Why Your Small Business Needs a Social Media Strategy?

Boosts Search Engine Rankings:  

Social media marketing is famous for boosting your search rankings. You might not know, but Google looks at your social presence when determining the rankings of your business on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

Social media has become an increasingly significant factor when it comes to SEO rankings. Firstly, social media profiles get ranked pretty high on the list of search results. For instance, take Starbucks. When you search Starbucks on Google, the first result is Starbucks’ official website.
The following two listings are their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles. You might be wondering what aspects of social media Google uses to analyze your search ranking?

Here is your answer:

One factor is your social media following. Google incentivizes it. Businesses with a high number of followers or customers appear higher in search results. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should not buy followers because it’s the high-quality followers that help your business get a better ranking. Each time a follower shares your post, it is seen by many other people. It helps build the backlinks. One key factor is to create original and engaging content that followers love to see and interact with. 

Social media for small businesses is also essential because it helps create inbound links to your business website. 

• More Traffic:

Social media presence, apart from giving you an SEO boost, directs traffic to your webpage. Social media does so by opening an entirely new source of inbound traffic for you. It is simply not possible to derive all your traffic from search engines. Major social media platforms provide you with space to promote your work. It helps drive people to your webpage if they come across your profile. 

Every time you promote a service or share a blog post, you send a link out in the world by your website. 

• Increased conversions:

Social media marketing is necessary for your business because it gets you increased conversions. It can also be called social selling. Every social media post can be looked up as an opportunity for a customer to convert. You can bring customers to your website by grabbing their interest in your new blog article by posting about it. If you have engaging content, they will get hooked to your website and keep scrolling till the end. It is beneficial for you because chances are, the longer they stay, and the more likely they are to convert. It also does not mean that every post will lead to conversion, but the odds are high nonetheless.

• Customer’s Insights:

If you want to learn about your customers and gain their insights, social media is the best platform. Knowing your audience ultimately leads to the success of your business. You can learn many things about your customers from social media, such as demographics, essential issues, things that are happening in their lives, their favorite films, and so on.

You can also learn about your audience’s location, age, language, and gender, etc., by checking your page’s insights.

Social Media Strategy for Small Business:

You might be spending hours looking for the latest social media marketing tips. And it is the right approach. Today, there are approximately twice more social media users as there were five years ago. And these users spend an average of 2 hours daily using social media. 2.5 hours provide a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to promote their brand, bond with their customers, and increase their sales.

Given below is an intelligent plan for promoting your business via social media platforms.

• Make a Plan:

Social media is not new to use. We all are aware of it and have been using it for years. However, to use it for your business promotion, you need a plan. This plan will dictate the time and effort you invest into these accounts. Without a plan, you will not have any track of your achievement, which can set you back. 

Start with making social media accounts on primarily all popular platforms. These include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn. 

• Set Objectives:

Create specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals. Your goals should be based on metrics that will have a tangible impact on your service. 

• Lookup for Competition:

It would be best if you looked up how your competitors are doing. It does not mean that you should copy them; rather, it can be a great exercise to learn new things from them. You can compare your progress with them and reduce your learning curve.

• Social Media Audit:

By performing an audit of your social media, you’ll know what content engages with them the most. When you reach a point where your social media content needs tweaking, comparing the new metrics to what they looked like at the start can provide valuable information.

• Use a Social Media Calendar:

A social media calendar will help you post the right content at the right time. It is a significant key to learn when using social media for promoting your business. Not all kinds of content should be posted all the time, so a calendar will help you in that regard.

• Choose your platforms:

You can never assume the progress of your business on any platform. For instance, if you want to influence a particular age group, then thinking that majority of them would be on a specific forum can be a wrong guess. To use social media more effectively for your business, you will need to do some research of your own. This will help you understand what platforms your audience spends most of their time on so that you can promote your services on those platforms efficiently. 

• Understand Your Audience:

One main reason behind using social media for your business is to get in touch with your audience. When you develop a bond with your customers and understand their needs and requirements, you can deliver products that cater to their needs. This will help your business grow.

• Expansion of Audience:

Once you have understood your audience, your next concern should be to expand your following. Revisit your social media accounts and look for ways that can help you gain a considerable following. 

• Be mindful of the trends:

You should pay attention to the latest trends on social media. This will give you an idea about the things people want at that time and things they want to void. This will enable you to create appropriate content that will be in demand.

Facebook Marketing for Small Business:

Organic reach on Facebook has been on the decline for quite some time now. This, in turn, presents a massive challenge to small businesses because they do not have the same budget to advertise themselves as big companies do. Here are a few tips that will help you build an audience on Facebook, regardless of its declining reach.

• Blend in:

You should post your content in a way that attracts the audience. It should be engaging and exciting, so more people interact with your posts. This will automatically boost your reach, and your followers’ count will keep increasing.

• Have a content calendar:

An essential requirement of effective social media marketing is to use a content calendar. Content calendar maximizes your efforts by using very little time of yours. You can also plan your content, which will save you the hassle of creating content instantly.

• Community Page:

Establishing a community page helps you get organic reach. Moreover, customers feel special when pages are invitations only. You can also build a relationship with your customers this way.

• Optimization:

It is essential to have your Facebook business page tabs well organized. This improves the audience’s experience in finding information. It is also necessary because these tabs serve as the navigation bar. By managing your tabs and restructuring their hierarchy, you make the user’s experience smoother. 

LinkedIn Marketing for Small Businesses:

LinkedIn also provides an excellent opportunity to promote your service. You can bond with your customers on LinkedIn as well. However, you need to have a business LinkedIn page to promote your business. Once you have a business account, you should follow the following tips to expand your business.

• Highly targeted customers:

LinkedIn is famous for its targeting. You should find the target the relevant audience and make meaningful connections. This will be helpful in the long term.

• Email Marketing List:

The biggest benefit of email marketing for businesses is its efficiency in terms of time and budget. Not only do you get direct access to the inboxes of potential customers, but it’s also one of the least expensive ways to communicate your offerings.

• High-quality content:

Every user has different needs, which means it’s impossible to create content that appeals to every person. However, the number of people who enjoy your site and its contents will depend largely on how in-depth your content is and the quality it presents.

Twitter Marketing for Small Business:

Setting smart goals and developing a Twitter strategy can help keep your business on the forefront of social media marketing. Learn from competitors, audience segments, and influencers in order to create consistent posts with an effective content calendar. Use tweets for two-way conversations by posting frequently with a planned-out content plan that will provide value to your followers. Use hashtags to connect with people who share your interests or industry by including them in any basic tweet about yourself or company profiles you may post. Curate your feeds using lists which allow you to conveniently filter relevant information into neat categories for easier access at a future time.

Instagram Marketing for Small Business:

Instagram also serves as a great platform to promote your business. All you need to do is to set up your business account and mention it on your webpage. Give your account an edge by: share high-quality content, using hashtags, tags, and information like a pro. Show your followers who you are instead of telling them about yourself. Follow the influencers in your niche that resonate with you best!

Social Analytics and Reporting for Small Businesses:

There are numerous social media analytics tools to report and keep an account of your progress. It would help if you chose the tool that accurately tracks the metrics you value and delivers insights to refine your strategy. Some of the top-notch social media analytics tools are:

• Social Mention
• Keyhole
• Crowdbooster
• Quantity
• Google Analytics

If you want to promote your business, it’s best not to rely only on social media. But as an alternative, having a social media strategy will help make interacting with followers easier and more efficient. If this sounds like what you’re looking for then reach out to us at Anika Digital and we can have a chat about how we can help you manage your business social media presence.