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Have you thought about your small business’s social media community?
There’s no denying it: having a social media account is important for the majority of small businesses. Social media platforms are free tools that, when used correctly, can help you boost visibility and discoverability, connect with your audience, and give you the chance to showcase your brand’s story and personality.
However, starting a new account can seem intimidating, especially if you don’t have the knowledge, budget, or time to dedicate hours to growing your following. Fortunately, a few simple strategies can help. Start here!
Understand How To Use The Data
Opening a new account and posting your first post is certainly an important key step. However, when it comes to growing your community, you’ll want to start tracking the numbers. And, this is easier than you may think! In fact, social media platforms, like Instagram, give you access to a user-friendly dashboard that can help you track your engagement.
With the right tools, you can even check on recent Instagram following, likes, comments, interactions, and overall engagement with your posts. This is key to understanding what drives your audience and investing in the right social media strategies without wasting time or money on inefficient efforts!
I’ve just been having a closer look at FollowBuddy above and it looks to be an excellent tool – there’s a free trial, so nothing to lose by checking it out.
Simplify The Positioning Process
If you are running a business, the chances are that you have little time to dedicate to running a social media account. And, the budget may just not be there yet to allow for paying marketing specialists! Fortunately, social media success can be achieved by busy people, too!
For this, you’ll want to use tools that help you automate posting, help with caption and AltText, and support posting across different channels.
Then, to grow organically, try easy-to implement strategies such as the 5-3-1 rule. This involves simple actions to perform each day, including:
- Liking 5 posts from users that you’d like as your audience
- Commenting on 3 posts that feel real and thoughtful
- Following 1 new account, making sure that it fits your niche or goals
Connect With Your Community
Equally important as posting regularly and creating a cohesive feed, is to connect with your community. You can do so via comments, direct messages (DMs), and livestreams. Consider also organizing giveaways and contests and leverage user-generated content to make your community become a more active part of your social media account (and of your business as a whole!).
Pro tip: use your bio to provide key contact details to your business, including your phone number, email, or contact form. This can help interested users get in touch directly to explore your services! It’s surprising how many people neglect this ‘free’ promotional area on the profiles. Particularly the Facebook profile. It’s where I always check people out to see if I want to connect with them.
Have A Clear Idea Of Your Brand Values And Personality
When creating a social media community, you’ll want to gain the trust and respect of your audience. To do so, start by clarifying what your brand’s values and personality are, what voice tone you wish to use, and what causes you commit to. This is important, as it will allow your users to connect with your brand in a more meaningful way. To add an extra human touch, show yourself, your team, and behind the scenes to give users a glimpse of your everyday life!
If a social media manager seems something of a pipe-dream at the moment, you may like to look at this more affordable social media planning tool instead.
