7 Small Business Tips for Using Social Media

Running a small business is tough enough without having to figure out how you’re going to use every new advertising medium available today. However, you really can’t pass up using social media to promote your business. It’s basically free, and it’s becoming the number one way to connect with potential customers and retain customers who have already bought your products or used your services.

If you’re wondering how to make social media platforms work for your small business, here are some tips to get you started:

If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, do your best to connect with local customers. You can have thousands of people “Like” your Facebook business page, but if only a tiny percentage of them are local, it’s really not doing you much good. Posting with keywords related to your area and posting specials for local clients is a good way to get started on finding locals to “Like” your business in social media platforms.

 
Have a schedule. Whether you’re blogging, posting to Facebook, or Tweeting, you need to have some sort of schedule for your business. If you’re a mom and pop operation, chances are that you’ll be doing most of the social networking, so stick with a schedule you can command. If you have someone else to help with social media advertising, split up tasks and try to post more often so you can connect with customers even more.

 
Use social media not just to promote your business in traditional ways but also to make yourself an expert in your niche. This may seem a little counterproductive, since you’re not spending your time actually promoting your own business. However, it’s a great plan, since people these days are more likely to trust businesses who are experts in their fields. No matter whether you’re cleaning carpet or selling handbags, you can find ways to give your potential customers useful information about your products and services.

When they get free information that applies to their lives, they’re more likely to trust you and come to you for your products and services.  For instance, we often review credit cards such as the Starwood business credit card review, it helps our audience of small business owners.

 
Keep up on responses. You can have a great blog or Facebook page, but unless you respond to the responses you get there, it’s not going to do you much good. The whole point of social media is not to advertise but to interact. Businesses who aren’t responding to their customers on a regular basis will quickly lose their interest.

 
Get more followers by promoting exclusive deals. Run a deal just for people who “Like” you on Facebook or people who comment on certain blog posts. You don’t want to run deals and specials all the time, but you should make it worth your customers’ while to be part of your social network following. Decide how often you can afford to run a deal, and try to make them come up regularly so people will keep checking back on them.

 
Learn about Search Engine Optimization. There are lots of little ways to incorporate SEO into your social media campaign. Use keywords in your Facebook and Twitter posts. Set up your blog with SEO plug-ins so that your posts can gain popularity for your main keywords. SEO isn’t something you should spend tons of time on, but you should practice the basics because it essentially turns into free marketing when you make yourself easier for others to find.

 
Use free tools like Google Analytics and SocialMention to track your progress for free. Don’t waste your money on analytic programs when there are great free ones out there to be had