Social Media for Small Businesses - All You Need to Know

Enlarge your audience, develop brand loyalty and brand awareness, and increase sales with a social media presence. Don’t know how? Read on.

Social media for small businesses should be an essential part of any marketing plan. It’s no secret that people spend hours every day scrolling their social networks and texting with friends via messengers. However, social media posts are no longer just for entertainment and chatting with friends. They have become a part of marketing strategies - very effective parts, we must admit.

Finom Solutions for a Small Business Owner

Looking through various bank offers for small businesses and self-starters, comparing their financial tools, and managing your books at the same time can give you a severe headache. Finom offers a wide range of solutions to make the lives of small businesses owners as easy as possible. Explore the invoicing services and accounting software integration by linking your business account to Finom. Get a free simple plan to start or sign up for a free trial version of other plans. They all have a free banking application where you can manage your bank account and see income, expenses, and much more. Here are the plans:

Solo. This is free and can be used for one year. It allows one wallet, 50 in/out SEPA transfers, a 10,000 EUR withdrawal limit, and unlimited number of invoices.
Start. This plan costs 7 EUR and you can also avail of 2 user seats and 100 in/out SEPA transfers through.
Premium. Priced at an affordable 18 EUR per month, the premium plan offers five users, three wallets, 200 in/out SEPA transfers, along with the standard offers.
Corporate. The highest plan level is priced at 69 EUR per month. You can register infinite users, four wallets, and unlimited in/out SEPA transfers, along with unlimited invoices, credit notes. It is also available on mobile.

Finom has designed a special service to help you send invoices via email, Facebook, and WhatsApp. It is simple, quick, and makes sense - your clients may not check their email often, but they likely look through their social media platforms regularly. If you want to simplify accounting, conveniently send invoices, and get paid faster, have a look at Finom’s invoice software here.

Self-starters and owners of small businesses have too much on their shoulders. They usually don’t have much time to plan and implement t social media strategies properly. But social media shouldn’t be ignored! Here are good reasons why it is worth your time to have a thorough strategy:

Managing social media for a small business gives you a chance to connect with your target audience.
Social media is free. It costs nothing to create your brand’s page, but it can bring you more potential clients in the future. When you feel comfortable in this sphere and understand how everything works, you may start using paid tools. But generally, especially in the beginning, free ones are enough.
Social media blog posts can engage your target audience and encourage viewers to become customers. Via different types of content, you can show the world who you are. Are you eco-friendly? Maybe you have something unique that nobody else has? Or perhaps your products and services have the best quality-price balance? Talk about it in simple words and pictures that will stick in people’s minds.
Each platform has specific ways it is used by consumers. It is necessary to think beforehand what the best practices for different social media are.

Facebook Social Media Strategy

Facebook has over 2 billion active users monthly. According to research from Socialbakers, it’s a bad idea to post twice a day (too often) and once a week (too rare). Try to find the optimal amount of posting a week. Usually, it is once per day.

Don’t put in too much effort; start casually and see where it leads you. It is a great idea to use special advertising posts (it is not free, but it's reasonable to spend some money on them). Facebook’s target advertising is easy to set up and use. You can always add more serious things to your posts in the future. What you need to pay attention to is posting captivating content that is relevant to people who have already liked your page.

Instagram Social Media Strategy

Instagram gives you an opportunity to share content via pictures, posts, and 24-hour “Stories.”

In order to not lose followers, be consistent with your postings. Don’t post a few times per week and then disappear. There is no recommended amount of posts per day or week. You should find what strategy works for your particular needs and stick to it.

To boost your Instagram audience, pay attention to visual content. All photos must be high-quality and look wonderful. Of course, don’t forget about hashtags.

Instagram and Facebook belong to the same company, so you may use your Facebook account to set target advertising for Instagram.

Twitter Social Media Strategy

Twitter is the most conversational platform. Over 500 million tweets are published on a daily basis worldwide. If you want to target an audience from lots of countries, Twitter is your first choice.

The more often you tweet, the more your chances to be seen are. A few times a day is an optimal amount. To attract more users, try to make them laugh - Twitter is not a place for serious things. Funny, easy-to-comprehend content is just what you need.

Twitter also has special advertising posts - they must be paid for, but you should definitely consider this expense.

YouTube Social Media Strategy

As you probably know, YouTube is a video platform. To start advertising your business there, it is essential to have all the necessary equipment for high-quality results. However, any equipment-related costs are well worth it, as YouTube is the second most trafficked website after Google.

It is possible to build paid campaigns directly in the Google Ads interface with targeting options. Start by creating short videos, up to 2-3 minutes in length, and add them regularly. With the help of catchy titles, the right hashtags, and super quality, the result will be quite surprising.

Here are a few crucial steps on your way to having a popular business social media account with an easy-to-convert audience and huge sales.

1. Make a plan

It is not a good idea to dive into social media opportunities right away. Set a specific goal. For example, you might aim to increase sales by 20% during the next six months.

2. Conduct market research

Find out who your competitors are. What do they do on their social media? Analyzing other companies’ successes and failures will help you create a unique way for your business to reach its goals.

3. Choose the right platforms

In order to do so, you have to know who is in your target audience and how old they are. People of different ages are likely to use different social networks. You don’t have to choose only one platform; just make sure you understand what kind of benefits each platform can offer.

4. Expand your audience

Once you have a clear picture of who your potential clients are and what social networks you want to start with, it’s time to think about how you can reach more people and how to do it with specific tools.

5. Interact with your audience

The great advantage of using social media for a small business is that you can talk to your customers directly and gather a loyal community around your brand. In the future, it will help your sales skyrocket.

6. Don’t miss trends

Of course, it’s impossible (and completely unnecessary) to repost any meme that has gone viral. But trends in social media marketing are worth examining. Try to find out what catches the attention of most people and what topics are discussed everywhere.

7. Experiment with different formats

GIFs, pictures, photos, Instagram stories, short videos - everything that comes to mind. Firstly, this strategy helps you find out what content format is the most popular and works best. Secondly, switching between different types of formats may boost your content’s reach.

8. Target audience

Find out who your target audience is, understand its needs, and try to reach for people’s hearts.

9. Quality over quantity

Don’t post something just to have new posts. Content must come from your heart and be honest.

10. Schedule content

In many social networks, it’s possible to postpone a post (or a series of posts). Creating content in advance saves your time and helps to organize information.

It is not necessary to have accounts on all social media platforms. Conduct deep research about each one, talk to people who are qualified to give you advice, and make the final decision. The most important aspect of executing your strategy is to track progress a certain account has made and analyze it. After that, you can determine whether you want to continue or go in a new direction.

Each social media platform has its own marketing tools, and you ought to know about them. Don’t ignore the possibilities of the 21st century, and your business will start booming and developing.

We wish you huge inspiration and tons of luck!

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