How to Use Social Media for Small Business
It’s not as simple as people think. Sure, after a decade of working on it, I have one heck of a nice following on social media. But small businesses typically don’t have ten years to ramp up and create momentum on their strategy. Even in my small business, my ability to execute a highly strategic social media marketing initiative for my small business is a challenge. I know I need to continue growing my reach and authority, but I can’t do it at the cost of my business.
For small businesses, a lack of resources often stands in the way of achieving social media success. Fortunately, there is a way for small businesses to manage social, even when they lack time, personnel, and budget. In this post, we look at strategies to create an effective social media strategy with minimal resources. Kristi Hines, Salesforce Canada Blog
Salesforce has broken down a social media strategy for small business to 5 basic stages.
- Set Realistic Goals
- Choose the Right Networks to Achieve Your Goals
- Focus on the Activity that Will Help You Achieve Your Goals
- Spend Advertising Budgets on Targeted Advertising
- Measure Your Results
I’d add that this is not a complete path, it’s a circle. After you measure your results, you must return to #1 again and reset your goals and work through the process… refining and optimizing your strategy along the way. I also don’t believe that you have to choose which networks, it’s more of a matter of testing and optimizing each for the audience that’s there. You may wish to increase sales on LinkedIn, but increase awareness on Facebook – for example.