Social Media Marketing for Small Business: Best Practices in 2023

Social media for small business isn’t rocket science, but it requires a different approach to personal use. Your audience is different, your message is different, and sometimes the way you deliver it is different.

Create a Content Plan and Stick To It

Before you unleash your content on any social media platform, you must have a plan. Social media marketing for small businesses takes time to plan and develop. The more time spent developing your strategy, the more successful your ROI will be.

To create a schedule for when you will post and on which platforms you will need to consider the following things:

• What are your social media goals and objectives? Are you looking to engage with your audience? Drive traffic to your eCommerce website? Or sell your products through social media?
• Know your competition. You will need to research your competition to see how they engage with their audience and the type of content they publish. This research will help with your content inspiration.
• Have a clear target audience. This clarity will help you to focus your content.
• Create a social media calendar to keep track of what content you are posting when and on what platform. 

Choose the Right Platform

Choosing the right place for your business to post is the best place to start. The best approach is to start with one or two platforms and evolve from there. There’s also budgeting concerns to think about as you might want to use paid channels to boost your reach. 

Just because there are several options, it doesn’t mean that you should create business accounts on each platform. In fact, it’s better to be selective and focus your time and resources on creating quality content for your selected audience. 

Using your target audience to narrow down the platforms is a smart way to start. For instance, if your primary target audience is millennials, then TikTok and Instagram would be great platforms to start your social media marketing for small business. But, if your target audience is over 60s, then Facebook or Pinterest might be a better place to begin. 

Prioritise Quality Over Quantity

Spending time and resources developing quality content is the way forward. Just because you post daily does not mean your business is succeeding on social media. You can see accurate results in your analytics and ROI. 

If your main objective is to drive traffic to your website, then your content has only been successful when your click through rate has increased. To achieve this, you need to spend time carefully considering your content. 

You can draw your audience’s attention with some of the following engagement techniques:

• Imagery 
• Videos 
• Live streams 
• Twitter polls
• Instagram stories 

Nurture Relationships

Social media for small business can build and develop customer relations. Not only do these platforms provide a space where customers can reach out to your brand, but they also allow consumers to help promote your products or services for free.

You can do this in a few different ways, including:

• Create a community group – this is easily achieved on Facebook, as you can set up a group to build a community and brand loyalty.
• Comment on consumer posts and reply to all comments posted on your platform. You’ll build trust and brand loyalty by humanising the brand with this interaction.
• Connect with influencers in your niche. This is a great way to expand your audience.
• Using interactive tools such as Twitter polls to actively seek engagement.
• Mention your followers in your posts and stories to encourage feedback and sharing. 

Follow and Get Involved with the Latest Trends

One of the best social media marketing tips for small business is keeping up with the latest social media trends. Using relevant hashtags is a great place to start. If you can incorporate popular or trending hashtags into your content, you’re more likely to start expanding your audience. Social media users aren’t interested in viewing the same old content. They like new and exciting stories, so make sure your content is eye-catching, up-to-date and relevant. 

Social media marketing for small businesses is a brilliant way to expand your audience and build brand loyalty and trust. With Groupon Merchant, you can find the support you need and access a wealth of resources to help you get started. Find out how Groupon works for businesses today.