It can feel daunting when thinking about launching your business on social media but don’t let that put you off! It can feel like there are lots of options for social media as a small businesses. Do you feel like there are lots of things to get wrong? Don’t worry! If you prioritise on staying patient, consistent and focus on sustainable growth, you’ll be just fine!
Follow these 5 simple tips and you will be able to get your small business started on social media with confidence!
1 Make sure your branding is consistent across platforms
So, what does consistency mean to your business branding?
Having consistent branding across different platforms builds the trust in your brand and also builds your brand identity. Supporters will be able to find you on other platforms easier if you are consistent in how you branding looks.
What do you need to do to make sure your branding is consistent?
- Logo: Although it is not essential to have the same profile picture across platforms it is important that you have a logo and use it within your content! Include this logo in your posts wherever possible to help supporters identify your products and content. (Canva is a great place to go to design your logo!)
- Colour Scheme & Fonts: Another way to make sure your business has a clear identity is to use a set colour scheme and fonts. For colour scheme you can use a range of shade of one colour or complementary colours. Check out our colours at Support Small UK for example… You will see these same colours crop up across all of our content in all of our platforms! As for fonts make sure these are readable and choose a few fonts that you use. This is another great way to add to the ‘look’ of your business and make your page stand out!
- Brand voice: You might be thinking what is a brand voice? Your brand voice is the tone and personality you put into your social media posts. Keeping a reliable and consistent brand voice helps you build trust, enhances the recognition in your brand and helps to set you apart from other similar businesses!
- Business name and handle: Although it may not be possible to keep these the same across platforms try to ensure that they are as consistent as possible! This helps your audience recognise you instantly and builds trust. Having the same or a similar name and handle makes it easier for your audiences to find you across different platforms. This also helps with SEO indirectly and makes your business easier to find via search! However, if your names and handles are not exactly the same, don’t worry! Your other brand image characteristics as described above will help people find you!
2 Don’t try to run before you can walk – Start small
Although it may be tempting to jump on every platform – don’t! Creating lots of accounts that you can’t maintain is not an effective use of your time! Trying to start lots of accounts at once can lead to burnout and inconsistent posting will not be a good thing for you or your business!
Try starting with one or two platforms where your target audience is most active. For example:
- Instagram is great for visual brands (products, lifestyle, behind-the-scenes)
- Facebook is ideal for local businesses and community groups
- LinkedIn works well for B2B and professional services
However, don’t feel limited by this! Each platform can be optimised to suit your business and audience! Once you have gained confidence and have developed your brand image and you are consistently posting and engaging on these platforms you can branch out and explore others!
3 Complete your profile - All of it!
It is so important to make sure your profile is filled out, if not this can harm your discoverability! The more information you can include in your profile the more likely you are to be found in searches! Additionally, a complete profile gives viewers as much information as possible from the first look. Platforms may vary with the fields you are able to fill in but here is a checklist of the most common/ most important ones!
Checklist:
- Profile picture: This can be your business logo or a professional headshot.
- Bio: This is where you share who you are and what you do.
- Contact details: Website, Location, Email.
- Introduction post: Pin this to your profile!
- Highlights (Instagram): Treat this as a guide to you and your business for supporters!
4 Trial and Error – Everything is a learning curve!
You are going to want to make your social media presence perfect, but a successful business account is going to be trial and error. You will need to experiment with different posts, adjust your strategy and learn as you go! Try different types of content; videos, images, behind-the-scenes, testimonials, reels so you can see what your target audience prefer!
Look for:
- What type of content gets the most engagement in likes, comments and shares?
- When are your peak times? What times of day are your followers the most active?
- Is your content reaching your intended audience?
Over time, you will start to see patterns and gain and understanding of how you can make the best use of your platforms and what your supporters want to see!
5 Quality over Quantity
Consistency over constantly. Consistency in your social media posting doesn’t mean posting loads, consistency is picking a schedule that you can realistically stick to. To use your time effectively set aside some time to schedule in the week or months content ahead of time which will free you up to focus on interaction with your audience! Make sure you post with a purpose, consistent posting when the content is purely promotional or doesn’t provide value is not a productive use of your platform! Think quality over quantity, value content aimed to educate, inspire and inform your audience is more productive than being purely promotional. Yes of course you are able to post promotional content for your audience but use the 80/20 split, 80% value 20% promotional content.
Remember: it’s better to post less frequently with thoughtful, high-quality content than to post constantly and bombarding your audience!
Developing your business and brand on social media is a marathon not a sprint! Don’t worry too much about having a high number of followers and instead build up a community of loyal, interactive supporters! Try not to get discouraged if you don’t see immediate growth instead focus on providing authentic, consistent content and take the time to connect with your audience!
You’ve got this — one post at a time.
Check out some out Support Small UK Social Media platforms below!
