For small businesses, social media platforms can be an excellent business tool. You can use social media to engage your target audience, raise brand awareness and drive customers to your website.

When you do that – capture new prospects and increase sales!

The US leads in social media advertising spending, worldwide, more than any other country. Why? Just on Facebook alone, our country has 193.8 MILLION users! While Facebook is the most popular social media platform – there are many others. I’ll go over a few of them as we cover which are best for small business and why social media marketing is so important for small businesses in today’s digital age. 

There are many social media platforms - ones likes TikTok, X/Twitter and even Snapchat. However, I'd like to talk about the top 3 most popular social networks worldwide (as well as believe it or not, the lowest ranking social network) as of April 2024, according to Statista.

Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are three of my personal favorites - as well as Pinterest, which is often considered underestimated.

Facebook

Let's discuss numero uno! Creating a Facebook Business page is free and setting up your business portfolio, allows you to build brand awareness by informing them about who you are and what your business does. You can post content that can engage your target audience through interactive posts such as polls, recommendations, answering Q&A's and even events. If you own or operate multiple businesses, Facebook allows you to create business pages for each of them, switch back and forth between them and add other admins should you want other staff, team members or your personal social media designer on retainer (i.e., Farmer Girl Web Design) to manage them as well.

Facebook also has Meta Business Suite. This tool gives you the ability to create, manage and track all your posts across both Facebook and Instagram. Want to boost a post so that it reaches even more of your target audience? You can set up all of your Facebook ads in Meta Business as well and track analytics.

Instagram

Now this platform is particularly great for businesses who organically have a lot of visual content such as photographers, restaurants and the like. Use your Instagram business account to promote your company, products and services in a visually appealing way with reels and stories. Insta posts are less word focused and heavy on eye-catching pictures and media. Instagram also actually has two different types of professional accounts to choose from: Business and Creator. A Creator account is better suited for celebs, influencers and artists because they can be set to private. A Business account allows you to connect both your professional Instagram account with your Facebook account. An Instagram profile feature that businesses should take advantage of are highlights. Highlights appear below your profile picture and can act as "category icons" or "quick reference sections" for your visitors.

YouTube

We're all familiar with this social media platform! YouTube has channels for everything - comedic videos, documentaries, great "how to's" for fixing things around the house, or maybe you like to catch up on clips from your favorite talent shows or keep the kids occupied in that long check-out line. If your business can create captivating videos that are also informative, creating a YouTube channel is a beneficial tool. A big plus is that you can also monetize your channel through ads and sponsorships, providing an additional revenue stream.

Similar to Facebook Live, YouTube has its own video livestreaming feature as well which is beneficial for sharing real-time updates and news. Visitors can also "Subscribe" to your channel so they get notifications when you upload new video content - just like your customers can like your Facebook page or follow you on Instagram.  A YouTube channel may not be right for every small business - perhaps you feel you don't have the time to contribute to video creation on a regular basis, but even the occasional product demonstration or behind-the-scenes look into your business can be great content!

Pinterest

Don't feel bad for Pinterest! I'd be ELATED if there were 498 MILLION people on my social media! So, while those numbers might be lower than the previous three platforms we just covered, that's not too shabby! Stories that have visual content to promote your business, spread brand awareness and showcase your products can be "pinned" or saved by visitors or immediately direct them to your site to learn more or make a purchase which could easily convert to leads and sales. An incredibly useful resource to check out when setting up a Pinterest Business account is the Pinterest Academy. There you can take E-learning Courses or attend Webinars to sharpen your Pinterest business skills and become more knowledgeable on leveraging what this platform has to offer in the way of advertising and marketing for your small business. I create stories to share all my blogs on my Pinterest Business Profile.

I'll leave you with a few important things to remember...

1. No matter what social media platform you choose or how many you choose - they are all a way to drive people back to your site!
2. I've said it before, but it's important to repeat - while social media platforms are excellent tools to be taken advantage of by small businesses, especially in today's digital age, they are not a substitute for a website. 
3. Every time you set up a social media account - your profile picture, banner/cover image and content - should all be on brand! Keep your branding consistent throughout your site, marketing materials and social media.
4. If you find yourself not knowing how to set up one of these accounts, need a little training to help you navigate through utilizing them to your advantage as a small business, aren't sure how to create content that will show off your brand and engage your audience...you have ME! The services I provide can help you enhance your online presence and guide you in all those aspects, so you can get back to running the day-to-day! Feel free to contact me any time!