Small Business Social Media Marketing: Lessons Learned

Introduction

We're a small business, and we've been doing social media marketing for a few weeks. We've learned a lot along the way, but more importantly: we've learned what not to do! Here are some of our biggest takeaways:

Watch out for scams

Scams are everywhere on social media. They pop up in your feed and look like legitimate content, but they're not. The best way to avoid scams is to always watch out for them (and report them). It's pretty straightforward:

Ensure that the account claiming to help you is affiliated with the company it says it is. If you have questions about an account, contact the company directly and ask if that person or group has been vetted as a representative of their brand.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is! Know what you're clicking on before clicking.

Ask people selling courses to show their successful clients

We've learned a ton from doing our social media marketing. One of the most important things we've learned is how to use social media for business. We've found that asking people who sell courses on how to do social media marketing is a precious lesson in itself.

We can't stress enough how much you should ask for examples of successful campaigns and strategies when researching ways to improve your campaigns. The best way to learn is by measure, so as long as you're willing to put in some work, you'll find success quickly if you follow along with what other businesses have done before you.

Asking around for references is also great if anyone else has done what you'd like to do. This will give them the incentive to help out (especially if they see potential value in it), and even better yet: it gives them incentive because it makes them look good!

Practice diligence and commitment

You need to be committed and diligent. You'll want to write a blog post every week, but sometimes life gets in the way, and that's okay. Just commit to writing something once a week, and you'll still be able to market your business effectively. And when you set goals for yourself, even if they're not met 100% of the time, it shows that you're committing yourself fully as an entrepreneur with great ambition for growth and success.

We didn't always practice diligence on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook (or Instagram) in our first few months. Still, now we put effort into making sure we have at least one post up per day from each platform so that people know what's going on with us (and keep coming back!) This helps us grow our audience within these networks while also staying connected with them outside of them through email newsletters or other forms of marketing- a win-win situation.

As of 10/8/2022, Our Facebook followers are zero

• We have no followers on Facebook.
• We are not using social media to promote our business.
• We are using Facebook as a platform for educational purposes only, and we aren't trying to sell anything on the site.
• We post to Facebook often, but Facebook wants money to promote your business page if you don't pay them off the bat (even then, it's costly).

What we've learned

To be successful, you need to:

• Have goals and make sure they are specific. If your goal is "to grow your business," then it's too vague. A better plan would be "to get 30 new clients in the next three months". Goals should be measurable.
• Take risks, and don't be afraid of failure. Don't decide something is too complicated or won't work before trying it out! You will learn much more from failing than succeeding because you can reflect on what worked and what didn't.
• Ask for help when needed. Professional advice or guidance is sometimes required, so don't hesitate to reach out when necessary.

Don't give up on your goals

The first is to not give up on your goals. If you've set a goal, define it and stick to it. Don't be afraid to ask for help or advice when needed, and don't be scared of criticism or feedback, as these can be useful in helping you achieve your goal.

Conclusion

We hope you've learned a little something from our experiences. We've had a few bumps in the road, but we're still here and learning how to do this right. If you want to get started with your social media marketing, please reach out to us. We'd love to help guide you through it all and show off some cool tricks along the way :)

Tyrone Showers