How To Get Value From Your Social Media Marketing

Social media is fast emerging as a favorite go-to marketing channel for most small enterprises. This growth has been fueled by its cost-effectiveness, expanded reach, and interactivity. With various research studies indicating a sharp increase in the number of people spending time online, social media marketing is headed for a new trajectory of growth. Indeed, any discerning business should now be thinking seriously on how to up their social media game plan to tap into this opportunity.

However, a lot of businesses are yet to fully understand how social media marketing works and go about it the wrong way due to misguided myths. Some of the myths include issues like you do not need to pay for anything on social media, you need to have a profile on every platform, buying your followers is the way to go, every post should promote either your business or your products, social media alone is sufficient marketing, and hashtags are the solution to every promotional post. These myths are widespread among many small business owners and to this end, the majority have not been able to realize value from their social media marketing efforts.

As a result of lackluster performance and frothing despair, some have chosen to exclude social media marketing as part of the marketing tactics. Nevertheless, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, you can rebuild your social media marketing efforts to achieve unprecedented results. The natural question that follows is: how can you tap into the power of social media marketing to boost your business performance? Well, we have put together a list of five social media marketing tips for small businesses to reap maximum value.

1. Select a Suitable Social Platform For Your Business
Most small business owners lose the plot by trying to be present on all social media platforms that are in existence in the world today. In doing so, they believe that they will reach more customers signed up on various platforms. At face value, this sounds reasonable. However, it is ill-advised and the wrong approach. You don’t need to have a profile on every platform. The social platforms are not the same. Each one of them attracts and caters to different people. Instead, what you need to do is establish who you are targeting on the socials. This can be achieved by drawing up buyer personas─ profiling the main types of customers that your business is trying to reach. Once you have figured your target audience and objective, analyze which social platforms they like to spend their time on and channel your marketing efforts only on those platforms. Don’t spread yourself too thin by being present on every single social media platform. It is unproductive.

2. Promote Your Posts For Leads and Reach
To get value from your social media marketing efforts, you need to sponsor your posts to reach a much wider audience and get business leads that can be converted by your sales executives. Social media companies have put in place algorithms that limit the reach of organic posts. So despite your daily efforts to post, the reach is highly limited and may not be to the right people. To stand a chance of succeeding, put in place a regular advertising plan that will allow you to have a steady pipeline of potential customers. Also, promote your products or services and the company as a whole to promote an all-round awareness in your targeted audience. As a word of caution, don’t buy followers for your profile as social proof of your company’s popularity. It is a complete waste of ad spend since it’s akin to renting a crowd. Let the community numbers grow organically through the quality of content that you share on your social wall.

3. Strike a Balance Between Promotional & General Posts
A major weakness we have noted in our SME marketing practice at SMD Consulting Associates is that business owners want to constantly promote their products or services in every single post that they put on the social media timeline. Of course, the objective of any business is to get customers. However, this approach doesn't work at all and is not sustainable. Imagine someone telling you about him/herself every single day. Wouldn’t you get fed up? When every post on your social wall is a sales pitch, it will become an echo chamber and within a short time, you will witness a mass exodus of community members accompanied by plummeting engagement levels. You, therefore, need to strike balance between promotional posts and general posts that are meaningful, educative, and entertaining. Use the famous Pareto principle 80/20 rule: let 80% of your posts be general relevant posts and 20% be promotional posts about your business. This will help you connect emotionally with your customer base and ultimately drive sales.

4. Carefully Plan Your Posting Schedule
Having settled on a content strategy, you need to carefully plan your posting schedule on the social media platforms that you’ve chosen. Your posting needs to be consistent and strategic. Consistency will heighten anticipation for your content, interest in your brand, and overall engagement. To make sure you see those benefits, you may even use a scheduling tool. That way, regularity is easier to achieve and time is also saved. On a strategic front, you also need to pay attention to hours during which your social media community is active on the platform. This would increase the chances of your posts being seen by more people than if you had posted during off-peak.

5. Use Top Quality Visual Content
For your social media marketing to mount to something tangible, you need to consistently produce high-quality content that will engage your target audience. You can provide information about your business, products, or services using creative video and imagery. If you are not capable to produce the content internally, depending on your line of business, you can contract content creators to assist you in production. This will by and large promote your business prospects.

There’s no doubt that social media can be a great way for small business owners to connect with prospects and customers. A versatile medium, it provides tremendous opportunities for businesses to explore. Done right, it can boost sales and build your brand equity to unprecedented levels. However, to stand any chance of success, you need to be strategic in your approach and also understand that social media alone is not enough. You need to exploit other marketing tactics too so that you have an integrated marketing rollout. The tips shared above will surely help you realize the maximum potential of your social media marketing efforts.

Need professional help with your social media marketing? At SMD Consulting Associates, we’re committed to guiding you to unlock your business growth in 2021 and beyond through our strategic marketing services. Click here to fill in your details for a callback. Alternatively, you can call us on 0748 812 310.

Stephen Osomba currently serves as the Lead Partner, Communication & Marketing at SMD Consulting Associates where he helps SME clients deliver value by adjusting the solutions to each company's mission, product, strategy, and industry.