Some of you might think that social media is only for pictures of cute kittens or the latest challenge that’s so off the wall it’s bizarre. That’s not the truth, as this related site has broken it down into details. Social media is a fantastic way for small businesses to get their name out there when they have little or no money for promotion.
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Social media is a treasure trove of free traffic
It doesn’t matter if you’re into affiliate marketing or if you want to promote your local business; social media is where the action is. Every person you know is on social media, and don’t lie; you spend way too much time on it, too. Social media is by far one of the best sources of free traffic you’ll ever get.
You can also be hyper-local when it comes to social media. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that if you have a local business, you can’t use social media to promote it. The trick to promoting your local business on social media is to make sure you get as many followers as possible. You want to gain followers so that you’re in their feed, which will constantly remind them of your business.
The first thing you need to do is build your brand
You need to decide what your brand is going to be. Think of your brand as what you’re going to talk about on social media. If you are selling protein shakes, you don’t also want to be talking about pet rabbits. Your entire brand must be shaped around one thing, or you’ll confuse the social media’s algorithm.
You need to take into consideration how you’re going to monetize your social media account when you’re deciding what your brand is. You don’t need to have an exact idea of how you’re going to monetize your account, but you do need a general idea. So, if you’re going to talk about protein shakes, you might start off with fitness and work on the shakes later.
What you’re trying to do is make sure that people associate you with what your brand is. That way, when it comes time to buy something, they’ll see you as an authority or an expert in your field. You don’t need to be an expert; you only need to make sure that people think you’re knowledgeable enough about the topic that you can recommend something that will benefit them.
Posting regularly is crucial for social media success
You can’t take a six-month vacation from social media and expect to come back where you left off. You have to understand that not only do you need to keep your name on the tongues of your followers, but you also need to show the social networking site that you’re still active. The social site won’t push your posts in front of others if they don’t see that your account is active.
How often you should post will depend on the platform you’re using, but you should aim for at least one post per day. Since most social media content isn’t difficult to produce, pumping out one post per day shouldn’t be difficult. You can create all of your content ahead of time and post it daily if that is something you’d prefer. You can also use services that will post your content for you if that’s what you prefer. All you have to do is create the content and tell the service when you want them to post it, and that’s it.
Get people to interact with your content
All social media sites use pretty much the same type of algorithms, and user interaction is a must because it shows them that people are enjoying your content. You have to remember the sole purpose of these social media sites is to get you to stay on them for as long as possible, and that’s why they want to show posts that have high user engagement.
You can ask a question in your post that will get people to respond. You could also do something controversial that will get responses from people. If your content isn’t getting any responses, posting it was a waste of your time. That’s also why you don’t want to only post content on social media that is designed to make you money. People don’t respond to a constant flood of posts begging them to buy, and it will cause your account not to get the exposure it deserves.
Always respond to people when they respond to your posts
The best way to get people to interact with your content is by making sure that they know you’re not a robot and will respond to their messages. You don’t need to sit by your computer or constantly have your phone on waiting for a message so you can respond to it. However, if you never respond to the messages people say, it won’t bode well for your account.
Your responses don’t have to be a paragraph long. A few words are all it takes for people to know that you read their message. If people think that you care about your followers and that you respond back to them, they’re far more likely to buy something from you in the future.
Conclusion
Social media is by far the easiest and fastest way for small businesses to get free traffic. Yes, the free traffic does buy stuff, and it doesn’t take much effort on your part. However, you do need to be consistent and make sure that you’re constantly pumping out content they want to see so you remain relevant.