5 Ways to Grow your Business

Nearly three-quarters of American adults use social media, making it a critical part of any business strategy. It's one of the best ways to connect with people who already love your brand, and also important for reaching those who haven’t heard of your business yet.

Getting started with social doesn’t have to be scary or expensive. Here are 10 simple tips to help you reach new markets, build brand awareness, and drive sales.

1. Know Your Audience

One reason using social media for business is so effective is that you can micro-target your audience. But first, you need to understand who your audience is.

Start by compiling data on your current customers. Then, dig deeper with social media analytics. You’ll start to develop a solid picture of who’s buying from and interacting with you online.

2. Build Relationships By Sharing Valuable Content

The unique benefit of social media marketing for small business is that it allows you to talk directly to customers and followers. You can build relationships over time, rather than asking for a sale upfront.

People love engaging with quality organic content. Often this is content that's original, entertaining, or educational. Using an app like PicPlayPost can help your content really stand out. Create engaging picture and video collages that engage your audience and slideshows that tell your story. Are you a personal trainer? Use our collage maker to display how-tos and tips for multiple exercises. There are over 100 layouts to choose from! Are you a cook? Combine photos, videos, and gifs of your creations into a beautiful slideshow with captions.

3. Focus on quality over quantity

The sheer number of social media marketing options for small business might seem overwhelming—but you don’t need to do it all. It’s more important to create quality content on a couple of key channels than it is to have a presence on every single network.

Above all, be sure that your social posts offer value. If all you do is pitch and sell, there’s very little motivation for people to follow you. Remember, social marketing is all about building relationships. Be human. Be honest. Post great content.

4. Monitor and respond to all relevant social media conversations

When people engage with your organic content or ads, it’s a great idea to engage back. This helps to build trust and form a loyal following. As fans share and like your content, you rise in the social algorithms and gain new, free, exposure. You also nurture relationships that can develop into sales over time.

5. Share Compelling Visuals Whenever You Can

Social media users are drawn to gorgeous imagery and have come to expect social posts to include a visual component. The images shared on social drive real-world action. More than half of millenials and Gen Z internet users said their most recent fashion buys were based on images they saw on social media.

Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat, in particular, are visual-first networks. If your content doesn’t look good, no one will stop scrolling to read what you have to say.