Small Businesses Can Leverage Social Media For Growth

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Today’s business environment is influenced majorly by social media presence. Small businesses that thrive, especially startups, depend on social media marketing to build a name for themselves.

With more people using social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, it is only reasonable for business owners to take advantage of such platforms to advertise their brands and products. 

 

However, such moves only work with the proper utilization of such sites. Therefore, small business owners must understand how to leverage Facebook and Instagram to benefit their businesses and boost growth.

This article attempts to explain how businesses can achieve this with so much ease. Keep reading for more insights.

 

Why It’s Important To Use Social Media In Today’s Context

You cannot underestimate the significance of social media in business today.

It is crucial since it allows business owners and marketers to reach, engage, and interact with potential customers directly. Moreover, it is a meaningful way to gather relevant information that influences many business decisions that guarantee profitability and business sustainability.

Therefore, anyone who ignores social media marketing in this era is almost giving themselves up for failure.

This may sound dramatic.

If your customers are on it, so should you.

 

Research shows that at least more than 70 percent of small- to medium-sized enterprises rely on social media advertisement. Of these groups, 52 percent post daily. To even convince you further, you may want to know that 55 percent of consumers tend to learn about new brands on social media (source, The Harris Poll). 

 

What’s more, a staggering 68 percent of social media users reported that social media allows them to interact with their favorite brands, something that was not there before. These stats cannot be ignored by any business person intending to thrive considering the different meanings they potentially represent.

What’s more, when used appropriately, such information can help a business expand.

 

Now that we agree that social media is not something a small business owner can ignore, it is crucial to figure out which social media platform to use to achieve their goal. Several social media platforms yield positive results. These include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram are more popular for small business Ads, which is why we will explore them further.

What It Takes To Promote Your Small Businesses On Facebook And Instagram

 

Advertising on Facebook and Instagram is not rocket science. However, it would help if you avoided the basic mistakes that most rookies make when they get on these platforms. Focus on what works and run with it.

So what would be ideal?

 

For Facebook

 

 

Facebook is one of the most frequented sites in the world.

 

Therefore, it is not surprising that many small businesses use ads on Facebook to attract new customers. The secret to thriving on Facebook is creating posts that appeal to the target audience, posting regularly, engaging followers, using Facebook ads, and using all features, including FacebookLivee, Facebook videos, and Facebook stories.

 

These are useful advertising features that should not be ignored.

 

Getting Started

 

1. Signup and create a business page that is different from your account. You will have to follow simple prompts for this.
2. Once you have a business page, add photos that are a representation of your business. Use high-quality photos for a great first impression and save them.
3. Come up with an enticing and unique username to help users find you easily.
4. Enter your business information to customize the page and make it stand out. Define categories and use keywords to improve your chances of being found.
5. Tell your business story by expounding more on the description. List products, and services, and explain why your business is unique.
6. Create the first post before inviting people to like and participate. It can be simple or as detailed as you want.
7. Publish and invite followers. Once everything is complete, publish the content and invite people to come and support you.

 

For Instagram

 

 

 

Business owners must understand the type of Ads that work for Instagram. These include:

1. Photo Ads: Use photos to tell a story. Ensure to use a simple, clear, and beautiful creative canvas with photos either in landscape, square, or portrait.
2. Video Ads: Use visually immersive videos created with the same great-quality of photos. Make your videos 60 seconds long.
3. Stories Ads: This is a unique, full-screen format of advertising that uses an engaging and creative strategy to sell people-based solutions. The idea is to sell trust believably.
4. Carousel Ads: This strategy allows additional depth since business owners can add several photos or videos in one for people to swipe and view more details within a single Ad.
5. Ads in Explore: This is a strategy that targets reaching people who want more than the accounts they follow.

 

Starting Your Journey on Instagram

 

If you wonder how to create and publish a post on Instagram, the following steps will come in very handy.

1. Create a free business account
2. Select the ideal photo or video for the ad (It could be something already shared or one you create from scratch)
3. Set up a promotion. Think of the audience, the destination of the ad, the budget, and the ad’s duration. You can choose to customize using Instagram’s suggested options
4. Publish thread. Once you are convinced about the promotion, tap to publish. If successful, you will receive a notification.

 

Combining Facebook and Instagram Works For Small Businesses

 

 

While both platforms are still great when working independently, they are better when used together. Considering that most people spend most of their time either on Instagram or Facebook, it is only reasonable that small businesses take advantage of this. Stats show that for every five minutes,s people spend online, one minute is spent on these two platforms.

 

In addition, advertisers reported an improvement in their ad campaigns when they used Facebook and Instagram ads together. 

 

You can add your Ads on both platforms using either the Power Editor or the Ads Manager in the Instagram box located under the ad set’s placement. This allows businesses to reach out to more people without necessarily having to use a lot of effort.

 

Further results have shown that campaigns across both platforms have resulted in more and better website conversions, web clicks, mobile app installations, and video views compared to those that ran only on one platform. 

 

See how brands are using both Facebook and Instagram in this article.

 

 

Final Thoughts On Small Businesses Leveraging Social Media

 

We live in a time and era where social media ads are the inthing. Startups or small businesses should consider investing in social media advertisement. Facebook and Instagram are great places to start if you want to grow fast and reach out to more potential customers.

 

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