It may come as no surprise that 94 percent of small businesses use social media for marketing. After all, nearly half of the world’s population is using social media, which makes it an ideal place for customers to find you.
Read on to get some social media marketing ideas for small business. Then pair them with social media giveaways to boost engagement.
Build engagement with a social media series
Consumers love to engage. Hold a weekly Q&A on Twitter®. Host a monthly Facebook® Live event to answer customer questions. Or post a series of instructional videos about your products or services on your YouTube® channel. By offering your customers a consistent posting schedule, you give them a reason to seek you out on a regular basis. However you choose to engage online, be sure to ask for feedback. You can even use social media gifts to encourage reactions to your content. Create a hashtag and send a Hashtag Stress Reliever or emoji chocolate buttons to the audience member who offered the best comment of the week.
Hold a contest
How valuable are social media contests? According to one study, Instagram® accounts that hold contests 70 percent faster. You may want to try:
- Asking a question. Enter those who answer into a prize drawing.
- Requesting fan content. Let your customers show off their skills in pictures, video, poems or another media of their choosing.
- Partnering with a nonprofit to run a social cause campaign. Give shout-outs and swag to people who raise the most money for your cause.
Keep the contest theme and your audience in mind when picking social media giveaways. For example, if you’re asking bookworms to tell you what they’re reading, consider giving the winners a book light. If you’re promoting your new coffee business, offer a coffee-press tumbler to build buzz.
Create social media-only discounts
Keep people coming back to your social media pages by creating special sales that you promote only on social media. This strategy also makes it simple to set up a system to track how many people are using your discount code. Provide an extra reward for your clients who use the code by giving them a social media gift, like a heart emoji pen (#137954-HE-S).
Engage with your audience
One of the best ways to encourage people to like, comment and share is to pump up the fun. When you’re not letting people know about your latest deal or running a fun contest, ask them to engage by sharing pictures of their pets, wishing a local sports team luck in the next big game or asking your fellow social media followers about an upcoming community event.
Social media brings customers to your virtual door
The most important thing to remember about social media is that it’s social! Engaging with your customers and offering them social media giveaways is sure to generate a larger following—and more sales.