Here are my Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

1) Don’t spread yourself thin.

Most small business owners believe that to get noticed online they must be everywhere. So, they juggle between Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Eventually, they post less frequently and get frustrated that they have no traction or business from any of these platforms.

The thing is each platform is different and requires a different type of content. What works for Facebook, will not work for LinkedIn. What works for LinkedIn will not work on Instagram.

My tip here is to first choose ONE platform that you know your ideal client is on, become good in there and then choose another platform when you are ready to extend your reach.

2) Clarify your brand message.

Is it clear to your audience what you do? Do you have a mission statement in place? Is your brand message consistent across different platforms?

For each platform, you chose to be present on, have your one-liner. One-liner is a brand message that communicates how you help others with your services. Try to keep it short.

For example, my brand messages are as follows:

“Helping Solopreneurs find clarity, take action towards their goals and grow fulfilling businesses online.” – Simply Inspired Business

“Helping Beginner Solopreneurs clarify their brand message, optimise their marketing strategy, and build online headquarters that attract like-minded clients.” – My Website Design & Online Marketing Business

The highlighted first ten words is a one-liner. It will be shown under my name on LinkedIn and also as my Intro on my Facebook Profile (which has a limit of 100 characters).

3) Know your audience and understand their problems.

If you struggle with being consistent on social media because you do not know what to post, it might be because you do not know your audience and their problems.

You need to discover what questions your audience asks, what inspires them, and how they feel (e.g. confused, overwhelmed, anxious, etc.).

The best way to discover what they ask about is to listen to your current clients’ questions, join Facebook groups where your ideal clients hang out, or simply ask for feedback (an idea for a post!).

4) You need to commit to your business.

Is your business important to you? Remind yourself why you started.

I went once to a business expo and there was a seminar about digital marketing. The trainer said that if you are not willing to record videos to promote your business, why do you even have a business?? And it hit the nail on!

From that moment I started slowly but surely creating content reminding myself every day that my business is important to me. I want my business to grow and that is why I need to put myself out there.

5) Do not worry about what others think.

I used to be worried about what others will think of me, I feared being criticised. But then I thought, that if I stay in hiding then I will never grow my business and I will be the best-kept secret. And this would not be fair either to myself or to my audience. They deserve to have access to the knowledge I learned over years. So it is not about me, it is about the message and content I want to share. Helping others grow their business serves my mission and my purpose.

Do not hold yourself back by staying in this loop of what others think. Who cares! Besides, everyone is too busy thinking about themselves to care whether your video is perfect or not. And you obsessing now about what others think just proves the point.

“Someone else’s opinion of you is NONE of your business. You’re afraid to move forward because of what he might think or what she might say or what your in-laws think. That fear will keep you small.” — Rachel Hollis, motivational speaker, and best-selling author

6) CONSISTENCY is the strategy that will work for EVERYONE.

People will easily forget you if you post occasionally. If you want to be remembered, you need to post consistently. Create so much, they cannot ignore you.
And I know that the hardest part is when you think no one is watching. Trust me – your ideal client is watching. Keep going.

7) Focus on building brand awareness rather than counting likes.

If your main goal for posting on social media is to get likes and comments you will get frustrated and burned out before you know it. Social Media Marketing is not about likes and comments but about inspiring your ideal client to take action: book a call with you, buy your products, and attend your events.

Ask yourself this: Would you rather have hundreds of likes under your post and no clients from this post, or have a few likes but have your calendar booked up with clients?

People don’t necessarily need to like every single post you publish, but if you add a call to action under each post, they will act on it when they are ready.

Focus on being recognised and always add call-to-action under your posts or in your videos.

8) Don’t overthink it.

The best way to get into a habit of creating social media content consistently is not overthinking too much what you post. When you are clear about who is your audience and how you can help them, posting relevant content will come naturally.
Besides, be your authentic self. If one day you just want to share what you’ve been up to – that’s ok. People buy from people so let others get to know your normal self.

9) Don’t let perfectionism stop you.

I know from my own experience that for a very long time my perfectionism was stopping me from recording videos and posting them on social media. I thought they need to be perfect to be published. I would record a 1-minute video 10 times and spend another hour editing it and re-writing the captions. What a waste of time that was.

Now I just post it. I record a video and publish it straight away.

Unless you want to be a professional YouTuber, do not worry too much about the quality. Share something of value, add subtitles, write a brief description, choose up to 5 hashtags and post it.

Done is better than perfect.

Try to enjoy the process of learning and I promise you that with each post/video, you will gain more confidence.