Using social media to advertise , products, or services. Social media marketing allows a brand to insert itself into ongoing conversations on channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Best practices for effective social media marketing include creating interesting content that as well as publicly replying to questions and comments. Although you can rely on social media advertising, posts can be organic, meaning you don’t pay anything to “boost” them, or they can be promoted with media dollars. Learn the fundamentals of effective social media strategies in this social media marketing guide for small businesses for a positive return on investment and a successful social media presence.
Jumpstart your social media campaign
we have the tools to create, manage, and publish posts that help you stand out.
Use our social media scheduling tools to keep the conversation going across all your social media platforms.
The more you post on social media, the easier it is for people to get to know you. Mailchimp's social media scheduling tool gives you what you need to make social media management easy.
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social networking is an inescapable aspect in the lives of today’s consumers. The average internet user has over 5 social media accounts, which they check almost daily. Users also spend close to 2 hours a day across their social presence.
While these social platforms were founded on the idea of making it easier to connect and share life’s moments with friends, family members, and followers, they’ve quickly become an invaluable and necessary digital marketing tool for businesses looking to reach their target market.
As AdWeek reports, 91% of retail brands utilize at least 2 social media platforms to communicate and reach their customers, using social media as part of their online marketing strategies. To help you take full advantage of these powerful social media channels, this guide will outline how to run successful campaigns with tips for small businesses on major social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
We’ll take a look at:
Why your business needs to be on social media
Which social platforms make the most sense for you to use
WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE BEST FOR MY BUSINESS?
There are a lot of social media networks for you to choose from. Some businesses create accounts on as many platforms as possible in the hopes that they cover all bases. But this can make it difficult to deliver great experiences on each platform, especially for smaller businesses with a limited marketing budget.
You need to think critically about how many social media accounts your business can properly manage and maintain, then choose the right networks where your target audiences and current customers are most active. It’s one thing to manage your resources, but you also need to make sure those resources are where your potential customers spend the most time, taking into consideration your business goals and types of content, as well as the potential for organic reach and budget for paid social.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common social media platforms that businesses use :
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
INSTAGRAM
Facebook is at the top of many business owners’ lists for the best social media network to use. Not only does it have a lot of users (over 2 billion), making it great to build brand awareness, it’s also one of the most well-developed platforms for businesses.
Facebook has a number of features that allow businesses large and small to create engaging pages that share a lot of detailed information. It also offers retargeting options in advertising to boost engagement, the ability to link to a website within a post, and a messaging system that allows you to chat directly with customers.
When it comes to business-to-business (B2B) marketing, Twitter is really powerful. The platform can connect leads with resources, notify them of new products, and much more.
It’s also a great channel for consumers looking to ask questions, raise concerns, or communicate directly with their favorite brands.
If you’re looking to use the channel, being active and timely with responses is key. If you’re not able to maintain an active presence and speedily respond to customers’ tweets, it can actually be more damaging than rewarding.
To help with this, you can install the free Twitter app on your phone to receive notifications and respond right away no matter where you are.
This channel quickly emerged as a great gathering place for professionals and is a must for B2B companies.
LinkedIn users are employees and business owners interested in making new connections in their field and consuming content related to their industry. This makes it an optimal place to share blogs and other resources that offer solutions to industry-related issues.
This platform is ideal for businesses that create a lot of visual content, such as restaurants, boutiques, and retailers. It’s a compelling way to showcase exactly what your business offers through pictures and video content.
Plus, if you use Instagram stories, you can take viewers on all sorts of journeys, whether it’s a behind-the-scenes look or store update.
