Social Media Strategy Guide: Using Social to Grow Your Business

Today, social media marketing is an essential part of any business strategy, especially for small businesses. Your social media presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest provides your small business with endless, and relatively inexpensive, opportunities to engage with your target audience. However, with so many social media platforms to master, it can be daunting to learn the key features and nuances of each, determine what type of content to post, and to use that information to create an encompassing social media strategy. That's where this social media marketing strategy guide can help.

What social media platform (or platforms) makes the most sense for your small business to use for marketing to your target audience? For example, while Instagram makes sense for a younger demographic, Facebook is more fitting for maturer audiences.

What type of social media content works best on Facebook? Instagram? LinkedIn? Pinterest? Determining this for your business is a key component of your social media strategy. For example, Facebook is a social media network that can be used to share a variety of content, including videos, photos, and articles. Instagram, on the other hand, is a more visual platform used for sharing and engaging with photo and video content. LinkedIn is best for business content, networking, and marketing open positions, while Pinterest is the go-to platform for visual and how-to content.

How can you determine the best days and times to post on each platform for maximum engagement and reach? The content you post on social media is key, however, the day and time you post it can be just as important. The good news is, you can find data that supports optimal days and times to ensure your marketing content is getting the attention it deserves.

What are meaningful social media goals and which metrics will actually measure your marketing success? Do you need to adjust your social media content? Is your social media strategy, in general, working the way you want it to for your small business? It's important to determine what your specific goals are for your social media efforts as well as the specific metrics to review whether or not you've reached them.

Download our Social Media Strategy Guide to establish or improve your social media strategy and dive deeper into:

• What social media platforms make the most sense for your small business marketing mix

• What content works best on each social media platform as well as the optimal times to post

• What specific features can make the biggest impact for your brand

• How to set social media goals and pull the right metrics

• Upcoming trends in social media marketing, and more!

After you’ve read this and want to get into specifics, check out our guides on Facebook marketing, Facebook advertising for your fitness business and salon or spa, and Instagram for marketing your small business.