October 12, 2020

So, you have decided to start a small business? Congratulations! However, starting a business is different from making it profitable. Here’s the thing: It is less likely for your business to drive sales if no one knows that it exists. This is where social media marketing could come in handy. In fact, almost all small businesses were able to grow their brand with the help of various social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. But if you are still not convinced how this can happen, we have listed down eight ways on how social media can help your small business grow: 1. Generating Brand Awareness From the word itself, social media is all about connecting with people. Hence, if you want to expand your business’s reach to the people who are likely to need your products or services, then you might want to give social media marketing a try. Doing so allows you to cultivate a relationship with your audience, who can be your potential customers or brand ambassadors. And if you are on social media, it will be easy for them to spread the word about your products and services, provided that you offer the best product and excellent service for your customers.     What are the best social media platforms that you can use? You must create quality content on relevant social media platforms instead of having an account on every social network.  It would be best to create content that offers value and not flood your page with ads. After all, social media marketing is all about building lasting and meaningful relationships.  You can start by focusing on at least one or two social media platforms before expanding your efforts. So, pick a social media platform where most of your target market hangs out, create your business profile, and start engaging.  2. Cost-Effective Marketing The best thing about social media marketing is that you do not have to spend a penny in order to build your business’s online presence. All you need to do is test out some marketing techniques, and see which of them will stick. It would also be ideal to stay updated to the algorithm changes happening on social media, as this can affect your audience reach. This is also something that we advise our clients at Mind Mingle SMO Company India. 3. Driving Leads And Reach The most significant advantage of using social media is to generate leads for your business. It is generating high-quality leads through advanced targeting.  But how do you improve on the quality of leads for your small business?  Well, you can start by promoting gated content on social media. Make sure that your content is compatible with the interest of your followers.  Here are some helpful tips:  Design graphics that are “on brand” and visually appealing. Write for the reader or your audience on social media. Write a CTA that generates a strong sense of urgency from your audience. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of US adults are using social media. And while the majority of these adults are aged 18 – 29 years old, 34 percent of them are 65 years old and above. This only goes to show that social media defies age barriers. That said, no matter how young or old your target market is, you can surely find them on various social networks. 4. Cultivating Communication Speaking of finding your target market, social media is a great way to learn more about them by establishing two-way communication. After all, being “social” means interacting and engaging with other people. You can do this by leveraging your social media channels as part of customer service efforts. In case a potential customer has a question about your products or services, they can simply message you via Facebook Messenger. You can also use social media to drive engagement with your audience. It can be as simple as making an online poll so that you can understand your audience and potential customers better. Instead of focusing on increasing your follower count, what you need to do is to look for people who are interested, loyal, and engaged to your brand.  Once you build a community around your brand, people in that community will engage with one another or even help you promote your content.  You may also want to reach out to influencers and ask them to review a product or mention your brand across various social media platforms.  5. Building Rapport And Trust Aside from engaging with your audience in order to understand your target market better, social media is a great way to establish your brand’s reputation. For instance, did your business received an award? You can share the good news on social media. Were you able to raise funds for a non-government organization that you support? Share it. Are you opening a pop-up booth in an upcoming food expo? Let your social media followers know about it! Social media allows you to humanize your brand. And when your customers know that there are genuine people behind your business, it is easier for them to build rapport with you. Mind you, customers only buy from businesses that they trust. Try to think about the brands that follow you on social. What is so special about them? What is it in them that people wanted to follow them? Chances are, there is something special about the content they post or how they are posting it. They have a brand personality, which means they are not just robots that constantly push out content.  A solid social media presence is not just about showcasing a product or service’s value to an audience.  It is all about making connections and experiences. The best brands often share a common point of view with fans.  6. Providing Customer Service As mentioned earlier, you can leverage social media as part of your customer service efforts. But aside from being able to establish two-way communication,