Social media marketing is an integral part of the overall digital advertisement campaign for any business. Especially, small businesses and new startups can benefit from many social media platforms.
Some of these like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok have now become household names. The major benefit of advertising your products or services through these platforms is instant lead generation.
Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, TikTok Ads and other platforms advertisement campaigns bring instant lead generation. With these ad campaigns, your ads show on people’s feeds where they can interact instantly. From building your brand awareness to boosting trust, social media advertisement has many great benefits. Small businesses can grow big revenues with marketing campaigns on these platforms.
Why Social Media Marketing for Small Business?
So, why is social media marketing for small business so important? Whether you are a local business or a small online business, social platforms can provide that initial push. Some businesses are based solely on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others. Statistically, there are more than 4.2 billion active users on major social media platforms. So, your brand needs to be where your potential buyers and customers are. Some reasons why social media marketing for small business is so important, include:
- Expand your reach through social media to potential customers
- Boost your brand awareness through efficient social media ads for small business
- Understand your customer needs and preferences better
- Analyze and understand your competitors and target market better
- Build long-term relationships with your customers and buyers
Which Social Media Platforms to Target for Small Business Advertisement?
The other important question is, which social media platforms should you target for small business advertisement? Different businesses always have different target markets, target audiences and many other factors. Also, it is important to not assume where your target customers are. Like many people believe that more of the Gen Z audiences are on Instagram and not on Facebook. However, data shows that about a quarter of Facebook users are aged between 18 and 24.
For brands targeting baby boomers, social media might not even be a top priority. Yet, Facebook and Pinterest are top networks for boomers. For adults aged over 65, Facebook holds a lot of value too.
Selecting the social media platform doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing approach at all. Different channels are available offer certain different benefits and easier goal achievement. So, here below is some more light being shed on best social media marketing for small business options:
Despite all this negative press about Facebook, it continues to be the biggest social media platform globally. There are somewhere in the range of 2.9 billion active monthly Facebook users. Also, data shows that there are more than 200 million businesses advertising here too.
Facebook provides a great social media marketing for small business platform because:
- Wider demographic range – One of the key features of Facebook is its such diverse demographic range. Users on the platform range in all age, gender and interest groups. This makes it easier for businesses to filter Facebook ads for specific users or target audience.
- So many options – That once Facebook page created from your personal account can run marketing campaigns across all Meta products that includes Instagram too. Also, you can track audience data and create your Facebook shop too from that one single page.
- Facebook Shop for all – That Facebook shop can be the one stop platform. It can be the complete journey your customer goes through from the very first interaction to the final sale.
Some key questions when looking to use Facebook Ads for small business include:
- What is my target audience? Small businesses need to ask this question before starting the Facebook ads campaign. Most of Facebook’s engaged users fall in the 18-44 age bracket. This becomes a more important question keeping in mind this age demographic.
- Are your business goals defined? Facebook offers a wide selection of goals. These include brand visibility, sell more products in shop or bring more website traffic. There are more too. If your goals are set, you would know if Facebook Ads are the right social media marketing for small business option for you.
- Do you have the time for Facebook? Research has shown that posting 1-2 posts everyday on Facebook is the best way to go. Ask yourself if you can commit this amount of time and effort to the platform.
Marketers believe that Instagram is a platform where you can be more specific about your niche. Whether your business is in food, film, fashion or sports, there are more chances of capturing relevant audience here. Instagram Ads also successfully capture younger audiences ranging between 18 and 34.
Instagram is the top social media marketing for small business platform because:
- In-App shopping – On Instagram, customers can easily buy products from within the app. When they see your products in Reels and Stories, they can be setup to provide purchase opportunity.
- More visual approach – Instagram as a network has always been and is more about visuals. This makes it ideal for businesses niches including fashion, travel, beauty, food and similar ones.
- More engagement – Average Instagram user spends around 11 hours per month on it. This is far more than any other similar sharing app.
Some important questions when looking to start an Instagram ads campaign for your business include:
- Do I have a visually well-presented brand? Instagram is a mostly visual platform. So, if your brand is well presented visually, by all means, advertise on Instagram.
- Can I create visually appeal content regularly? Instagram, like any other social platform requires regularity. Posting on it 3-7 times a week is recommended.
Twitter is also another generalized social media platform. It is one of the most visited websites around the world with more than 200 million active daily users. Thing that separates Twitter is that its users are highly engaged shoppers generally. Twitter is great for social media marketing for small business because:
- Twitter is conversational – Engagement in conversations is very high on Twitter. Make this conversation between your brand and your customers for best results.
- Real-Time response – Twitter has also become the source of news where people go to find out what’s happing or trending. This makes it a very updated and instant result platform.
- Power of hashtags – Twitter supports hashtags better than many other platforms. It is a great way to include your content into currently trending topics.
Some questions to ask for Twitter ads campaign include:
- Are my customers active on Twitter? Do the research and find out if your potential customers are actively using Twitter. If not, it might not be the best platform for your ads.
- Is my business news content friendly? Twitter is not the perfect platform for sharing images or videos. However, if your type of business involves a lot of news and updates, Twitter is the best social media advertisement platform.
- How much time and resources do I have for Twitter? Twitter campaigns need 1 to 5 times Tweeting per day. If your business cannot commit to this level, thing elsewhere.
TikTok
TikTok might be newer than many other famous social media platforms. Yet, it is the most followed one for younger users. It is also the best social media marketing tool for video-specific content. TikTok is a great social media marketing for small business platform because:
- It is for everyone – TikTok is an advertisement platform for every business or even individual. It does not require huge budget allocation to produce highly engaging content.
- More creativity supported – If you can think outside the box for your business marketing campaign, TikTok is the perfect platform to run ad campaigns.
- Its Viral – TikTok has time and again proven to be a great viral content generation platform. If you can produce good engaging content, it will go viral being seen by millions. This equates to high sales and revenue generation when done right.
Some important questions to make TikTok your social media marketing for small business platform include:
- Can you create TikTok videos often? TikTok is video content-based platform. Ask yourself if you can find the time to create engaging videos for your business.
- Is your target audience on TikTok? TikTok’s trends show data that it is for people aged between 18 and 24. So, if your business advertises to younger audience, it is a great option.
- Is your business of viral nature? Not all businesses tend to be of that viral nature. Businesses from fashion, beauty, film industry and other similar ones tend to fair better.
YouTube
When it comes to detailed video platform, YouTube has no match currently. It boasts a potential reach of more than 2.5 billion. YouTube bas become a great social media platform to promote products and services of all kinds and types. It also has one of the biggest audience bases in the world. YouTube is a great platform to provide social media marketing for small business because:
- Drive intent-based audience to your website – Businesses that have a good website, can use YouTube to drive a lot of intent-based traffic. Include a link in the description and provide engaging informative content for people to interact.
- Improves your SEO – YouTube is owned by Google. This is why YouTube videos also appear in Google search results. If yours can find its way to the top page, it will improve your SEO.
- Build more brand awareness – YouTube is one of the biggest platforms in the world currently. It will continue to do so in the future too. Engage more users and potential customers to boost your brand awareness in the long-term.
Some questions you need to ask to make YouTube the social media marketing for small business platform are:
- How video friendly is my business? Many business selling products or services are video friendly. There are also some that are not. If your business is video friendly and you can dedicate the time and resources to produce those quality videos often, surely go on YouTube.
- What is my USP? Unique selling points are of too much importance on YouTube. So, because there is so much competition there, you need to have a USP. If you do not have a differentiating factor, YouTube ads can go to waste largely.
- How regularly can I provide content? Once you start a YouTube channel for your business, regular content flow is required. Once a month, once a week and even once a day are all good routines. But, to create those longer videos, you need a lot of commitment.
Essential Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips
Social media marketing for small business pros like XpertSol provide the essential insight for your campaign to be successful. If your small business or new startup has the means, campaigns on all of these platforms together make a lot of sense. Some important tips are:
- Plan social media content in advance
- Create a variety of social media content including images, infographics, videos and blog posts
- Use scheduling tools to schedule social media posts to guarantee regularity
- Work on community management through different social media pages and profiles
- Always pay attention and keep updated with latest trends. Use hashtags where possible
- Sell your products or services through social media pages. Create easy carts on social media
- Use analytics intelligently to guide future posts on all your social channels
How Can XpertSol Help in Netherlands?
XpertSol is one of the best social media marketing for small business partners in Netherlands. We have very affordably setup campaign plans available for new startups and small businesses across the country. Our professional social media content creators produce the most engaging content for every platform. From images to text and videos to infographics, we have a team of professionals that can help. We have made many small businesses in the country and across other markets successful quickly. Get in touch and find out how we can help bring quick success and instant sales revenue generation for your business through social media advertisement in Netherlands.