Our Blog 8 Social Media Tips for Small and Medium Businesses Posted on 07.29.2015 Marketing With so many social media sites, how can you pick the best channel to connect with your customers? At the end of the day, it really depends on your goals, your products, and your budget. Below, we’ll dive into some tips on social media for small and medium businesses. Jump to Section Spend Wisely Spend Wisely Target Your Customer Listen First Show; Don’t Tell Be Authentic Spend Wisely As a business owner, you most likely have limited finances, time, and expertise. So, don’t try to be everything to everyone. Start small and test different platforms or combinations of platforms until you find your target audience. It’s better to truly engage with your potential customers across 2-3 platforms than have stale content and no connections on 8-10 sites. Target Your Customer Who are you really trying to reach? If you’re selling B2B, LinkedIn might be the ideal place to start. You’ll find current profiles and professionals who are active and engaged. If time permits, add to your outreach with Facebook and/or Twitter and tap Google Ads to boost your reach. If you’re trying to connect directly with customers, pick a site or two from above that most of those people use. Listen First Customers want to be heard. Respond when followers engage with your posts through comments or asking questions. Providing thoughtful responses will build brand loyalty. There are many inexpensive or free platforms available for businesses to use to help monitor brand-related social conversations. Our digital marketing experts at Metro like to use Hootsuite, Social Mention, Sprout Social, and TweetDeck to name a few. Try Retargeting No matter what social media site(s) you use, you can capitalize your reach by running Bing or Google Ads. In using Google or Bing ads you can explore the possible benefits of retargeting. Show; Don’t Tell Great content is important. But, sometimes telling your brand story through a stunning image or video is a more captivating way to show your customers who you are and what you do. Don’t have a large video budget? That is okay! You don’t need to spend a fortune creating these. Use a decent camera or flip cam to capture the essence of who you are or what you sell. Know Your Chosen Community People who use Twitter, for example, are quite different than those who regularly use Pinterest. Study and research each social platform before deciding to jump aboard. All social platforms worth their salt provide tutorials and information. Be Authentic As your Mom used to tell you, “Just be yourself and everyone will like you.” People expect honesty from businesses. But they also like humor and creativity. Tell stories in your own words, be original, and don’t be afraid to show a sense of humor. Our Digital Marketing Team is Here to Help For businesses, social media can sometimes be a tricky road to navigate; if you find yourself needing some help with your Social Media Marketing, our team of digital experts are here to help.