Discovering effective social media tactics is crucial for small business growth, so we asked 18 industry professionals, including CEOs, founders, and marketing experts, to share their most successful strategies. From utilizing polls for engagement and insights to posting high-quality content, these experts reveal their top tactics to help your small business thrive on social media.
Utilize Polls for Engagement and Insights
Creating social media polls not only increases user engagement for greater discoverability but there is so much you can do with this information. Use the results of your polls to personalize future content to better speak to your target audience or incorporate the results as a part of your newsletters and blog content.
Another helpful tactic is to repost your social media polls from a company page into related groups. This works especially well on LinkedIn.
Jason Vaught, Director of Content, SmashBrand
Master Major Platforms First
To keep up with all the platforms, some small business owners become overwhelmed by the notion that they must transform into a media company generating films, blogs, and podcasts. They try to execute all available small business social media marketing methods and wind up spreading themselves too thin. They can dilute their marketing efforts.
This is why we advocate beginning with a few major platforms, mastering them, and then expanding from there. If you only focus on expanding your business on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, I suggest it will be a lot easier to manage than using all of the social platforms at once.
Remember that quality comes first and quantity comes second. Although active accounts often have a better interaction rate, when it comes to social media, it all comes down to what works best for your clients.
Jeff Romero, Founder, Octiv Digital
Use Effective Twitter Tactics
To grow my brand, I’ve made the most of my Twitter business account by employing engaging tweets to get noticed and be taken seriously as a business. I manage the tweets by focusing on a single distinct and clear brand voice.
In addition to participating in serious discussions, I use minor fun elements when tweeting to showcase my brand as authentic rather than suspiciously “picture perfect.” Hashtags have proven especially beneficial in gaining the required publicity for my business. They’re a wonderful way to broaden the reach of my content beyond my followers.
Hashtags are the most effective approach to capitalize on popular subjects to add to the debate or sell things. Keeping up with Twitter trends and checking the trending box daily for hashtag inspiration and ideas for what to share with followers is an equally lucrative social media tactic I consistently use to grow my business.
Marc Hardgrove, CEO, TheHOTH
Tailor Content to Each Platform
In the context of growing a small business through social media, one tactic that has proven successful for us is tailoring content to the expectations of the audience on each platform. Understanding and leveraging the unique dynamics of each social media platform can truly make a difference.
For instance, Instagram users often seek more authentic, behind-the-scenes types of content rather than sales-focused posts. Consequently, we utilize Instagram to showcase our company’s personality, spotlight our employees, and highlight events. On the other hand, LinkedIn is a platform with a professional aura, making it the ideal place to drive traffic to our blog posts, announce new job openings, and engage in professional networking.
Embracing an omnichannel social presence has been a game changer for us, but it’s crucial to tailor content to what the audience on each platform wants to see. This strategy has diversified our reach and helped us cultivate meaningful relationships.
Kevin Hall, Marketing Operations, Webserv
Lean on User-Generated Content Power
Leveraging user-generated content as a catalyst for organic engagement and brand advocacy is a unique and powerful social media tactic that has propelled the growth of my small business. User-generated content (UGC) is any content created and shared by your followers or customers that relates to or features your brand. By curating and encouraging UGC, I have been able to tap into the authentic voices and experiences of my followers or customers, which has resulted in a multitude of benefits.
To effectively harness the power of UGC, I employ several strategies such as; engaging and incentivizing my customers, curating and showcasing the best UGC, creating unique hashtags and challenges, and collaborating and partnering with influencers and brand advocates.
Ajayi Ayomide, Growth Marketer and Writer, Howsociable
Expand Business with Reddit Engagement
Harnessing the power of Reddit has been instrumental in expanding my small business. Specifically, engaging with relevant subreddits has not only amassed me significant karma points but also cultivated a strong reputation I can depend on.
Reddit’s advantage lies in its organic, query-based structure where budding entrepreneurs regularly ask about business growth strategies. This allows me to provide valuable input rather than force a message upon an uninterested audience, as is common on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.
Furthermore, some subreddits allow the inclusion of website links in comments, potentially earning upvotes that translate into high-quality backlinks from a robust domain with immense traffic. Multiple Reddit engagements have directly led to contact form submissions and sales of my digital products.
Finally, interacting with the Reddit community offers key insights for potential paid ad campaigns on the platform that you may be thinking about.
Rafael Sarim Özdemir, Founder and CEO, Zendog Labs
Balance Trending Topics and Identity
A flexible content strategy keeps your feed fresh and dynamic. Infusing a well-defined content strategy with trending topics taps into conversations already capturing your audience’s attention, making posts more relevant and resonant. This increases your brand’s visibility, attracting new followers and expanding your reach. Combining your brand’s personality with trending topics will help you respond to your audience’s interests in real time, fostering engagement, comments, and shares, and slowly building a loyal following.
How? Continuously monitor industry news, social media trends, and popular discussions. Keep an ear to the ground, and when relevant opportunities arise, incorporate them into your content strategy. However, it’s important to strike a balance between trending content and maintaining your brand’s core identity, ensuring that you stay true to your unique value proposition.
Tristan Harris, Demand Generation Senior Marketing Manager, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency
Post Consistently
For the best growth results, your first step is to choose at least three days per week to publish content. Posting now and then is better than nothing, but the algorithm prefers accounts that establish themselves as an industry authority on the platform. Growth requires consistent posting on social media.
Lyudmyla Dobrynina, Head of Marketing, Optimeal
Embrace Unique Tactics and Gamification
Sometimes, thinking outside the box is the key to unlocking extraordinary growth for small businesses on social media. One unique tactic that has propelled my own business forward is conducting unconventional social media experiments. Instead of following the crowd, I dared to be different by gamifying my posts.
By introducing interactive quizzes and challenges related to my niche, I engaged my audience in a fun and immersive way. Surprisingly, this led to a remarkable 300% increase in user participation, resulting in a 200% surge in brand awareness and a significant boost in sales by 150%.
This unusual approach stood out amidst the sea of generic content, capturing the attention and loyalty of my target audience. Embracing innovation and taking calculated risks can uncover hidden opportunities and revolutionize the social media game for small businesses.
Himanshu Sharma, CEO and Founder, Academy of Digital Marketing
Leverage Instagram Reels Effectively
Incorporating short video content on popular social media platforms has proven an effective strategy for promoting small businesses. Businesses can dynamically and visually engage their target audience by leveraging the power of Instagram Reels.
This tactic allows them to showcase their products or services creatively and capture the attention of potential customers. Instagram Reels offers a range of features, such as music, effects, and editing tools, enabling businesses to produce high-quality and entertaining content. By embracing this approach, businesses can effectively increase brand visibility, reach a wider audience, and foster meaningful customer connections.
It can lead to higher engagement, increased website traffic, and, ultimately, more sales. Instagram Reels also provides businesses with valuable insights into their content performance, allowing them to refine their strategies further and maximize their results.
Hilary Kozak, VP of Marketing, LivSmooth
Tag Influencers in Relevant Posts
It’s useful to get on the radar of other influential people. One way to do this is by sharing relevant news articles and tagging the author and anyone quoted in the article. People like recognition.
By recognizing the journalist and the subject matter experts with a simple tag, you increase the likelihood that they will engage with your social media post. When that happens, follow them, and there’s a good chance they’ll follow back.
Just make sure the content is relevant, and the people you tag are part of a community in which you want to have influence.
Dennis Consorte, Digital Marketing and Leadership Consultant for Startups, Snackable Solutions
Engage Through LinkedIn Comments
Creating content on LinkedIn is a great way to drive traffic for your business. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, commenting on other posts is the next best thing. When you leave a comment, others will see your name, face, headline, and comment.
It’s an excellent way to get thousands of extra eyeballs on your profile each week. It can help you generate content ideas and introduce you to some amazing people—I met my co-founders in a comments section.
Dedicate 15 minutes each day, search for keywords in your niche, and leave comments on 3-5 posts for each keyword. It will change your life.
Matt Parkin, Founder, Mornings With Matt Consulting
Harness the Power of Storytelling
We’ve propelled growth by harnessing the power of storytelling on social media. In today’s time, a majority of the working generation has been seeking resources and services through social media, so it is advantageous to make proper use of it.
We share the inspirational journeys of our authors, from idea inception to becoming bestsellers. This approach does more than highlight our services; it establishes a genuine emotional connection with our audience. Seeing tangible success stories instills trust, fosters community, and motivates aspiring authors.
Ultimately, these authentic narratives drive business growth by inspiring potential clients to embark on their own writing journey.
Vikrant Shaurya, CEO, Authors On Mission
Highlight Client Success Stories
One social media tactic that has propelled growth is the creation of short business profiles of happy clients on social media. We crafted concise yet impactful descriptions, highlighting our clients’ PR goals and how our solutions helped them achieve those objectives.
By showcasing real success stories, we demonstrated our expertise and the value we bring to our clients. The client spotlights showcased our capabilities and fostered credibility.
Matias Rodsevich, CEO, PRLab
Collaborate with Influencers for Recommendation Marketing
As a digital marketing agency, we’ve used a lot of different social media tactics, but one that stands out, which has helped a number of clients grow their social media, is collaborating with influencers.
Recommendation marketing is very powerful, and having the ability to tap into other established audiences through different influencers can really help gain credibility for any small business brand and expand its reach in a cost-effective manner.
One mistake small business owners make is thinking that influencer marketing is out of their reach because of the size of the marketing budget they have to work with, but the reality is that you don’t have to collaborate with the biggest names in a given industry.
There are plenty of up-and-coming influencers who charge a fraction of the price for endorsements, and when combined, several smaller influencers can add up to quite a large audience. So it’s definitely a strong social media tactic that many businesses can implement effectively.
Shane McEvoy, MD, Flycast Media
Join Industry Groups
I participate in relevant Twitter or LinkedIn groups. This can be a powerful strategy to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. This has opened up avenues for me to engage in real-time conversations with like-minded professionals, share valuable insights, and showcase my expertise to a relevant audience.
Thoughtful contributions to these communities have led to meaningful connections, increased followers, and potential collaborations down the line. Plus, being part of these groups also keeps me looped in on industry trends, so I don’t lag behind my competitors.
Khris Steven, Owner and Marketer, KhrisDigital
Practice Customer Engagement
One of the best things you can do to grow your small business on social media is to have good, quick, and fun response management.
Customers love to be engaged, and it helps to share their posts, comment when tagged, and respond to messages fast. If you feel like going the extra mile, using your target market’s hashtags or geolocation to engage with new accounts can lead traffic back to your page.
Logan Rae, Founder, Argon Agency
Publish High-Quality Content
One social media tactic that has helped our small businesses grow is consistently posting high-quality content. This means posting content that is relevant to your target audience, informative, and engaging. When you post high-quality content, you will attract more followers and engagement, which can lead to more sales.
Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi
Brett Farmiloe is the founder of Terkel, a Q&A platform that connects brands with expert insights.
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