If you have a business and you’re not using social media, then sad to say, you’re most likely not reaching as far as you can with your business. Grenada is a small island and yes, due to our size, word of mouth can work in some cases, but think about how much more reach and how much more business you can get if you were able to connect with the rest of the region and the world. Regardless of the size of your business, utilizing social media strategically can do a lot for you. Here are a list of ways you can use social media to boost your business:
1. Find the right platform.
There are many social media platforms available. The most common used in the Caribbean are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. I use all of them, except YouTube, but you don’t have to have all those accounts. You can test all of them, find out which one(s) suit your business best and go from there.
2. Link to other accounts.
Most social media accounts include ‘About’ sections or allow you to give a description of your business. Try to include links to your other social media accounts and to your website in the description. If you have a Facebook page, make sure you add a link to your business page from your personal profile. For example, include in job description: Owner/Blogger at Islepreneur. By doing that, your friends can easily see that you started a page and they most likely will navigate to it.
3. Sponsored Ads.
Facebook and Instagram have had lots of changes since they started. It’s much harder for posts on your pages to show up in news feed of even those who follow your page. So, investing in sponsored ads is one way to widen your reach and to sell your products to those you specifically want to reach.
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4. Post weekly.
This goes without saying. In my experience, you can definitely grow your audience really quickly by consistently posting relevant content. Ensure to share on your products and/or services at least once per week, but also share other related content your audience most likely will be interested in. That leads me to my next point.
5. Share from other pages.
Sometimes it is difficult coming up with relevant content for social media and even as a blogger, it is tough keeping up, but one way to keep your pages/accounts active is by sharing content from other pages. It is also a good way for your products and services to be seen by those other pages.
6. Video
“I see video as a mega trend, same order as mobile,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. I am not a lover of video, I prefer to write a long post and not see and listen to myself speak, but video is what reaches the masses. It somehow your audience’s attention faster than anything on social media. There is now ‘Live’ feature available on most platforms which means that you don’t really need expensive equipment to start. Just have your phone, script if you need any and roll. You’ll be amazed at the reach you can gain from being consistent with video.
7. Hashtags
Never underestimate the power of a hashtag. Unfortunately, even today, not much people understand how to use hashtags the right way. Hashtags are way to find a bunch of similar content with one click. For example, I recently started doing LIVE videos on Facebook to promote small businesses leading up to Christmas. I use the hashtag #SmallBizFeature on any post related to the feature so that when a viewer clicks on the hashtag, everything I posted will show up. They will also see content shared from other users using that same hashtag. Another example, if you are posting on social media tips, you may want to use hashtags other users are using such as #socialmedia #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing. Your content will show up with other content related.
If you are still not sure how to navigate through social media, I provide services which can assist and save you the trouble. Feel free to contact me so we can chat.
