If you’re looking to expand and promote your business, social media is going to be your best friend. Due to the popularity, diversity, and reach the various social media platforms offer, it would be silly not to take advantage of the exposure and marketing opportunities available. No other strategy will come close in terms of cost, convenience, and time-effectiveness. Have you been wondering how to promote your business using social media?
Table of Contents
Why Use Social Media To Grow Your Business?
There are lots of reasons to use social media to grow your business. Here are a few:
- It’s free: There’s really no reason not to use it for this reason alone. Social media is essentially free marketing. Why wouldn’t you use it?
- Reach a massive audience of all different ages and demographics: Some of these people will be interested in what you have to offer.
- Increase your exposure. There isn’t a better way to get your message out there than social media sharing.
- Build your brand and establish your reputation: Create quality content that will benefit your readers and watch your brand grow.
- Promotes interaction: Develop the “like, know, and trust” factor by encouraging comments on your own posts, while commenting on others’ posts. Respond to the comments you receive, and your readers will come to view you as someone they can trust.
- Drive traffic to your blog: Increased exposure serves the purpose of driving more traffic to your website, which is the purpose of content marketing.
- Promote your products and services: Conveniently share what you’re offering to a huge audience.
- Increases conversions: This is the ultimate goal of internet marketing, equating to more sales.
#affiliate links
How To Promote Your Business With Social Media
Follow these tips to grow and promote your business on social media.
1. Share Your Content
The bread and butter of internet marketing is content creation. Writing engaging and helpful content in the form of weekly blog posts is what will brand your business, while positioning yourself as an expert in your field. It would be a shame not to share your informative and amazing articles with others. After all, you spent a lot of time creating them. This is where social media shines.
Every single time you produce an article, share it immediately to your social media channels, as a matter of course. It should automatically be part of the process, and will help enormously to grow your online presence. At a minimum, share your posts at least weekly. This communicates to your followers that you’re invested in your business, and care enough about your niche to update them weekly.
2. Add Social Media Buttons To Your Website
If you’re a WordPress user like me, you can use a simple plugin to add social media buttons to your website. People can then share your content in one easy click. At the end of each of your posts, include a call-to-action, inviting your readers to share your content. If you ask, they’re more likely to grant your request. Essentially, you now have recruited your readers to market for you.
Social share plugins allow you to choose which buttons you want to include, as well as their placement on your posts and pages. I use all the main platform buttons. I like mine to be both above and below my posts, making it easy for readers to find and click them. You can also determine where you want them placed on your pages.
3. Social Sharing
Connecting and building relationships, along with establishing a strong online presence isn’t just about sharing your own content, but sharing others’ as well. This is a win/win for everyone. If you’re writing a once-a-week post and sharing it, that’s great, but it may not be enough activity. This is where sharing other people’s content comes in.
They’ve done the hard work of creating it, so why not do yourself and them both a favor by distributing it. They’re more likely to return the favor if they see you liking and sharing their content. Many bloggers and marketers who share your niche are constantly creating content you can use to your advantage, and it’s right there at your fingertips, all you have to do is share it.
[Read More: Improve Your Writing Skills With These 5 Tips]
Sharing content informs your audience, builds your authority and trust, while adding diversity to your existing content. Unique, varied, and informative content also increases engagement, interaction, and discussion, which increases search engine optimization. As you can see there are many reasons to, not only create your own content, but share that of others.
4. Leverage Automation Tools
Automation makes it easy to share while you sleep. Hootsuite and Tailwind Tribes are two great platforms that make this possible. Tailwind is a Pinterest and Instagram marketing toolkit for small businesses and bloggers. Schedule your posts, discover relevant content, monitor your conversions, while amplifying your reach. You can get started for free – no credit card is required.
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that saves you time by scheduling hundreds of posts at one time across all your social accounts. You can also measure the impact of your campaigns, and measure conversions according to specific social channels. And if you want to find out what people are saying about your brand, industry, and competitors, you can filter social conversations by hashtag, keyword, and location.
[Read More: How To Get MORE Followers On Pinterest & Instagram [Pssst – Use Tailwind Tribes]
5. Interaction With Others
Liking and sharing are important, but so is commenting since social media is about establishing relationships. Post a thoughtful comment on an article you found interesting before sharing. This will help people get to know you better, and see you as a real life person with thoughts and opinions.
Comments give you valuable feedback and insights about what your readers are thinking. They can also give you ideas for future posts, further meeting the needs of potential customers. Interaction and engagement is social proof that people are finding your articles interesting and worth commenting on. Below is a great book if you want to learn more about social media marketing:
“Social Media Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, Book and DVD Bundle.”
6. Consistency Is Key
Growing your social media presence requires consistency. It’s not enough to get on Facebook or Twitter every couple of weeks, and like and share a post or two. Try to put in place a consistent social media strategy and stick to it. If posting and sharing content three times a week works for you, then religiously stick to that schedule. A consistent presence will boost your analytics, increase traffic to your blog, and ultimately increase your conversions, leading to more sales and revenue.
A few minutes of activity three times a week looks better than two hours of activity once a week here and there. You get the point. The goal is to stay front and center in the minds of those you create content for. Sporadically sharing and liking won’t get you the results you’re hoping for, it takes more of a concerted effort.
7. Be Active On All Major Social Media Platforms
Although, certain social media channels resonate with me more than others, I try to make an effort to use the ones I don’t have as much of a feel for, hoping that the more I familiarize myself with them, the more I’ll enjoy posting, sharing, and interacting. I know I’ve talked a lot about posts and articles here, but please don’t forget to also share your images, quotes, and videos.
At the very least, choose two platforms you like, and keep active on them. My two favorites are Facebook and Pinterest, but I also use Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you’re not familiar with Canva, you’re missing out. It’s a free design tool that allows you to customize your posts for each specific social media platform. For instance, Pinterest prefers their users to use a vertical format when posting, while Instagram’s format for users is square.
[Read More: How To Use Canva For Your Online Business]
Building An Online Business
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Key Points
Start harnessing social media if you’re serious about promoting your business. Share your articles and videos, share other people’s content, encourage comments on your blog, while commenting on others, and remember – consistency is key.
Do you use social media to market your business? What tips and tricks have you found to be helpful? Let me know in the comments:)
Your blog post was an interesting read. I’ve heard of Hootsuite which I use to schedule my Facebook posts but not Tailwind. I use social media, namely Facebook which I post daily & Instagram which I try to post regularly but boy is it hard to be consistent.
Tailwind is great and easy to use. I’m really enjoying it. I get where you’re coming from, it takes a concerted effort to be consistent!
Hi Holly, these 7 tips you are helping visitors to grow their website business on the many Social Media platforms are extremely helpful and make so much sense.
I think sharing other peoples links is the most effective part of networking on Social Media yet is ignored by so many. Sharing gets likes & comments and the occasional re-share which in return reaches out to another audience which in return achieves more followers and so on which can exponentially grow your business.
I’m no expert on Social Media – far from it, however, I was given many of the tips you mention here by an experienced blogger, like yourself, who advised me to set up a Social Media plan and stick to it. Like you say, consistency is key.
I have learnt many additional methods reading through your post, thanks for advising and sharing,
Simon.
Thanks for reading and commenting Simon. Yes, consistency is key with social media marketing, as with all other endeavors!
These are really great tips. They have come just in time for me.
I am not a fan of social media. When it comes to using the platforms in order to help my business, I get a big fat F for failure.
I do post my content as soon as I publish it. I am not active on social media though. Your tip about consistency makes sense.
I don’t really know how to fully utilize Pinterest. I will start being active though on two of the platforms and see how it goes.
I really do appreciate your tips. I need all the help I can get.
Do you have any tips for using Pinterest?
Hi Lee Ann,
I understand how you feel about social media. It can be daunting, especially if you try to work all the platforms. Choose one or two.
If you like Pinterest, begin by opening a business account, and then post your weekly blog posts to that account.
Create a board with your website name so all your posts can be within that one board. The name should look like this: websitename.com|blog posts.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Wow, what an informative post. I must agree with you that content and persistence are key when it comes to social media.
I haven’t heard of Tailwind, just Hootsuite, though I have never tried it. Am going to give it a try.
Hi David,
Thank you. Give Tailwind a try. It’s awesome!