Milwaukee Fashion + Lifestyle Blog
Let’s face it, social media is a crowded space. And with how to best use it to grow your business changing all of the time (I see you, algorithm), I know it can feel overwhelming, to say the least. Especially if you’re a small business owner. Social media can be such an important aspect of your digital marketing strategy, and in the exception of advertising, can be a free way for you to access your target audience and turn followers into customers.
But I know the feeling that even when you think that you have it all figured out, something changes. The story is the same – you get the hang of how and when and where to post, and then all of the sudden you need to add video or go live, create reels or get on TikTok, and the hashtags you’re using are no longer the right ones. Though I do recommend trying to stay up to date with the trends on social media, if it’s relevant for your business and audience, I do have a few consistent tips for small businesses or anyone who is trying to stand out on social media.
The first, and arguably the most important thing to remember when you’re posting on social media as a part of your digital marketing strategy, is to be authentic. In this case, authentic does not mean original. I know that it’s hard to feel like anything you’re posting, sharing, or saying hasn’t been posted, shared, or said before, but it’s important to remember that it’s not always what you do, but how you do it. No one has ever posted, shared, or said it quite like you do, which is why making sure it looks + feels + sounds like you is so important.
Authenticity means making sure that the content you create sounds like you or your business. The colors, words, images, and messages that you utilize in your content should align to your brand, and it should feel the same for your audience whether they’re seeing it on Instagram, Facebook, your website, etc. Authenticity also means sharing your story, and the how and why you and your business do what you do. Talking about your values, journey, struggles, and mission is crucial for your customers to understand your brand and trust your business.
We know that everyone loves to hate the algorithm. When new changes are released, so many small business owners just cringe thinking about how it might affect their current strategy and subsequently, their engagement. But if changes are made to the algorithm or new features added to the social media platforms you use, I recommend setting aside some time to learn about the updates and determine whether you want to incorporate them into your current strategy. If they don’t make sense for your business or your audience, then there’s your answer. No need to learn any more about them and change what you’re doing.
But if the changes or new features make sense for your business, and your audience responds well to that kind of content, it’s important to be agile and familiarize yourself with it. When Instagram released the Reels functionality (to combat the success of TikTok, particularly for younger users), they tend to prioritize that content in the algorithm or on the feed, which can lead to a lot of growth and engagement for accounts that post Reels. Introducing new features and different types of content into your overall strategy, however slowly or just a little bit at a time, can be important for the longterm success of your social media marketing strategy.
This seems obvious, since we are talking about SOCIAL media, but a lot of times, I see a lot of brands and businesses post content and then immediately move on to the next one. When used properly, social media can feel like just that – SOCIAL. This is a space where you have direct, seemingly uninterrupted access to your target audience. So get social with them. Always include questions or a call to action in your caption, answer questions or respond to comments on your content, and most importantly, when a customer slides into those DM’s (direct messages), respond to them. Have you ever been a part of a conversation where the other party didn’t respond to you? I’m guessing that conversation (and relationship) didn’t last long.
And it goes both ways! You need to respond to and engage with followers who interact with your content, and you should engage with other brands, businesses, or followers’ content as well. Especially when your customers are sharing content of them using your product or talking about your service, like it, comment on it, share it, all of the above! If your followers are behaving a certain way on social media that you want to see more often, encourage them by engaging with their content! It seems so easy, but it does take time, so setting aside time to be social on social media is crucial to be successful.
You don’t need to be an artist, designer, marketer, etc. to be creative. As an entrepreneur, small business owner, influencer, whatever – believe me, you’re already creative. It’s just a matter of applying that creativity to your social media strategy. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to FAIL at it. We all do it. But when you try new things, there’s always a chance that you’re going to SUCCEED and blow the roof off! Don’t let that little constant companion called fear tell you how and what and when to do things. If you have an idea for a new campaign or series of content, go for it. The key to learning more about your social media strategy is to actually try different tactics to see what does and doesn’t work.
And this goes back to the authentic vs. original question. Being creative doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing something that’s never been done before. But you’re doing something your way and that’s reminiscent of your brand or business. Just because you had an idea and then saw someone else did something similar, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow through with your idea. Chances are, it won’t turn out the same because you’re putting your own personal creative spin on it.
Though there’s a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to how often and when and what you should post, you need to do what’s best for you and your business. For a lot of small business owners, who may not have the financial capacity to have an in-house marketing team focused on social media, that could mean the work falls on your shoulders or maybe a part-time specialist. If posting 3-4 times a week is what makes sense for you and is viable, without overwhelming the day to day of your business, then do that. If you have the capacity to post 1-2x every day, then do that! But, as much as possible, be consistent. The easiest way to do this is to plan ahead, use available tools, and work on your content in batches.
I’ve seen a lot of small business owners who try to go through the week and post content manually each day. They may have a plan, but it’s so much easier to create and schedule posts out ahead of time and use tools to either automatically post or remind you to post, depending on the type of content. When you’re working through your monthly and weekly to-do’s, make sure that you’re setting aside some time to think through and plan your social media strategy. And creating content, writing posts, and scheduling them in advance is a few hours of work that day, but saves you so much time every day. Planning ahead and maintaining consistency when you post lets your audience know what to expect and helps you stand out on social media.
When it comes down to it, social media offers a unique avenue for interacting and engaging with your current and potential customers. In order to stand out on social media, I recommend you focus on being authentic, agile, social, creative, and consistent. But in the end, you need to do what’s best for your business and don’t get bogged down with the “should do’s” and “need to do’s” in order to be successful. Every business is different, so crafting a social media marketing strategy that is unique to your business, brand, capabilities, and audience is important to set yourself apart.
