Marketing your small business is the first step toward growing it. Next on the list is gaining repeat customers and cultivating customer loyalty. An effective social media strategy is essential to both of these efforts – and yet 21% of small businesses post on social media once a month or less.
Whether you’re tweeting, posting, or sharing, here are six ways that social media can help you boost your business:
- Establish your brand. Think of your social media accounts as a window into your company. When someone is considering buying a product or service, they’ll look at the business’s social media accounts to get a better feel for their brand. Be creative and make sure that your social media presence accurately reflect your business’s values and offerings. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews so new visitors or potential customers can read positive testimonials.
- Reach new customers. Social media is an easy way to connect with new customers. One option is buying social media ads, which allow you to select a budget and boost your posts to relevant audiences. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to pay to play. On Instagram, you can increase brand awareness by following other accounts that may be interested in your brand based on who they follow or hashtags they’re using. You can also attract followers by using relevant hashtags in your own posts. Finally, you can generate followers by asking loyal customers to post about your company and mention your account in their own social media posts.
- Gain a reputation for top-notch customer service. In the digital age, rather than picking up a phone to ask a question or lodge a complaint, consumers will often take to social media. Whether a customer is reaching out via a private message or a public review, it’s important to respond in a timely, polite manner. Doing so can help you gain customer loyalty.
- Communicate important information quickly. In addition to sending email updates about upcoming sales or new products to your customers, you can also notify them through social media using engaging photos or videos. Your social media accounts are also an important way to rapidly share business updates with customers during disasters and emergencies.
- Recruit new employees. Social media can even help you recruit new employees. Post job openings on LinkedIn, which is one of the leading social media sites for professional networking. –In addition, Facebook rolled out a new job listings feature that allows you to post openings.
For more social media tips and strategies, we encourage small business owners to take our free “Social Media Marketing” online course. You can also benefit from SBA resource partner SCORE’s free recorded social media webinars. For more small businesses resources, tools, and updates, follow SBA on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook.