COVID-19 forced small businesses to make serious changes if they wanted to stay afloat. E-commerce sales during the pandemic surged, and people spent more time researching and connecting with businesses online rather than in person.

Now, as we enter a post-pandemic world, maintaining a strong digital presence is more important than ever to keep up with competitors online. That starts with establishing an effective social media strategy.

As a small business owner, you might be wondering why it’s important to take time out of your day to post about your business and what you’re doing. However, customers want a connection. When you humanize your business with social media, you’ll be more recognizable in your community, build trustworthy relationships, and win over new customers that may not have otherwise discovered you.

Chances are, you didn’t start your small business because you were an expert in social media. You don’t have to be! With a few tips and tricks, you can develop an effective social media strategy for your business that boosts sales, builds loyalty, and establishes brand recognition. Let’s cover a few steps that will help you get started.

Choose the Right Channels

As of January 2022, there are 17 social media platforms with at least 300 million active users. Before you start adding up how many hours it’ll take to monitor activity on 17 different, global social media channels, take a deep breath. You don’t have to be active on every single platform.

In fact, it’s a good idea to be selective with your social media channels, choosing to build a presence on the ones that make the most sense for your business and audience.

Start by taking a look at some comparable brands that have seen social media success. Then, research smaller competitors. Take a look at what they’re posting, where they’re posting it, and which content is getting the most engagement. If a comparable business is on Twitter but they don’t have a large following, you might want to invest your time on other platforms to hone in on your target audience.

It’s also important to understand the different uses of each platform. For example, if you want to focus on visuals and showcasing products, Instagram might be your main focus. If you want to increase engagement and start conversations, consider platforms like Facebook. If you want to reach a younger audience and let your creativity shine, try TikTok or Snapchat.

Recognize that there are pros and cons to every platform. On Facebook, you don’t have a lot of control, your SEO options are limited, and if you want to be seen quickly by your target audience, you’ll likely have to pay for advertising. However, it’s still the best option for many businesses as long as you weigh the risks and rewards.

Perfect Your Platforms

Once you’ve narrowed down your platforms to a few that can be easily managed, it’s time to start optimizing your profiles.

If you have existing imagery for your brand, it should be used consistently across every social media platform. That includes things like:

  • Logos
  • Photo styles
  • Fonts
  • Color schemes
  • Language

No matter where customers are looking for you on social media, they should be able to recognize your brand quickly and easily. Your digital presence is crucial to attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, so make sure it’s easy to find as much information as possible about your business on every platform you use.

In addition to brand recognition, the information available to your audience should include your location, contact information, a basic description of your business, and a link to your website.

Once you’ve optimized your business profiles, you can start to collect data and track social metrics. Your goals should determine your metrics whether you aim to increase engagement, boost conversions, or simply gain more followers. The more data you collect, the more you’ll be able to optimize each profile and focus on creating the right kind of content that fits your brand and entices your audience.

Best Posting Practices

With the data you collect via your platforms, you’ll develop a better understanding of what’s resonating with your audience. However, it’s still important to know the when, what, and where of posting best practices.

Thankfully, you can get a handle on all of these practices by analyzing internal and external data. Take a look at the internal numbers, including impressions, as well as external data such as likes and mentions. Then, you can start dissecting.

One of your goals should always be to increase engagement. The more your audience feels connected to you, the less they’ll see you as a business trying to sell a product and the more they’ll look at you as a trustworthy resource.

For example, some of the best practices to boost engagement on Instagram include:

  • Creating valuable content;
  • Mastering your aesthetic;
  • Using hashtags;
  • Embracing video content;
  • Responding to comments and questions.

Not only will you eventually get a feel for the type of content people are talking about, but you’ll start to see the best times to post that content, as well. For example, if you’re catering to a younger crowd, they might be more likely to see a post in the evening. You can use different suites and software programs to schedule posts ahead of time, optimizing your content without having to be physically present.

As a small business owner, you’ve already got a lot on your plate. However, social media shouldn’t be something that takes a back seat in your marketing strategy. By opening yourself up to engagement and showing brand consistency across different platforms, you’ll make the most of your target audience and become a brand with which consumers love to connect. That’s what will help to build long-term customer relationships that will keep your business successful for years.

About the Author: Beau Peters is a freelance writer from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for purpose-driven business content.