How to engage customers on social media? Top 7 Social Media tips for Small businesses

If you’re a startup or a small business or literally just starting up a new business, you all must be wondering how to create a brand and reach the largest audience. Well social media is your answer. Whether it’s Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, Google Plus or LinkedIn, your users are there so you should be too.

If you think your business is too small to go social or it’s a hassle or it’s too much for you to handle, then your approach is all wrong. It’s perfectly alright to start small on social media and there are low cost alternatives (hiring me for example). It’s easy to setup and maintain, and free to use to market your products and services. With these 7 secret tips, you can become a social media guru.

1. Make A Plan and write down milestones.
It’s very important to make a plan. A detailed plan that documents and list all social platforms, where you can find the audience, users and create your social media presence. A major part of this process is identifying the industry leaders and social influencers you will follow and ideally mimic some of their strategy and posting formats. You will need to connect with users to expand your network.
Now, it’s very easy to lose focus in the early stage as things will progress slowly and it may look daunting to understand jargons and tricks, but you must show patience and stick to the plan. You can only gain status and stature on social platforms if you think long term (and in marketing you should always think long term).

2. Create And Share Content about your business.
The only way to gain more followers and expand your reach is by sharing content. Relevant content. There’s no point if you’re running a plumbing business and you share cute cat and funny dog videos. It won’t work. You will need to share content that is relevant to your users and business. This being said if you can somehow tie the relevance back to your product or perhaps a national holiday, then it could be reasonable and encouraged even.

You can create a list of users and businesses that create good content and enter into a pact with them to share it. As it will be mutually beneficial, they may readily accept it. You can surely use your business tactics here, you’ll find it works with some effort.

3. Engage Your Audience to build steady traffic.
It’s imperative that you engage with your users. There’s no point just sharing content or simply retweeting or liking posts and pinning pictures. You’re there to communicate about your business products and services.

You should ask your regular customers, family and friends to share the content and write reviews for you. (Favorable reviews) This helps you with ratings and creates a legitimacy for your business. Look out for users who are looking for similar products or services you offer and respond to them professionally and promptly.

4. Don’t Emphasize On Sales. Look for conversations.
Too much of anything is bad. If you try to oversell, it will surely backfire. Users get easily put off by overselling and same type of content. If you do that, your whole social media campaign runs the risk of derailment. One thing you must not forget is that you’re on social platforms to promote your business, not necessarily make sales. Sales are also important but your emphasis should be on creating a brand image (think long-term). You will get many leads and generate good ROI with the right messaging.

5. Respond To Your Followers And Customers on-time
You must always respond to replies, tweets, likes and comments on social channels. You can clearly mention your social media policy as the type of users you will respond to are sometimes trolls and spammers who are trying to spread negativity. If you resolve their queries and answer them professionally and appropriately, then you will earn ardent and loyal customers through your patience and determination.

6. Think Mobile to get more tech savvy customers
It is most likely that almost 60-70 percent of users will engage with you through their mobile devices. It is estimated that by 2020 over 90% people on social media will be signing in from their mobile phones and devices. So, you must design your posts and website to be mobile friendly and responsive when it comes to sharing content that should be optimized with mobile devices.

7. Measure And Adapt your engagement strategy
You should always be on top of your game. As you constantly analyze your business and make necessary changes, you should always measure your social channels and platforms and adapt to changing scenarios and trends.
You should spot trends in your industry, local area, geography and user behavior to customize your responses. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Twitter and LinkedIn analytics or many other free social analysis tools to promote your business.
 
Social media rules for user engagement: content sharing and following companies are stringent. You’re expected to abide by them at all times. No exceptions.

If you think it’s too much for you to handle with an ever expanding user base, you should look out for professional social media experts such as myself. They’re great at social engagements and know what they’re doing. They will be able to expand your user base, manage your social media accounts and campaigns at affordable rates.

It’s never too late to go social, you can even do it today (or you’ll eventually wish you had). Contact us to know how we can help you.

 Courtsey- This article was originally published on Scott Cunnigham Services blog, a full service social media agency in Canada.