Digibees Studio, Web Design London » A Complete Guide on How to Grow Your Small Business with Social Media Marketing

No matter what industry your business ис in, social media is a powerful tool for connecting with your target audience, enhancing your brand's presence, building customer loyalty, and boosting your revenue. The stream of information we experience is enormous and things are moving faster than ever, yet social media still presents an amazing opportunity to position your brand and find your niche in the hype.

Like most, I'm a keen consumer of social media content myself and, of course, I follow many people, business pages and companies, depending on my interests. What I am trying to say is that a company's presence on social media is a must. I decided to write this guide to try and cover all the essential aspects of social media marketing for small businesses, explaining what it is, how it operates, the most effective strategies, and how to apply them.

If you are a business owner who is wondering if it is worth it to invest in developing the social media channels for your small business - the short answer is a resounding "Yes!'.

Even if social media isn't the focus of your marketing efforts, regular posts will help you build trust and credibility.

That said, the keyword for the social media industry today is "growth", so read on to learn everything you need to know to get started with social media marketing, build your social media strategy and achieve your business goals.

Table of Contents:

What is Social Media Marketing?
Benefits of Social Media Marketing and Why It is Important for Your Business
How to Grow Your Business Through Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing Best Practices
Conclusion

What is Social Media Marketing?

To give you a better idea of what is Social Media Marketing (SMM), firstly we need to distinguish it from the traditional "offline" marketing and advertising activities. Have a look at this quote from Philip Kotler's interview presenting his recent books “Social Media Marketing” and “Entrepreneurial Marketing” which talk about how the digital revolution is going to change entrepreneurial DNA.

"Traditional advertising still must play a role in the promotion mix. Most consumers still read newspapers and magazines, listen to the radio, watch television, and view billboards in addition to the Internet. Companies need to watch which traditional media are still strong and which are weakening and readjust their budgets accordingly."

We love flicking through the pages of a magazine just as much as you may do, but sadly print media is dying. Everyone has a Netflix subscription. We check the news on social before we open a mainstream site. Traditional marketing is changing and you probably understand it's almost impossible to rely only on these traditional advertising techniques to popularise our business, however important they still are. Our audience is most likely online and this is where our business should be too! We see Social Media Marketing as a form of digital marketing that benefits from the power of trendy social media platforms to reach a broader audience, fulfil its business and marketing goals and position its brand.

One thing should be clear from the beginning - social media marketing is not just creating a business page or profile of your company on platforms like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok and randomly posting content. Effective social media marketing is much more! It requires a well-developed strategy and a social media marketing plan for its implementation, with measurable goals and ways for monitoring the whole process. Sounds difficult? Don't worry - we are here to help you through the whole process with simple steps.

But first, let's find the answer to the question of why SMM is crucial for your business and your success.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing and Why is it Important for Your Business

Building brand awareness and reputation

Building a social media presence is the easiest and fastest way to position your business online and increase brand awareness. Sometimes it happens overnight for your business to go viral on social media and build a good reputation. But this is an ideal situation and quite rare, unfortunately. You should roll your sleeves and put some effort into creating catchy and meaningful content that draws your potential audience's attention and raises awareness of who you are.

Be careful when building your business and brand reputation because social media could be a double-edged sword. Once your followers and audience feel you are not authentic, post content for the sake of posting, and do not answer users' comments, your reputation is at risk of being destroyed in seconds. And once that's happened, it can be very hard to build trust and respect again.

Engaging with customers and fostering relationships

Another important advantage of your business being online is social media platforms allow you to reach and engage directly with your audience, to interact and foster relationships. A social network is power and the sooner you master the secrets of engaging customers' attention and trust, the sooner your effort will be rewarded and your business will thrive. Fostering long-lasting relationships with your customers includes actions like answering their comments below your posts, providing them with any help they need while interacting with your page and product, and asking them different questions regarding your future actions, new products, etc. thus showing them you value their opinion and making them feel involved with the future of your company or product. The important part here is not to be reluctant to communicate and engage. You need to stay engaged not only when starting your business profile and trying to attract more and more followers but also to keep a positive and trustworthy line of behaviour and relations even after you gain enough popularity.

Gaining insights and data on customer behaviour

Social listening is an essential part of your overall social marketing strategy. You need not only to produce content but to keep an eye on different insights and data related to your customer's behaviour. You can't produce content without having any idea of what your users' pain points are or what interests and inspires them. This means that you shoot in the dark trying to meet their needs without having any data and evidence about their real interests and motives to suggest to them the right content. You need to gain insights from their social behaviour, reactions, interactions with other types of content, etc. to know exactly what to offer them at the right time and place.

Competitive analysis and staying ahead of competitors

Social media can help your business stay on top of the trends and ahead of your competitors. Being an active listener, keeping an eye on what happens around you and your competitors, and how the market and trends evolve means you succeed in going one step ahead and are prepared to meet every change. This makes you flexible and gives you a competitive advantage of knowing in advance what would be trendy next month for example and to offer it to your audience first, before the competitors.

Driving traffic and sales through social advertising

Social media marketing is not only posting content, interacting with users, and raising awareness. Social media marketing can help you drive traffic to your website through the platforms you are using. You can generate paid advertising via Facebook and Instagram advertisements, Google ads, etc., where you benefit from better targeting. Paid advertising is a great way to leverage your effort to drive traffic and sales faster and every social media marketer should know all the best practices for boosting their online presence and conversions results.

Measure your results

Your business being on social media means you need to track your performance and results from your marketing efforts. Proving Return on investment (ROI) could be a challenge but with social media tracking and analytics tools, you can measure the complete impact of your social media efforts, from follows and engagements to actual purchases. This is the only way you know if your marketing campaigns and strategy are successful or need some calibration.

How to Grow Your Business Through Social Media Marketing

Setting Goals and Objectives for Your Presence

Setting clear and achievable goals is an essential part of your marketing strategy and this applies to digital marketing as well. Yet as small businesses we often overlook it. It's a must-have activity you need to complete before everything else. This way you will know later if your effort is worth it or whether your course needs changing. Ensure that your marketing goals align with your overall business objectives.

I like the SMART definition for goals:

S-specific: your goals need to be clear and specific - not vague or chaotic;
M-measurable: they need to be easily measurable. A goal that can't be measured can't serve as a factor for measuring success, so ensure your goals can be easily tracked and measured via different metrics;
A-achievable: be realistic and set achievable goals. Don't underestimate your capabilities thus setting lower goals, but try to be as realistic as you can;
R-relevant: your goals should be relevant and respond to your business and overall strategy. No need to copy-paste competitors' goals, you don't need to waste your time, money and effort chasing someone else's objectives;
T-time-bound: time is everything. It helps us stay on track and concentrate. Set short, middle and long-term goals but be as specific and time-bound as you can otherwise you risk your marketing effort being chaotic and not relevant. Work towards deadlines to keep your effort focused.

Some well-defined SMART goals for growing your business through social media marketing could be:

I want to increase my followers on Instagram to 1000 next month;
I want to raise brand awareness and increase website traffic by 20% for the next 2 months through Facebook ads campaigns.

Researching Your Target Audience

When we talked about building our brand identity (part 1 and part 2) one of the important steps was to research your audience thoroughly, to get to know the exact person you want to sell. Once you know this person, you can personalise your attitude, your voice, your marketing strategy and your ads for them. Without knowing your audience, you won't be able to create and provide the content they need, making it difficult to achieve your objectives.

One of the most useful methods for researching your audience is to create a buyer persona - a profile of your ideal client and potential prospect. Try to focus your effort on finding out what your audience's pain points and interests are, gather as many insights, feedback and information about them so the content you create for them is engaging and convert them to leads.

Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Platforms

To get started with social media doesn't mean to be everywhere! As a small business owner, you are probably tempted to get your company in front of as many people as possible, but believe me - this would be a total mistake. Being present on many social channels doesn’t necessarily lead to faster success or broader exposure. You don’t need everyone on your website, right? You need the right audience to know about you and your product.

If you did your job well during the previous step and have a well-defined and known audience, you will have a clear idea of where your users tend to spend their time most. If your target audience is Gen Z, you should consider being more active in TikTok, but if you are selling digital products, and web design services, for example, you won't find your audience on TikTok and Instagram, but mainly on Facebook and LinkedIn.

This proves my previous claim that you need thorough research of your audience, knowing their habits, preferences, hobbies, etc. Only this way you will choose the best platforms for your business.

Pro Tip: when choosing among the popular social media platforms, take into account not only your audience's preferences but also your business and brand specifics. Our recommendation is to choose no more than 2-3 social media platforms.

Short overview of major social media platforms:

Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp)

Facebook is the most popular global social platform and you can benefit from business pages, groups where you can build communities and foster relations with your audience, and paid ads with pretty good targeting options. Being popular globally, however, you shouldn't forget the competition on Facebook is fierce and it's getting harder and harder to reach a broader audience organically.

- Main audience: mainly Millenials;
- What type of content works well: posts, stories, direct communication, paid ads;
- How often to post: according to Investopedia 1–2 posts per day, incl. posts, reels, lives, etc.

Instagram

Instagram is the platform initially developed and created for posting visual content. It's a photo-sharing social platform, owned by Meta. Instagram is the perfect choice if your business is in the fields of travelling, cooking, photography, etc.

- Main audience: people of all ages, particularly 18- to 44-year-olds;
- What type of content works well: reels, stories, lives. Using relevant hashtags in your posts works well too;
- How often to post: 3–5 posts per week is totally fine.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is an excellent choice for connecting with users because it offers a personal, direct communication channel, allowing you to engage with customers in real time. With its widespread use and easy accessibility, it’s ideal for providing quick responses, customer support, and updates, enhancing your customer experience and building stronger relationships.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a more business and professional-oriented social media channel, originally created to connect employers and employees. Don't neglect this social media's power and options, especially if you are B2B-oriented and your target audience is predominantly business-oriented.

- Main audience: professionals, potential new hires and business owners of all ages;
- What type of content works well: expert and informative content, articles with shared professional know-how, tutorials, etc.;
- How often to post: 1-2 posts per week.

TikTok

TikTok is a relatively new social media platform focused on short-form videos. It could be a valuable platform for your business if your target audience consists of many young people. Using hashtags related to your posts, brand, and products, is a sure way your content becomes discoverable to users searching for those specific terms.

- Main audience: mainly young people from Gen Z and Alpha;
- What type of content works well: short funny and educative voiceover videos;
- How often to post: 3-5 posts per week.

YouTube

YouTube is the most popular video platform that includes longer-form video content, unlike Instagram and TikTok where videos tend to be no more than 30 seconds. Starting a YouTube channel with your personal or business vlog is a good idea. The platform is suitable for informative and educational content in the form of webinars, tutorials, etc.

- Main audience: people of all ages;
- What type of content works well: longer videos with informative, funny, educative content as well as YouTube shorts (vertical videos up to 1 minute long)
- How often to post: the longer video content requires more time to be created, so don't worry if you can't post very often. Just try to keep some regularity and your audience know when you have new content.

Google My Business

Using Google My Business helps increase your local visibility by making your business easier to find in local search results and on Google Maps. It allows you to share important information like your working hours, location, and reviews, helping to build trust with potential customers. Plus, it’s a free tool that boosts your online presence and drives more traffic to your website.

Developing a Social Media Content Strategy

A well-crafted Social Media Content Strategy is a must-have requisite for successful social media goals, successful social media marketing, and growth.

How can you achieve all of this? How do you create a successful social media marketing strategy, and what should it include?

What to include in your SM content strategy:

Type of content: depending on your brand and business you will be inspired to create the right type of content. There is no one simple answer to what will work well for you. The best tactic is to conduct experiments, try new things and track the audience's reactions and responses to what you publish carefully. The most important thing is to create diverse and engaging content.
Brand voice and content topics: brand voice, brand consistency, brand image... We won't get tired of repeating how important is to find your authentic brand image and voice and stick to them! Let them be what sets you apart from your competitors, let your audience get used to your voice and style and they will remember you for them. You should be consistent in your content topics as well - don't be tempted to write about everything! Find what attracts your users, and what you are expert in, choose your niche and stick to it! Not last in importance - social media algorithms reward consistency too.
Content calendar: the social media content calendar will help you stay on track with regular posting on different social media channels. It's important to follow some schedule, to find the best time to post according to when your audience is most active during the day and tends to consume more content. Some social media management tools like Marky or Vista Social use AI to brainstorm ideas and create engaging posts and can help you schedule your posts on multiple social media channels ahead of time.

Pro tip:

Newsjacking works perfectly, but it requires significant creativity and expertise to produce this type of content. Our advice is to stick to creating time-sensitive and short-form content. In other words, content that is easier to consume, but is at the same time meaningful, interesting and appealing to your audience.

Utilising Paid Social Media Advertising

Social media marketing involves using paid advertising alongside organic posts. One of the primary advantages of social media ads is their cost-effectiveness in broadening your reach. By strategically managing your campaigns, you can present your content and promotions to a vast audience at a minimal expense. Social media platforms also provide highly detailed targeting options, enabling you to direct your budget towards the specific groups most likely to be interested in your business and content.

Social media platforms suitable to promote your paid content can be Facebook, Instagram, and in terms of digital marketing, Google Ads, where you can benefit from detailed targeting and spend your budget wisely.

Analysing and Measuring Success

There is no way to know if you are on the right track with your social media posts, presence and results from social media marketing unless you track metrics and KPIs. Social media metrics that matter include impressions, reach, engagement rate, customer satisfaction, audience growth rate, cost-per-click, click-through rate, and ROI. Don't allow "empty" or meaningless metrics like some followers or likes to mislead you. Yes, they are important but do not focus on them only because they mean nothing if the audience behind them is not engaged and does not make conversions. So track the metrics and KPIs that matter.

Google Analytics, Facebook and Instagram analytics give you rich and various reviews with important data and results from your social media marketing efforts.

Based on the performance data you collect, you can adjust your social media content strategy—either staying the course if it proves effective or making changes as needed. Don't wait and waste time - use the performance data and analytics to justify your future actions.

Social Media Marketing Best Practices

In the end, I will share with you some best practices for effective social media marketing that rocks!

Be consistent with posting:

Don't be chaotic. Find your voice and what interests your audience, then stick to it. Be consistent, and don't underestimate the power of regular postings and how people get accustomed to your steady presence.

Use hashtags:

In 2024, hashtags continue to be a powerful tool on social media. Represented by the hash symbol (#) followed by a string of characters or words without spaces, a hashtag primarily categorises content, making it easily searchable for users interested in particular topics;

Leverage content creation tools and analytics:

Benefit from the various content creation instruments and tools to help you with the monotonous and time-consuming tasks around content creation, scheduling and posting.

Don't be afraid of data and social media analytics. Yes, numbers are probably not your cup of tea (mine too!) but they are important because the related metrics are the only reliable proof of whether your efforts are worth it.

Collaborate with influencers and industry leaders:

Collaborating is a widespread practice and a powerful tool to try! Influencers and industry leaders are people with proven expertise, influence, and usually big and active audiences… What is better than the benefit of collaborating with them?

It doesn’t even have to be a big-name influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers to have an impact. And don't forget that the benefits are usually for both sides. Both of you can benefit from the other's influence, followers, and social media users, and the other from expertise and know-how. There are plenty of options to try and see what works well. Remember, social media networks and collaborations are a gold mine!

Keep up with trends and updates in social media good practices:

Be curious, try new things, and stay updated on the latest trends and strategies in social media marketing. One way to do this is by subscribing to newsletters or regularly reading blogs and news from top marketing leaders. Don't lose pace; the competition is fierce, and if you go out of sight of your audience, they will soon forget you and your business. Research your competitors, see what good practices they use, and incorporate new ideas into your content strategy.

Engage in conversations with your followers:

Be an active listener, gather insights from your audience, and be consistently present for them. Answer their questions in the comments, react, and engage attentively with both their pain points and happy moments. Users appreciate receiving attention and feeling valued, so show them how important they are to you.

Conclusion

Leveraging social media marketing is essential for the growth and success of your small business. Social media can be a big challenge, we know that! By understanding and utilising various social media platforms, you can effectively connect with your target audience, enhance your brand visibility, and build lasting customer relationships. In this guide, we tried to provide you with all the foundational knowledge you need to navigate the dynamic world of social media marketing.

Remember, social media marketing is not just about creating profiles and posting content. It requires a well-thought-out strategy, consistent engagement, and regular analysis of your efforts. By setting clear goals, researching your audience, choosing the right platforms, and developing a robust content strategy, you can maximise the impact of your social media presence.

Stay curious, keep up with the latest trends, and continually refine your approach based on data and feedback. Social media is a powerful tool that, when used effectively, can propel your small business to new heights.

Ready to grow Your Business with Expert Social Media Marketing?

At Digibees, we specialise in transforming small businesses through powerful social media strategies. We can help you connect with your target audience, enhance your brand's presence, and drive real results. Don't miss out on the opportunity to boost your revenue and build lasting customer loyalty with our all-in-one social media solutions!

Book a meeting today and let's grow your business together!