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What a lot of small business owners don’t understand is that marketing on social media platforms is like marketing on the radio.

HOW?

Well, radio has always been considered a marketing platform, because radio listeners don’t pay to listen to the radio. Yet, advertisers definitely pay to advertise on the radio!

quote on advertisingSo who is paying for the radio? It’s the advertisers.

If you look at social media, you are not paying for social media as a user… but businesses who are advertising on social media are definitely paying for their advertising.

So honestly, more of us should be looking at social media as a marketing platform. That is truly what it is. I don’t necessarily think that is what it was initially created for… but that is what it has become.

For many small businesses, it is affordable marketing that they wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to do elsewhere.

It is my goal to help more small businesses take advantage of those opportunities, in marketing on both social media and other digital platforms. Social media marketing allows you to truly get in front of your customers in an intimate space.

Getting your message out through social media can be done in many ways…

  • Traditional Posts: These are the main posts that show up on a business’ profile or page. Many companies take this route, typically using photos or videos. Articles, audio files, and links are also options as well.
  • Stories: These are videos or photos, usually only a few seconds long, posted for only 24 hours at a time. They are meant to exchange information quickly and engage followers and bring them to your page.
  • Social Media Advertising: This is when a business pays to increase its reach on the platform. This can be done through “boosting” a post or a story, as well as more traditional-style click-through and banner ads.

A unique aspect to advertising on social media is that you can post, see how your post does organically with your followers, and if it does well you can put money toward “boosting” that post.

For example, say you have a post that does really well, you can put money behind through “boosting” it. At that point, Facebook or Instagram then takes that post and shows it to a larger audience, who has similar interests as your current audience. If done properly, that then should increase sales for your product.

I have found that some companies don’t trust social media and are afraid to do that.

I think it is a great opportunity for small businesses to increase their reach for a small budget.

I work with a lot of small businesses that don’t have massive budgets. Small businesses who can’t do national radio advertising. Oftentimes they are starting with local radio, digital radio, Google AdWords, and if we can maybe we’ll through a billboard in there.

I have seen some of those small budget clients afraid to do digital marketing, even if they are already tapping into some of those other channels.

The truth is that social media allows you to see how each piece of content performs before you ever invest money in it!

You don’t get the opportunity to do that with billboards, radio, TV, or print media. Do you?

I challenge more business owners to give social media a chance!

It’s easy! Just start with Facebook or Instagram. Experiment a little for yourself. Look and see what posts are doing well organically, then see what happens if you put $10, $15, or $20 behind it.

The cool thing is that you can really narrow down that target audience down to gender identity, personal interest, or simply by location. Depending on the product or service you are selling, you can tailor your target market to your potential customers or influential people in your customers’ lives.

Also, it is vital to remember that your message is way more important than the channels you are using and way more important than the “knicks and knacks” you used to choose your target audience.

If your message isn’t right, it doesn’t matter who you are reaching!

You want to be sure that the content and messages that you are putting out there align with your brand, your business morals, the outcome you want from your campaigns, and ultimately what action are you looking for from your potential customers.

Social media is a huge opportunity for small businesses to get out there in front of their potential customers for an affordable price.

If I am being completely honest, not enough business owners are taking advantage of that opportunity!

More of them should be! Especially, with how easy it is to create relatable, memorable content.

We are living in 2021, where online advertising is “the norm.” Yet, a lot of businesses are still afraid to tap into that.

Facebook and Instagram aren’t the only places you can advertise on the internet either!

There are countless platforms offering great digital advertising opportunities to small businesses, including YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Pandora, Google AdWords, and many others.

There are a lot of digital advertising opportunities for small businesses where you don’t have to put as much money in as some of the more traditional marketing channels.

There are also different strategies you can use on all of these channels as well!

You can also pick and choose the channels you use! You don’t have to commit to them all and you don’t have to decide on just one.

A lot of that depends on your business branding goals, your budget, and who you are trying to reach.

If your business isn’t already on social media, it is not that hard to start! Which is good news for you! Platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are working to make it easier for businesses to create quality content and share it in the most efficient amount of time possible.

They are trying to streamline this process so that business owners don’t have to have crazy skills with Photoshop, InDesign, Final Cut Pro, or similar software in order to create memorable content that will increase sales.

The truth is that you can use that if you are willing to put in the time and the money to learn.

What I am saying is… Don’t use this as an excuse to “wait” to start marketing on social media! A lot of companies create content with their cell phones or a simple camera when they are getting started!

Another thing you can take advantage of is that if your company delivers share-worthy products or services… your customers will share their experiences online!

You can then repost their shared experience your business’s social media!

There is something about seeing that engagement, seeing another customer enjoy that product or service that allows observers, your potential customers, put themselves into that experience.

If you are a small business owner looking to increase your social media presence, please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to help!

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