SOCIAL MEDIA 101 FOR SMALL BUSINESSESOREGON PRINTING COMMUNICATIONS937.222.9418 // WWW.OREGONPRINTING.COM

it can’t be denied that social media has taken over today’s communication landscape. From a personal standpoint, you see the benefits in being able to keep up with friends and family. But, where and how does social media fit into your business and your marketing plan?

Because social media platforms are easily accessible and free (mostly – we’ll get to that later), many small businesses jump at the chance to set-up profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. But, once they set-up those profiles, they don’t do anything with them to engage their prospects and customers.

We’ve put together this short guide to help you learn the basics behind social media marketing and to point you in the right direction when defining your company’s social media presence and strategy.

LET’S START WITH THE BASICS.

LOVE IT OR HATE IT,

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Exposure The latest stats from Facebook alone state that the platform has more than 2 billion monthly active users, and half of those are active on the site every day. While its reach still pales in comparison to Facebook, Instagram now boasts 800 million users and is growing at a tremendous rate, nearly 35% annually. No matter how you shake it, that’s a LOT of people – and those people are open to interacting with not just their friends, but with companies on their social media platforms of choice.

Visibility In addition to exposure to prospects and current customers, social media profiles also help boost the ranking of your company’s website in search engine results. If you have active, engaging company pages on social

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

media platforms, Google, Yahoo! and other search properties will rank your website higher, meaning you’ll appear higher up in the search results page for your category than competitors who have not invested similar time.

Perception & Accessibility Lastly, having an active social media presence positions your business as modern and accessible. Younger consumers will often turn to social media before even Google to find companies that meet their needs. If you’re not actively participating in social media, you’ll simply fall out of their consideration set. Having a social media presence also allows your company to engage customers and prospects in two-way conversations, helping your business become a problem-solver instead of a simple seller.

Do Your Research. Consider the available social networks and investigate their audience ranges and demographics to get a general understanding of where your customers and prospects might be online. Statistics for each platform are available across a wide-range of demographic segments through Google, but here is a general breakdown of users, ages, and genders to get you started: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/the-advertisers-guide-to-social-media-demographics/507630/.

GETTING STARTED

Think About Your Content. Is your business image or text driven? Is immediacy a factor in talking about events or industry updates? Do you have video content – or do you have reason and resources to create it? All of these questions will help you hone in on which platforms you’ll have the best chance at succeeding on. If you have a lot of interesting imagery, Instagram and Pinterest will be a natural fit. If you work in an industry that has daily updates, political or news-related, for example, Twitter makes sense. Lots of video content? Create a YouTube channel!

If you’ve already created profiles, take the time to review what platforms you’re on and if they truly make sense for your company. Just because accounts are free doesn’t mean you should sign-up everywhere. If you’re just getting started, here’s how to decide where you should be:

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There is no rule that says you must join every social media channel immediately (or, ever, for that matter)!

If you are just starting off, think about launching on one platform at first to get a feel for your audience and the type of conversations your customers are looking to have with you.

Create a content library of sorts so that you can quickly build followers. Share a wide range of content – think photos, text, videos, testimonials, how-to’s, team member profiles, etc. – so that you can find out what type of information resonates most with your customers.

Make sure you either personally have the time to dedicate to managing the platform once live or that you have appropriate resources lined up. This could be in the form of an employee or an agency partner. There is nothing worse than launching a page and not responding to customers in a timely manner and not having someone tapped to manage the program could negatively impact your business.

START SMALL & PLAN TO SUCCEEED

IF YOU BUILD IT...

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Unfortunately, social media users don’t automatically flock to new pages like baseball players to Iowa. That said, there is a way that you as a business can intelligently find and invite your prospects to follow your pages and profiles – through social media advertising!

All social networks give you the ability to run paid, hyper-targeted advertising to their audiences. Thinking back to step #1, if you have an idea of the demographic or behavioral make-up of your target audience (this could include anything from a job title to Household Income to a relationship status, depending on your business), plug it into the platform’s advertising program to hone in on users that fit that profile.

When you’ve set-up your audience, the network you’re working on will provide you with an option to input a daily or “lifetime” dollar value. Try testing a small, daily dollar amount and raise your investment as you start to see results.

Then, create ads that speak to your audience directly. Setting up ads is unique in each platform, but there are plenty of tutorials available online. If you need help with this step, reach out to Oregon. We can either assist directly or put you in touch with a partner that can execute effective social media advertising campaigns, depending on your need.

ALWAYS EVALUATE SUCCESSWhen you work with any form of online marketing, valuable data is at your fingertips. Use it!

Analyze your posts each week to see what resonated most highly with your audience. Metrics will differ slightly by platform, but you’ll be looking at Reach, Impressions, Reactions (Likes, Hearts, Comments), and Clicks to your website

or profile to determine what is working. If you can, connect your social media marketing directly to your website’s analytics program. This enables you to see not only which posts drove traffic to your website, but which posts resulted in users contacting you or filling out forms for more information. Use this information to inform your future efforts.

At Oregon, we’re naturally print-focused but always promote the value of a layered marketing plan. If you need assistance in developing your overall marketing strategy, your social media strategy, or if you just need help coming up with a creative idea for a campaign, reach out! We’re happy to work with you or direct you to one of our talented partners, depending on the requirement.

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