Social Media Tips for Local Small Businesses
Last night, I was invited to speak at the Macklind Business District’s annual holiday party at the SOHA Art Gallery. The Macklind Business District is made up of independently-owned restaurants, retail shops and service providers located in the Southampton neighborhood in south St. Louis City.
I told them what I’ve been saying for years – there is no perfect formula for social media marketing. It’s different for every business. I wanted to share with them five of my best tips for using social media. Things that I do every day as a social media professional that they can apply to their online marketing efforts as well.
1. Be A User
Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare – these (along with countless other social media networks) are great tools to promote your business. And one of the best things you can do is to be a user yourself. Set up an account and play around a bit. Get to know how people use it. It will help you connect with your customers better because you will understand what they want from the tool.
Also, find other brands that are using the tool and follow them for inspiration. At Atomicdust, I work with a lot of healthcare clients, but I’ve gotten ideas for content from brands like Red Bull, Hershey’s Chocolate and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
2. Read Mashable
Social media is a full-time job. You could spend all day on blogs and websites reading articles about the latest social media news and technology… or you could read Mashable.
Mashable does a great job of curating the latest social media, mobile, technology and business news. And their articles are easy to read, too. If you have time to look at one site each week, look at Mashable.
3. Use Facebook Ads
If you are going to use Facebook, I highly recommend Facebook Ads. Every client I’ve worked with has seen incredible growth on their pages after running ads. In fact, generally about 70% of their new users come from the advertisements and sponsored stories.
Facebook Ads are cost effective and easy to set up, edit and understand the reporting metrics you get back. To top it off, the targeting is incredible. Want to target females in St. Louis that are in their twenties and like gardening and have been engaged less than six months? Sure, Facebook can do that for you.
Just two little bits of advice about Facebook Ads –
- Direct them to a page on Facebook, not an external URL. Most people get a limited amount of time to spend on Facebook and they don’t want to leave.
- Run short campaigns that last a couple of days or a couple of weeks. Facebook Ads get stale pretty quickly, so if you do decide to run ads continuously, you’ll want to go in and refresh the copy, image or targeting every week or so to keep them fresh.
- Consider setting a lifetime budget as opposed to daily spend. The daily spend can add up quickly, and it’s easier to think in terms of campaigns with $30 here or $100 there.
4. Find a Mentor
Connect with someone you know that either works in social media or is an avid user. It could be a friend, family member, or fellow business acquaintance. Anyone that you feel comfortable bouncing ideas off of and troubleshooting with.
When I can’t get a photo to upload on Facebook, when I’m trying to decide what hashtag to use on Twitter, or when I’m trying to decide if using Pinterest is right for my business, I have an arsenal of people I turn to for advice. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t!) go at it alone.
5. Meet in Real Life
What you do online is really just a gateway for the relationships you build offline. Going to events and meeting face-to-face is what it’s all about. It will open doors to you for new business, new friends or who knows… maybe you’ll be asked to speak at a Macklind Business District event.
Thanks again to the Macklind Business District for inviting me to speak and for being such great hosts (any party that includes Onesto’s hummus and toasted raviolis form The Mack is a hit for me!). For more information about the Macklind Business District, visit their website or Facebook page.
