SMB-management includes covering many different bases to reach the success that many entrepreneurs dream of.
Today, when digital marketing is one of the key business elements on a global scale, online branding and presence lie at the heart of every management strategy.
When we open the toolbox with digital marketing features, the first thing you can expect there are social media. A business that doesn’t use social networks doesn’t ensure proper visibility on the Web.
In this article, we’ll discuss different options for preparing a new SMB for enhanced visibility in social media.
1) Check out your competitors
In this connected business world, no venture is an island.
In other words, SMB-owners should make their professional moves while observing their competitors. The same goes for social networks.
So, the first thing you need to do is to identify who your rivals are in social media branding. There’s a variety of social media analytics tools that will help you name those entities.
Moreover, you should measure which network is the best one for your products and services. In theory, Instagram is better for businesses aiming at younger audiences.
On the other hand, Facebook is more suitable for SMB-owners that target a wider population of potential buyers and users.
Also, study how your rivals started and what marketing strategies they used at the beginning to generate leads and trigger sales.
When you understand what your position is on social media, it will be easier to gradually build your business presence there.
2) Specify your target audience
It’s difficult to sell a product if you don’t know who your buyer is.
In that light, SMB-owners need to specify the target audience for their products and services.
Once you’ve defined who is on the other side of the digital shop window, you can come up with proper sales strategies.
Take the following elements into account when specifying your target audience:
- Age
- Gender
- Social background
- Interests and hobbies
- Shopping preferences
- Location (if relevant for your products and services).
When you approximately have the potential buying persona in your mind, use Facebook advertising tools to cover the practical part of your social media promotion. There are many free options that only require your time and commitment. Once you learn how to use them, you’ll be able to make your initial social marketing stops alone.
3) Define your goal
Different businesses have different purposes for using social media.
Some SMBs use them to spread the word about their existence and business operations.
So, publishing relevant news and analyses with your professional comments would be a wise thing to do at the initial stage of your social media promotion. After a while, you can start adding some products and services to these posts. It’s vital that those features are completely ready for use when you begin with their direct promotion.
Some entrepreneurs want to sell their items directly on Facebook and Instagram. If you belong to this group, focus all your marketing efforts on that goal. Have a look at the informative post on selling things on Facebook and Instagram, published on the Shopify website.
Furthermore, some SMB-owners use social media to attract their followers to visit their website. In that case, social media posts shouldn’t sound too salesy, but they need to draw people’s attention to get to aimed landing pages. We’ll additionally discuss that matter below.
4) Work on content marketing
If you want to build your SMB-brand on social media, it’s not enough just to launch your business page and publish random things.
Your social media campaign should include your target audience, your goals, and elements that will help you stand out from the crowd.
This is where content marketing comes on stage. This term refers to all content bits that your venture publishes on social media, on the business website, and blog.
For starters, you need to learn how to get a simple, but well-written web copy. Every sentence that you write about your products and services on your homepage, About Us section, and other relevant pages needs to properly describe your mission, vision, and goals.
Moreover, the articles, guides, and analyses published on the blog should talk about the current affairs in your niche. Whenever possible, educate your audience. Ask them about their problems in social media and create content bits that will help them find proper solutions.
That way, you’ll use your content to assistyour potential leadsin improving their business. In turn, it’s more likely that they’ll opt for your services or products if given proper answers to their questions.
5) Streamline visitors to the website
Now that you’ve gathered a substantial number of leads, followers, and potential buyers on social media, it’s important to prepare the right landing spots for all of them.
In other words, you need to streamline your social media audience to places where they can easily buy your products or services.
As explained by the design crew from a Houston web design company, landing pages should be free of any distractions. They’re the pinnacle of your social media promotion, where the generated leads are going to complete the purchase process and become your customers. So, don’t place ads or any other visuals on landing pages. A checkout/cart button and a short explanation on the completion of the buying process will do.
Apart from that, your website needs to be wisely organized to convince such visitors to stay on it for a longer time. It’s more likely that they’ll buy more things or read more content bits if they spend more time on it. In line with that, divide the website into logical and organic sections, and ensure smooth navigation.
Stepping onto the ground of social media marketing is an important step for every SMB-owner. Even though it might seem simple, using social networks for business is much different from personal use. You need to consider more details if you want to achieve your goals. Therefore, follow the tips above and you’ll learn how to kickstart your venture when it comes to social media promotion.
