Social Media for Small Business Cedar Rapids Iowa

I am often asked by small business owners how they can make the most of social media for small business.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to get on various social media sites to get your name out there. By providing people with regular shareable posts, and tweets you will ultimately increase followers. Any small business feels it is important to promote your business and aim for more sales, but this isn’t the only thing your social media should be about. To build a social media following and grow your business, it is essential to find a balance of promoting yourself and providing content that is interesting. The goal is to increase followers, the more followers you social media has the more chance of creating exposure for your business, products and services.

Social Media for Small Business – Ideas to Consider

Here are a few methods successfully being used to increase exposure and followers through social media.

Flash sales

While it may seem obvious to make the most of events like Black Friday sales, you need to think outside of the box and not stick to just the seasonal sales. If you have a random sale, for example 20% off if you bring in a parent then your followers will be kept on the toes. Events like these will increase followers as current followers tell their friends about them. Also, by creating exclusive events for your followers you make them feel like they are being rewarded and this can go a long way to keeping them as loyal customers.

Always tell people about your new stock.

Posting photos of new merchandise or services regularly works wonders in letting followers keeping engages with your social media pages. It allows them to see what new things you have to offer. Begin by posting news about new products that are coming. This is a great way to create a buzz of what is coming then when you follow up posts when you have the product or services available then you keep the interest growing.

Promote company achievements.

By posting achievements you company makes like the winning of an award or an expansion into a new location keeps your followers feeling involved and will also be a great means of reaching out to potential customers.

Have a mission statement that you’re proud of.

Regardless of the type of business you have, creating posts about helping out a particular charity or community event gives followers an idea of what you stand for and what your core values and business philosophy is. Try not to be controversial in your posts, but creating posts which relate to common ideals, you can generate valuable shares, retweets, and likes from those following you on the various social media channels. A few prominent entrepreneurs come to mind as examples, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Richard Branson, and Steve Jobs.

Personally interact with followers.

Don’t under estimate the importance of interacting with posts and tweets your followers have said will keep them happy and show others how well-loved your brand is. Encouraging followers to post photos of them using products/services or to tag themselves at your business will boost your brand and is an authentic visual testimony. 

Within limits, allow people to get to know your employees.

By nature people are nosy. You can use this to your advantage by posting interviews of employees. By introducing your followers to your employees, you become a friendly approachable face. Also, this is a great way to get your employees family and friends to share the content.

Real Honest Customer testimonials go a long way.

Customers love interacting with a brand. Give them a great experience and encourage them to post about it makes for excellent re-tweets and new customers will feel encourage to check you out.

Be proud of your local area and community and let it show.

Providing your followers with funny facts about the local area can be useful tourist information. To maximize this use visual content such as photos. This will increase your chances to get lots of shares.

Social media for small business can work, but consistency and regularity is key. For small businesses creating an presence in social media is a very useful tool in building followers that will share your business and your brand with others, growing your business exposure. There is also SEO benefits from this exposure. If you offer a product that someone thinks is great, it is possible that they may blog about it and link back to your companies website. These links do a lot for growing your search engine rankings. Being active with your social media has many upsides that can help grow your small business.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul Albee is the digital marketing director of ATS Design Group in Syracuse, New York. Paul and his team specialize in all aspects of online digital marketing including website design, SEO search engine optimization, social media marketing as well as print and advertising design. Paul grew up in Cedar Rapids, attended Washington High School and is Mike Albee’s brother, serving clients across upstate New York, Eastern Iowa and nationwide.