Online Marketing Action Kit

How to use Social Media to Increase Business

 

Social media allows you to easily and quickly engage with your current and potential customers. You can promptly promote offers, your amazing products or services as well as share relevant news to keep customers up to date. Whether you are getting started or need to increase your social media engagement, see below for more information.

Why use social media?
Social media platforms enable you to form a meaningful community with your customers and potential customers. Today people read what other people are saying or what experience they have with a business. People share their stories online through reviews, comments, photos and videos. Social media improves your reach, frequency and quality of communications with your community.

SHORTCUT: 4 Steps to Leveraging Social Media to Increase Business

  1. Inventory where your social media is now.

  2. Pick one or two that work best for your business.

  3. Create a Facebook and/or Instagram page. (See ‘How to Build an Online Presence for Your Business’ for detailed instructions.)

  4. Build a social media community.

Leveraging Social Media to Increase Business

1. Inventory Take a look at your social media accounts and inventory how many followers you have.

2. Pick a social media platform Finding a social media platform that works for your business may be obvious or it may take some time to test what works best. To begin we recommend that you start with a Facebook page and even an Instagram page, if your business has a product or service for consumers. A business page allows you to share ownership and teams can all post and work on the page. Personal pages work if you are part of your business and brand. Other social media platforms that may make sense include LinkedIn, Tik Tok, and Discord.

 

Demographics of Facebook and Instagram

Why Facebook: Reaches a wide range of ages - 18 to 65 year olds. Of US adults who say they use Facebook, 74% use it daily (51% of users are on more then once per day). In the US, 75% of women and 63% of men are on Facebook. 

Why Instagram: Reaches a wide age range but leans towards a younger audience of 18 - 49 years olds (72% are 13 - 17). Of all US adults who say they use Instagram, 63% use it daily (42% of users are on more then once per day); 35%

 
PEW Research 2019 social media.png
 

3. Create Facebook and/or Instagram page
The advantages of having a business account for both Facebook and Instagram is that you have access to Insights. Insights can help you understand who is engaging with your business. Learn how to create a Business Facebook page and an Business Instagram page with our How to Build an Online Presence for your Business guide. 

4. Build a social media community
Once you have Facebook and Instagram pages you can now build your community.

HOT TIPS

How to post a photo:

  • Put the smart phone camera in the HDR setting as it helps to sharpen the focus 

  • For lighting, use natural light. Shoot near a window or use an affordable white backdrop with a good light.

SHORTCUT: 3 Steps to Planning Your Content for Social Media

  1. Create a simple plan

  2. Create a timeline 

  3. Create the content

3 Steps to Planning Your Content for Social Media

  1. Create a simple plan
    A simple plan is key to keeping you focused and setting an achievable goal. A plan can be to raise more awareness of your business and its offerings. Or it can be to just keep your customers up to date with your latest product features. Start with one goal and then watch the Facebook and Instagram insights to see what resonates with your audience. Remember to share relevant and authentic content.

  2. Create a timeline
    Use a spreadsheet to create a timeline. Make a list of dates for when you need to make edits or updates. This allows you to plan ahead what you will post each week.

  3. Create the content
    Gather up images and potential copy for both your Facebook and Instagram posts. You will want to use a few hashtags. Have a hashtag for either your business name or your tagline/branding. You can also add hashtags for seasonal and popular trending events. Or you can simply use a hashtag that reflects your content.

 

Hashtags

A hashtag is a word or a phrase introduced by a number sign, #, otherwise known as a hashtag. It groups together content or images that appear in social media, such as Twitter, so that users can then go to that hashtag and see all the news or content related to it.

List relevant hashtags in your posts, such as those that are in your profile bio and those that regularly appear in your other posts. Use branded hashtags (#yourcompanyname) or popular hashtags (#learning) and put it at the end of the Facebook post. 

For Instagram, since it was started as a photos app, users respond best to images that evoke emotion. This could be a beautiful photo or one of mouth watering food. Also, users respond more often when there are smiling people in the photos. Your hashtags fit in one of these four categories: Product, Lifestyle, Event, Location. Lastly, Instagram has a feature named Stories where you can highlight a short video clip or a few annotated photos. Instagram Stories are gaining in popularity and might be a good feature to use to attract followers.

Key items to keeping your social media working for you 

  • Post often
    Use the Facebook scheduler to post at least weekly 

  • Keep in mind why people are on Facebook
    To take a break, check in on friends and stay up-to-date with the news or current events 

  • Show visual consistency so customers recognize you

Additional information

For additional information on how Facebook can help you go to Facebook for Small Businesses.

For more tips designed to help you and your business thrive, go here.

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