Small businesses rely on social media to reach customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales. In today’s competitive market, a strong social media presence is essential for standing out.
It helps businesses create an identity, build community, and attract new customers. A well-planned social media strategy delivers results. Many successful brands have been built on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
While crafting a strategy can feel overwhelming, mastering social media is crucial for growth in the global market. This guide covers the basics of using social media to grow a business.
Getting Started With Social Media
Building a social media platform starts with the basics. Here are key tips to help manage social media and give a solid foundation before posting:
- Do a competitive analysis: Look at what your competitors are posting. Identify content that gets attention and engagement and tailor it to fit your brand. Learn from what’s working for others in your industry to reduce your learning curve.
- Set goals for your social media account: Use analytics tools to track when your audience is most active and what content performs best. Start with platform-specific tools like Twitter Analytics, then expand to broader tools like Google Analytics as your brand grows. Set achievable goals that fit your audience and align with industry standards. Start small and build from there.
- Create a social media plan and calendar: A clear plan helps you post at the right times and on the right platforms, ensuring your content reaches your audience when they’re most active. A calendar keeps your posting consistent and strategic.
- Take inspiration from the success of others: Look at brands that are excelling on social media. Analyze their strategies and adapt what works to your own brand and audience.
Basic Rules of Posting on Social Media
To keep your audience engaged, timing and frequency are key. It’s important to post at the right times and share content that resonates. Posting too much can backfire, leading to audience fatigue or even unfollows.
Not every post will be a game-changer. Focus on sharing content that matters most to your audience. Irrelevant or repetitive posts can cause potential customers to lose interest or disengage.
Here are some basic rules for posting on social media:
Rule #1: Post at Least 2 Times a Day
Consistency is essential. Posting regularly keeps your brand visible and keeps your audience engaged. Aim for at least 2-4 posts per day, depending on the platform. Audiences worldwide expect frequent updates, and posting daily, multiple times a day, is key to staying relevant.
Different platforms have different expectations. The next steps will cover how often to post on each major social media platform.
Rule #2: Post in the Morning, Afternoon, and Evening
Audience activity peaks at different times throughout the day. To maximize engagement, post during key periods: early morning, afternoon, and evening. These are times when users are most active—when they wake up, during breaks, and after work.
The exact timing may vary depending on the platform. Next, we’ll cover the best posting times for each of the six major social media platforms.
Rule #3: Use Text, Visuals, and Hashtags
Please keep it simple when starting out. A strong social media post needs three key elements:
- Text: A clear, engaging caption that describes your message.
- Visual: A photo, GIF, or video to grab attention and support your message.
- Hashtags: Relevant keywords to increase visibility and searchability.
These elements make up the foundation of a successful post that catches interest and stands out on social media.
Setting Your Social Media Goals for Your Business
Social media offers clear benefits for business growth. However, achieving these benefits requires focus and planning. Setting clear goals is essential.
Social media goals should align with the business’s specific needs. Multiple goals can overlap and influence each other, shaping everything from content strategy to the choice of platforms.
These goals guide decisions, ensuring efforts contribute directly to business growth on a global scale.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to goal-setting, but following these steps can simplify the process:
- Start with the big picture. Why does the business need a social media presence? What resources are required to achieve the desired results?
- Understand the target audience. How do they use social media? Are they more active on platforms like TikTok or Instagram? What type of content do they engage with? Tailor your strategy to meet their needs.
- Consider the broader marketing strategy. How does social media integrate into the overall plan?
- Set measurable goals linked to clear metrics and KPIs. Tracking engagement, traffic, and other relevant data points is essential in proving ROI.
Example B2B Social Media Goals and KPIs:
- Brand Awareness: Growth, Engagement
- Consideration: Link clicks, web traffic
- Lead generation: Marketing qualified leads (MQLs)
- Competitor analysis: Share of voice, market share
- Audience Engagement: Likes, shares, replies
- Customer loyalty: Experience (CX), churn reduction
- Customer service: Response speed, engagement rates
- Reputation management: Monitoring online sentiment, reviews
- Customer satisfaction: Positive feedback, reviews
Sample B2C Social Media Goals and KPIs:
- Brand Awareness: Growth, Engagement
- Consideration: Link clicks, web traffic
- New sales opportunities: Identify conversations, join discussions
- Brand expansion: Explore new markets, audiences
- Reputation management: Respond to inbound messages, engage actively
- Customer satisfaction: Monitor feedback, improve experiences
- Customer loyalty: Increase repeat interactions, brand advocacy
- Product launch analysis: Track awareness and engagement post-launch
- Competitive analysis: Compare social performance, track competitors
Creating a Social Media Strategy for Business
Once the goals are set, it’s time to build a plan. Posting without direction wastes time and fails to achieve results. A solid strategy ensures social media efforts are focused and productive.
Here’s a simplified approach to creating a social media strategy:
- Align goals with challenges: Make sure social media goals directly address business challenges.
- Involve the entire organization: Social media marketing should extend beyond the marketing department. Get other teams involved for better results.
- Prioritize valuable networks: Focus on platforms where the target audience is most active and engaged. Not all networks are worth the effort.
- Create engaging content: Content should be relevant, compelling, and aligned with your audience’s interests.
- Spot business opportunities: Use social media to identify new markets, trends, and customer needs.
- Engage, don’t ignore: Respond to comments, messages, and feedback. Active engagement builds stronger connections.
- Track and improve: Monitor performance, adjust strategies, and measure impact continuously to refine the approach.
How Often Should a Business Post on Social Media?
The frequency of social media posting varies based on business goals and audience. Algorithms on each platform also affect how content is seen, rewarding consistent activity and engagement over volume.
Here’s a breakdown of suggested posting frequencies for different platforms, ideal for reaching a global audience:
- Pinterest: Post once a week.
- X (formerly Twitter): Post 2-3 times per day. Use relevant hashtags.
- Instagram: Post 3-5 times a week. Include stories, reels, and live sessions.
- Meta (Facebook): Post 1-2 times daily, including live content.
- TikTok: Post 3-5 times per week.
- LinkedIn: Post 1-2 times per day.
Conclusion
Choosing the right social media platforms and using them effectively can drive significant growth for a business. When evaluating social media options, focus on key business goals and budgets.
Social media marketing enables businesses to reach a global audience, generate leads, build a brand, engage customers, and target ads for maximum impact.