Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses Video

What once began as a trend for the youngsters has now become an all-out marketing necessity for businesses. The Facebook? The YouTubes? InstaFace? Yup, you got it, we’re talking about social media marketing.

Because it’s such a new advertising platform and ever-changing, Toria, our Social Media Manager here at Pens.com, compiled a few introductory social media marketing tips for small businesses in this helpful Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses video.

#1 Social Media Tip for Small Businesses: Define Your Brand Voice

Before you get started on social media, you need to figure out who you are as a company. This small business marketing tip is crucial as you start to market yourself.

Ask yourself:

• Is your business fun and playful? Informational and direct?
• How do your competitors market themselves and how can you stand out?
• Who are your customers?
• What is your brand’s origin story/why do you exist?
• What is the message you want your content to tell?

Once you have clear answers to these questions, you’ll have a solid framework for who you are as a company and how you can best represent yourself on social media.

#2 Social Media Marketing Tip for Small Businesses: Choose the Right Social Placements

Now that you know who you are and what you represent, let’s move into our second social media marketing tip: on which platforms to post and which content types to choose.

Social Stories

These are quick, daily posts that disappear typically after 24 hours.

Social stories are great for:

• Behind-the-scenes content: this is a great Instagram tip for small businesses that have pieces of their operations that are off-limits to customers, like the restaurant kitchen.
• Re-posting your customers’ photos: when customers tag your business on their pages, use Instagram or Facebook stories to repost it. This helps with social proof (“hey, if other people like it, I will like it, too”), which is so important for marketing these days.
• Drumming up excitement for a new product or service: slowly reveal pieces of your new product or service over a couple days with a countdown clock to the official launch.

Social Tagging

Social tagging goes both ways: first, when a happy customer tags your business in their social feed and second, when you tag a customer using your business.

Social tagging is great for:

• Interacting with customers: tagging shows you’re engaged with your audience and appreciate their feedback.
• Building a following with free advertising: people will see their friends posting your content or tagging your business, which naturally piques interest (and hopefully new customers for you!). This is Instagram and Facebook marketing for small business 101.
• Social proof: we spoke about this earlier, which is the idea that people are more comfortable with organic marketing like a recommendation from a friend.

Social Feeds

This is where your daily content and tags meet.

Social feeds are great for:

• Showing your brand story: think of your social feeds as a quick snapshot of everything you stand for in one place.

More Social Media Marketing Tips:

Read more articles from Pens.com on small business marketing. Here are some favorites:

• In-Depth Breakdown of Social Media Platforms: read about Facebook, Yelp, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tik Tok, as well as pro tips for small business marketing on these social media platforms.

• 8 Social Media Marketing Tips for Restaurants: from customer polls and team spotlights to behind-the-scenes and more, here are eight ideas for restaurant marketing on social media.

• Connecting with Customers on Social Media during COVID-19: keep connected with customers during the pandemic with these five tips for small business.

And of course, we’d love to hear on Facebook and Instagram how these social media tips for small businesses work out for you!