5 KEY SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS TO GROW YOUR HOME BUSINESS

The key to success for any business – even a small home business – is marketing. And in our digitally driven society, there’s no better place to promote your business than on social media. With over 4.2 billion active social media users globally, potential customers are literally just one click away.

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In fact, more than 70% of small to mid-sized businesses market themselves using social media platforms, with 52% of these posting at least once a day. Social media is essential to reach potential customers, direct traffic to your business and establish your brand’s identity. But how do you start?

PICK THE RIGHT PLATFORMS
There are a multitude of sites to share your content, but you need to choose the right one for both your business and customers’ needs. Do some research and determine which channels your audience most likely use and start from there.

Facebook: The largest platform with around 2.8 billion monthly users, it’s ideal for businesses that want to reach large audiences and build communities.

LinkedIn: Largely for business networking, you can build yourself as a brand, connect with similar businesses and establish trust with your customers.

Instagram: A great combination of promoting and selling at the same time. Instagram Shopping now allows you to sell your product directly on the platform, while also promoting your business using a great-looking and professional account.

TikTok: Amazing for reaching wide audiences, on this platform you show off your products by creating short videos. It’s incredibly popular as it is easy to use, and you have access to a large library of music and fun filters!

ACTIVELY ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
There’s a reason for the ‘social’ in social media. If you’re going to use it, then your business should be interactive. This means creating content that your customers want to engage with; sharing content that your audience might like and comment on. Also ask and answer questions, post polls and follow up with the results; respond to complaints and critique and send shoutouts. This way, you can build a community, gain trust, and enhance your reputation.

MAKE A PLAN
Thinking about growing your social media presence is just the start – you need to devise a plan to reach your goals. Decide on how often you are going to post online and create a content calendar to help you plan your posts.

Remember that content on one platform might not gain the same attention on another, so you’ll need to tweak and rework some content to better fit with the style and tone of each of platform. Look at what the popular online trends are and copy them. Make sure you create enough visual content like infographics, behind-the-scenes videos, and other interactive posts every one of your followers can enjoy.

CREATE A COMMUNITY
Don’t focus too much on gaining as many followers as possible; instead, concentrate on getting the right customers – those who are genuinely interested in your product.

You could also reach out to social media influencers to review and promote your business on their accounts. There’s always the chance of finding and employing influencers as brand ambassadors for your products and services.

TRACK COMPETITORS
Social media is a great tool to keep track of your competitors, too. You can keep an eye on what they’re posting, liking and hashtagging, and take direction from these insights. Look at the content they’re creating, and how they’re communicating with their audience. This does not mean that you should copy everything they’re doing – what works for them might not work for you. But take note of what they’re doing right and incorporate it into your own brand strategy.

by Leah Dennis