No matter what you think about social media, it’s still a powerful, low-to-no-cost marketing tool available to every small business owner. The challenge is knowing how to do social media marketing effectively. This video covers the basics of the social media networks, and how they work together with your website, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).
Social Media Marketing 101 – How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Small Business
How Does Social Media Marketing Work?
First and foremost, you want to be found when someone is searching for what you have to offer. Furthermore, you can choose between organic (non-paid) marketing or paid advertising. Social media plays a crucial role in your digital marketing.
- Paid advertising
- Google ads – pay-per-click (PPC)
- Social Media (PPC)
- Ads on sites your target frequents, like mom bloggers.
- Organic (non-paid)
- SEO – search engine optimization
- Actively posting on social media
- Email Marketing – start for free
The way PPC works is you set your budget and select your target audience. then, each time someone clicks on your ad, the “per-click” price is deducted from your budget. Moreover, that price will vary depending on where you’re advertising and how much competition there is for your keywords & audience.
I specialize in organic content and SEO marketing. With some sweat equity, you can do this effectively and get results if you’re strapped for cash.
Google Indexes Social Media Profiles and Posts
Google still has over 87% of all searches in the U.S.
Google’s goal is to give the searcher exactly what they’re searching for. In fact, Google said they saw a 60% increase in natural language queries by searchers. They also claim it reduced irrelevant search results by over 50% in seven years. (Source)
Google wants fresh, relevant, useful, quality content written for the human reader in natural language that gives you Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The search engine determines the context and intent behind a search term – or it tries to. That’s why you see “People also searched for…” It’s anticipating what you may be interested in. That’s where SEO Copywriting comes in.
Related:
- The Pros and Cons of Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- What’s the New E in Google’s E-E-A-T Ranking Factors?
- What is SEO?
Think Like the Searcher
What is your target market going to enter into the search box to find you?
- The consumer is in control
- What are they searching for?
- How will they find you?
- What comes up in a search?
- Put yourself in their shoes
All this helps build trust and credibility. People buy from whom they know and trust.
What makes YOU different? What’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
Clearly, you must do your research! Start with defining your target market(s), then determine which social media networks they frequent the most and their online habits. This free workbook will help guide you.
Now that you know your target, you need to build and enhance the User Experience (UX).
A bad UX will cost you sales!
Next, Research and Get to Know Your Competition!
Learn about the Social Media Networks
Which Social Media Networks should you use?
Don’t forget your Google Business Profile! This helps not only with Local SEO but for ALL businesses who have an online presence.
Optimize for Search – once you do your keyword research, write up keyword-centric bios and descriptions for all your social media profiles.
Above all, make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your website to track where people are coming from. In addition, you want to set up your insights and analytics on the social media networks. On X (formerly Twitter), you have to turn on the analytics and you need at least 100 followers to start seeing data. That also applies to Instagram and Facebook. (Related: How to Grow Your Social Media Following.)
Some Final Tips on Social Media Marketing
- Focus on one objective at a time each month. Don’t try to do everything at once. If you try to juggle too many things at once, you are liable to drop some through a crack.
- Create eye-catching graphics and/or videos with your marketing message and calls-to-action (CTAs). There are a lot of free tools that you can use. If you find you’re not very creative — and not everyone is — it’s right-brain, left-brain thing — hire someone. Don’t be afraid to admit that you can’t do it all yourself!
- Don’t post erratically on social media. Have a posting schedule and your analytics and insights will tell you when the optimum time to post is for each network. Schedule your posts and monitor everything with a great tool like Sendible! (affiliate link)
- Respond to comments and queries within a reasonable amount of time. People who message you on social media expect a response in a few hours if not faster. Watch and respond quickly to bad reviews. You can use a tool like Sendible to monitor all your social accounts in one place.
- Social Media Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint – You’re in it for the long haul. Nevertheless, be aware that the road is constantly changing. It does take more time in the beginning as you’re getting used to the platforms and how they work, as well as creating the content. Consequetnly, once you figure out what works and keep doing it, it will take you less time to do what you need to do.
Don’t…
- …try to please everybody.
- …take shortcuts!
- …buy followers or likes!
- … jump in without a plan!
- …rely solely on generic data.
- …rely just on one network.
- …make claims or promises you can’t keep.
- …ignore your people! Be Social!
10 Steps to Get You Started with Social Media Marketing
- Define Your Target Market’s Persona
- Research Your Target Market
- Set SMART Goals
- Develop Strategic & Tactical Plans
- Set up Website & Social & Optimize for SEO
- Set up Email Marketing Automation
- Learn How to Properly Use the Tools
- Create & Curate Current Content
- Implement, Engage & Build Your Following
- Monitor & measure monthly
Get it on Amazon Kindle!
