their expectations.
Be Yourself
You are the voice of your brand! Your clients are more likely to stick with you and your business if they feel you are personable and sincere. It can help build those business relationships, create a positive reputation and give your followers insight into your business values. As those business relationships deepen, so does your business, as it develops as a key competitor in your respective industry.
