Social media has become an essential channel to reach and engage your target audience. With over 2 billion users on social media, these platforms are now a proven marketing strategy for businesses. Social media is also the primary channel that builds trust among potential customers and drives them to your website or e-commerce store. This blog post aims to answer all queries for businesses looking to leverage the power of social media marketing. From setting up accounts to choosing the right image size and type, social media is the easiest way of finding it. Thus, this complete guide covers all you need to know about social media marketing as a business.

Image source

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing is a strategy that helps businesses reach their audience through social networks, like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, rather than by buying mass media like TV or radio. Social media has importance of digital marketing for small businesses and has become an essential channel to reach and engage your target audience. With over 2 billion users on social media, these platforms are now a proven marketing strategy for businesses.

How do social media help your business?

These days, social media is all about building trust with your target audience. A survey found that 79% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over all other forms of marketing. Social media also allows you to nurture your brand and engage customers at their convenience. It has become a channel where real-time customer service takes place. A large part of your social media strategy is about responding to questions and criticisms posted on your platforms. Social media also serves as a great customer service channel for brands who have an e-commerce site. You can use these channels to offer product updates, new launches and special discounts.

Which platform should you use for your business?

You should analyze the target audience and their current preferences for social media platforms to determine the best platform for your business. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to decide which network to start with: – What’s your budget? This will help you decide between free or paid social media platforms. – What’s your target audience? This will help you decide between social media channels based on your audience’s preferences. – What’s your end goal? This will help you decide between platforms based on your goals or what you want to achieve from social media.

Start with a strategy before jumping on social media

The best thing to do before jumping on social media is to create a social media strategy. Your social media strategy will determine the success of your social media marketing efforts. – Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with social media? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Do you want to increase sales? – Define your target audience: Who are you trying to reach? What are their interests and preferences? – Create a social media calendar: Where and when will you post on social media? Do you have enough time for it? – Set goals for each channel: Once you have decided on the social media platforms, set goals for each channel. Create an actionable plan to achieve each goal. – Create a brand persona: What is your brand’s personality? How do you want your brand to be perceived? – Plan to create engaging content: How will you engage your target audience with your content? What type of content will you post? – Plan your content distribution: How will your content get to your target audience? How will it be seen or discovered by people? – Set up your social media accounts: What will your social media accounts be called? What will your profile picture be? What will your bio be? – Create a social media team: Do you have enough people on your team to handle social media?

Define your target audience and identify the best platform

Before jumping on social media, you need to understand your target audience and the preferences of their preferred social media platform. – Define your target audience: Who are the people who would be interested in your product or service? What are their interests and preferences? – What social media platform does your target audience prefer? Do you know where your audience spends most of their time? – What is the best platform for your business? Take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each social media platform. You can also use this social media targeting guide to analyse which platform is best for your brand.

Create your presence on social media

Now that you have chosen the best platform for your business, it’s time to create your social media presence. Here are a few quick tips on how to create a social media presence. – First, log on to the social media platform you have selected and create an account. Set up your account with all the relevant information such as your business name, website URL, contact information, etc. – Create a social media image that best represents your brand. If you are unsure of how to create a social media image, you can use our social media image guide to create your profile picture and cover image. – Post relevant and engaging content on a regular basis. Posting relevant content on a regular basis will help you build your social media following and drive traffic to your website or e-commerce store. – Interact with your followers. One of the main reasons people follow you on social media is to get to know you better. You can ask your followers questions, host contests, share tips, etc. – Be consistent with your social media schedule. This will help your followers know when to expect your posts and engage with you. – Set up an analytics account with each social media platform to track your social media ROI. – Always remember that social media is a two-way street. You can use it to drive traffic to your website or e-commerce store, but you also need to be present, engaged and responsive.

Conclusion

Social media marketing is a proven strategy to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website or e-commerce store. The best thing to do before jumping on social media is to create a social media strategy and identify your target audience. Once you have chosen the best platform for your business, you can create your presence on these platforms by posting relevant and engaging content on a regular basis. Make sure you are consistent with your social media schedule and always respond to your followers to build trust and drive results for your business.