If you have a small business, social media can be your ticket to low-cost, effective marketing, but only if it’s done efficiently and effectively. Here are some tips for how to make social media work for your small business rather than drain it, even if you don’t like posting! (And, I get it, I don’t like posting!)
In the beginning, I remember thinking, what is this world of social media that you have to be super visible on all the time to make a difference? It wasn’t my favorite marketing choice, but I realized we can have a presence there, and it’s free to have a presence, so why not? And over the years, I’ve honed my social media skills and you can too.
I’m Not an Expert in Social Media
First and foremost, let’s clear something up! I’m a small business owner who uses social media as one way to market, but I am not a Social Media expert by any means! It’s one way to stay in front of my current clients and stay connected because they come back and stay in my world, so it’s part of our marketing plan. It’s also a way to connect with new clients, especially if someone shares a post or recommends my podcast on social media. The thing you have to remember is that social media is not the be-all-end-all for marketing, it’s just PART of your overall strategy.
Marketing Isn’t Just One Thing
I’d like to share a personal experience and example of this and how it recently appeared in my own business. A new prospect emailed me and said, “Hey, I just wanted you to know that I found you through a summit that you were on.” So this prospect found me on someone else’s summit, “and then I went to your homepage and enrolled in one of your free courses. And then I listened to one of your podcasts. And then I looked at your social media to learn more about you.” After reading this, I thought, “This is a perfect example of how marketing works”. So often, we get stuck on the idea that marketing is just one thing. It’s not. Social media is just one part of the picture.
Where is Your Social Media Taking People?
If I end up on your social media page, what next step should I take? Social media is the gateway to the next step for your prospective clients. It’s an opportunity for people to get to know, like, and trust you. It’s also an opportunity for you to come to my page and say, who does Ursula hang out with? Who’s commenting on her posts? In my world, I have my public Facebook page, which is my personal page, and then I have a Facebook business page. My clients and my prospective clients typically hang out more on my Facebook page, learning more about my personal life because they want to know get to know me better. Do I have kids? Yes. What kind of sports are they in? Did we go trick or treating? In other words, are our values in alignment? These are a few things that people want to know because they can feel more connected to me, and that’s what people are going to do when they come to your social media pages as well. They want to get to know, like and trust you.
I have a lot of people that end up on one of my social media pages, and they click on one of my podcast episodes because they want to learn more, and that takes them to the next step. Or they see an opportunity or a post that says, “Hey, join me at the Quantum Revenue Expansion Masterclass.” It’s one of the free courses we offer. So I’m offering them an invitation to come out and hang out. Or they might read a post where I’ve shared one of my favorite quotes. So again, they’re learning, am I aligned? Can I trust her?
Give Them a Clear Next Step
Once you’ve built this real social media personality of who you are, you want to give people a clear next step and point them to what might be helpful for them. For some people hanging out in our world, listening to our podcast, Quantum Revenue Expansion, is beneficial because they want business tips or to hear from one of our current clients. Someone else may want to learn about my content. They might join our free masterclass and learn more about what I teach and if it’s a fit for them. Our masterclass then leads to an opportunity for someone to book a call with me or someone on our team to chat even more. Keep asking yourself, when someone comes to my social media world, what am I inviting them to do next? Where can they go hang out to learn more? Also, make sure you’re giving them the next steps. You want to offer a lot of content for them to see the value of what you offer.
Marketing Calendar
One of the key things that keeps our marketing plan on track is our marketing calendar. That allows us to stay organized with all the places and ways we can share value with our clients so they can get to know us. Our prospective clients typically tell us they spend a lot of time on our podcasts, and current clients do too. I’ve had many clients tell us that in the past, they hung out on my social media page, ended up on a podcast, and then took the next step. So again, by sharing our podcasts, I’m sharing powerful content that can help people get to know me and see if they like me and if they want to hang out more.
Be True to Yourself
The other tip about social media, which is interesting because we live in such a visible world now, is don’t be somebody else on social media. Just be yourself. As someone who considers herself pretty private, social media made me feel extremely vulnerable, especially in the beginning. I would often think about a post over and over again. What am I going to say? Why is that important? Why do I think people will care? Over time, I’ve learned that the less I think about that, and the more I just put up a post that is genuine and connected to me, the more people like it. I’m sure you’ve experienced this as well, but I do know from personal experience how very vulnerable it can feel to put yourself out there in such a visible way. Stretch yourself to do it anyway.
Challenge Yourself
While it doesn’t always feel natural to be on social media, when you continue to challenge yourself to be more visible, you’ll start to see that more people will engage with you. For example, maybe you’ve thought about doing a Facebook Live or a Masterclass. When you get those ideas to put yourself out there and be more visible on social media, I encourage you to do it, and take that next step. Maybe you’re saying to yourself; I don’t know if I want to do a Facebook Live. What else can I do?
One of my clients shared with me “that social media for her was the bane of her existence. It tortured her night and day.” She couldn’t think of anything to post. Then someone told her, “she needed to be posting videos every single day to grow her business.” That was putting her in a traumatic nightmare. She said, “I’m just not going to do that.” And I said, “Well, what do you feel inspired to do on social media? What would make you feel good about your business? What would make you feel good about yourself? What would feel in alignment with you?” I really challenged her to think about social media in a different way. And she had the answer. She said, “I know I don’t wanna do videos, but” she said, “I would like to share more quotes, not only other people’s quotes but my quotes. I would like to share more posts about the services that I offer, but in a way that adds a lot of value. These are things I could see myself doing.” But then she said, “I also feel like I need help even doing that.” That’s when you know it’s time to ask for help.
Social Media Professional
The other place where people get stuck with social media is trying to do it all themselves. And while social media can be free, it’s not typically free over time because you probably have someone that’s managing your social media or creating posts and posting for you. When I work with social media professionals who live and breathe social media, they have phenomenal ideas for me in terms of what to post on social media or to help me build a video or to give me additional ideas. So if you are struggling with social media, find someone that can help you get out there in a way that will showcase your business in the best light.
As I pointed out earlier, I’m not an expert in social media, but I do it because marketing is everything, including social media. Recognize that social media is just another opportunity for inviting people to like, know, and trust you and for them to take the next step with you. Social media provides you with an outlet to share information that is valuable. Give, give, give so that other people can connect with you. Underneath all of that, the most important thing is just to be yourself. Just be you. You’ll find that other people will want to connect with you because they have come to know, like, and trust you. You’ve got this!
