This document provides 5 tips for small businesses to use social media marketing effectively: 1. Maintain active accounts on multiple major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to reach broad audiences. 2. Regularly post engaging content like photos and videos on accounts to build followers and generate leads over time. 3. Optimize posts with interesting, informative content to get noticed and increase engagement. Outsource to copywriters if needed. 4. Integrate social media with the business website so traffic can convert into sales leads and inquiries. 5. Analyze social media analytics regularly to track progress, identify high performing channels, and gain customer insights to improve strategies.

1. 5 Social media marketing tips for the
small business
Withmore andmore consumersturningtothe internetforproductreviewsandcommentswhen
consideringmakinganimportantpurchase,one cannolongerunderestimate the valueof havingan
online brandpresence.Coupledwith the needforanonline presenceisthe needforcontinuously
buildingandmanagingone’s brand’sfollowing. Now,let’sgothrough some of the simple mechanicson
howto buildanengaging online followingandhow to keepitgrowing….
#1. Have several active social media accounts
Withnearly2 billionmonthlyactiveusers,Facebookisthe mostdominantandfurthestreachingsocial
mediaplatform.BeingonFacebook dramatically increases abrand’s potential toreachand engage with
itsaudiences.Butitwould notbe a wise thingtoputall your eggsin one basket. Explore beingon
several social mediaplatforms.Youmayconsider Twitter,Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn andSnapchat,
justto name a few.Youwouldbe missingoutona great opportunityto reachout to andengage with
audiencesonthese otherplatformsif youexclusivelyusedFacebook.
#2. Regularly post on your social media accounts
Havinga Facebookpage,Twitteror LinkedInisonlyhalf the jobdone.Now beginsthe hardestpart –
activelyengaginginameaningfulway onthose social platformstobuildaudience numbers,generate
leadsandconvertfollowersintoprofitable customers. Regularly placinginterestingandcaptivating
mediaposts isa useful waytoquicklybuildfollowernumbers andloyal audiences.Be consistentatthis.
Considerhavingaschedulerforyourmediaposting.
One more importantthing…..brandthe profile page for
each of your social mediaaccounts.Make it invitingly
attractive.Include yourcompanylogo,website address
and otherimportantcontactinformationonthe profile
page.A brandedprofile page thatlooksprofessional
and has useful contactinformationhasthe potential to
boostfollowernumbersandwebsitetraffic.

2. #3. Optimize your social media posts
Withso much contentflying around onthe interneteverysecond,be sure tomake yourpostsattractive
and engagingenough.Thatway,youstanda betterchance of gettingyourmediapostsbeingnoticed
and read. Include inyourpostscontentthat isinteresting,informativeandengaging.Include photosand
infographics.Contentwithpictures is10timesmore engagingthanplain content.Yourcontentshould
make your readers wantto come for more all the time.Before yourealize it,youraudience numberswill
start to swell andthe phoneswill startringing endlessly withpotential customersmakinginquiriesabout
your brand.Admittedly,thatsoundsfar-fetchedandoverlysimplistic.Ittakestalenttoputtogether
highlyengagingcontentthatisoptimizedto generate salesleads.If youdon’thave in-house talentto
developpowerfulcontentforyoursocial mediamarketing,itmightbe worth outsourcingtoa
professionalcopywriter.There are many competentfreelancercopywriters andmediaagenciescapable
of writingcontentthatcan make yourpostspopularon social media. I’ma firmbelieverthatsuch
investmentwill paybackitself handsomelyinnotime atall.
#4. Integrate your social media accounts with your website
All yourmarketingeffortsonsocial mediashouldresultinincreasedlikes,followers andhopefullysome
positive commentsfromyourtargetaudience.Itshouldbe partof your strategythat trafficgenerated
fromsocial mediashouldfeedintoyourbusinesswebsite,where the bulkof informationabout your
businessresides. That’swhereyouwantall youronline traffictogoin the firstplace. Havingtrafficfrom
social medialandingonyourbusiness website isthe dreamof manya salesperson. Fromthistrafficyou
can gleansalesleads. These are followersoradmirerswhoalready have apositive opinionaboutyour
productor service andthey’re justwaitingtobe convincedtomake a purchase decision.
#5. Regularly analyze stats from your social media accounts
Marketingon social mediaispainstakinglyhard work.Ittakestime toproduce desiredresults.Asyou
developthisimportantmarketingchannel,keeptabsonthe statsto measure progress justlike you
woulddowith otherchannels. All social mediaplatforms naturally come withhelpful analyticsthatyou
can use in yourmarketingmetrics.Unfortunatelythisisanimportantareaoverlookedbysomany. Don’t
fall intothattrap. Checkwhat the numbersare saying.

3. Aboutthe author:
SpencerChatorais an Online andSocial MediaMarketer.
He regularlycommentsonsocial mediaand writeson marketingblogs.
Cell:+27 73 378 9009
Twitter:@spenchats
www.regewalltechnology.co.za
As youtrack figuresfromyoursocial mediafeedsyou
will begintonotice trendsandpatterns.Forexample
youmightnotice whichsocial platformgeneratesthe
highestnumberof visitorstoyourwebsite orwhich
social channel getsyoumore engagementsorleads.
These are useful statisticsandtheyhelpyoudevelop
customerinsightsandovertime mayinfluence your
overall marketingstrategy.