It is common knowledge that there has been an exodus of local businesses from social media because of its wide audience and cost-effectiveness. In the US alone, there are over 302 million active users on Facebook; who wouldn’t want to tap into that?
Customers can easily see pictures and videos of your products and services when you post them. You can also easily get ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations when users tag you on social media.
You build your relationship with your customers when you engage them on social media. Even testimonials of old customers that you post will make new customers trust you more and patronise you.
It’s cheaper to advertise and create brand awareness on social media. It is also easier to control the narratives about your business on social media.
It is now established that businesses need the power of social media in this present time; however, with how high the competition is, is it possible for a business to stand out and dominate social media in 2024?
Yes, it is possible, and in this article, you will find out just how to do so.
Choosing the Right Platforms for Your Business
There are so many social media platforms existing now, and there are millions of users on each of them. An erroneous assumption that any business owner, especially a new one, would make is to be on all social media platforms at all times.
This is disadvantageous because it makes it easier for fraudsters to clone your account and deceive potential customers, thereby putting a dent in your reputation.
What are the top social media platforms in existence as of 2024?
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Facebook Messenger
- Telegram
- Douyin
- Snapchat
- Kuaishou
- X/Twitter
- Sina Weibo
How do you know the right platform to use for your business?
- Consider the nature of your business:
- For a broad audience, consider Facebook
- If you are into aesthetics, lifestyle, fashion and visual products, then go for Instagram and Pinterest.
- If you are into engagement, news sharing, customer service and networking, then go for Twitter.
- If you are into sharing industry-related content, B2B businesses, networking, thought leadership, and recruitment, then use LinkedIn.
- If you are into entertainment, TikTok would be your best choice.
- If you wish to educate using videos, use YouTube.
- For local businesses, consider hiring a local digital agency to incorporate social media into your website to build brand awareness, boost engagement and enhance your social media presence.
- Know and understand your target audience.
- For user base across age groups, especially older individuals, use Facebook and YouTube.
- For users under 35, go for Instagram.
- For young adults, use Twitter.
- For professionals and businesses, use LinkedIn
- For Gen Z and younger millennials (Gen Alpha), use TikTok.
- Let the platform align with your business goals.
After choosing the right platform, what next? You will have to know the right content to create for your local audiences.
Creating Engaging Content for Local Audiences
How do you create the right content that will engage your audience?
- Using the stories you know about the local residents and businesses, create a contest or a challenge.
- Most preferably, a video contest/challenge.
- Collaborate with influencers
- Share relevant community stories
- Give your opinion on a trend.
- Keep your audience informed about local events.
- Make a tourist guide for visiting your location.
- Support a cause, charity, or initiative and be open about it.
- Share your followers’ stories, photos, and experiences.
Social Media Strategies for Growing Your Local Business
What social media strategy works in 2024?
- Be active, especially on the platforms where your target audience is.
- Gift the winners of your contest/challenge with discounts, freebies, free deliveries, gifts, etc.
- Have a content calendar and a consistent posting schedule
- Engage your audience
- Utilize the power of reels and short videos.
- Consider local and social SEO.
- Use polls to involve your audience in your decision-making process.
- Study the strategy that established accounts in your field have used.
- Collaborate with influencers.
- Develop your brand.
- Have regular Q&A sessions with your audience
- Test different social ads.
The Role of Paid Social Advertising
While social media advertising can be free, you have to pay for it once in a while.
So, how does paid social advertising help your business?
- It allows you to know your target audience by their age, gender, region, and preferences.
- It makes your brand visible.
- The call-to-action increases visits to your website, sign up for newsletter, or purchase of your product/service.
- It’s cheaper than other means of advertising.
- Clear images and videos attract users to your site or platform.
Measuring Your Social Media Success
It’s not enough to just use social media to advertise your business; how would you know that your efforts are getting you your desired results?
- First, measure the major metrics like engagement, reach, impressions, click-through rate, shares, response rate and time, and conversion rate.
- Ask yourself, did social media influence my customers’ decision to purchase?’
- Know your sales leads and track them to know how many of your visitors convert into guests.
- Compare your strategy to that of your competitors.
- Know how much of your website’s traffic is a product of social media.
- Identify recent trends and jump on them.
- Improve and adjust your strategy as often as possible.
- Try different posting times, captions, visuals, and content formats.
To End With,
When you employ the strategies and monitor them, you can gain insight into how your social media is performing and the areas where it is not doing so well.
You can easily identify those parts that are not doing so well and refine your strategy in that area to achieve the goals you want.