Grow Your Business on Social Media in 6 Steps

Did you know there are over 2 billion active users on social media? That makes it a great way to reach your target audience, attract new customers, and build relationships with existing ones.¹ More than a quarter (28%) of small businesses in the UK are now generating more sales from social media than from any other channel, including e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores.² And 58% of consumers think that brands should be more relatable on social media,³ making social media an important part of growing your business.

Find how to grow your business on social media, follow our top tips:

How to grow your Business on Social Media

1. Choose your platform

The social media platforms you choose to use for your business will depend on the products or services you offer. Instagram is an excellent way for businesses with visual products to showcase their work. X can be a powerful relationship-building and customer service tool. Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms and can be great for building a community around your company by liking pages related to your industry.¹

2. Gather inspiration

It’s often a good idea to look at what your competitors are doing on their social media platforms. Look at how often they post, and what their posts look like, you can decide whether you want to do something similar or branch out on your own.¹ Once you’ve decided what works best for you, create a calendar with specific day-to-day tasks and goals outlined. Posting often throughout the week keeps people interested and leads them back to your site.¹

busy desk with collegues working on laptops

3. Create a content plan

Content is the back-bone of any social media strategy, and planning out what you will post in advance can save you time. A content plan should include what type of content you will create, how often you will post, and which platforms you will use.⁴ Aim to create a mix of original and curated content that showcases your expertise and reflects your brand. Also, consider the best content formats for each platform, such as images, videos, stories, live streams or podcasts.

4. Use strong calls-to-action

Posting on Facebook and X (Twitter) can help you stay visible and fresh in your audiences’ minds. You may also want to use platforms like YouTube or LinkedIn, depending on the needs of your company. Regardless of the platform, it’s important to create one call-to-action (CTA) per post.¹ Put yourself in the shoes of someone scrolling through your feed and think about how each post and CTA looks from their perspective. A CTA could involve directing your audience to your website or asking them to comment the answer to a question posed in the caption.

5. Engage with your followers

Responding to questions and comments and featuring user-generated content can show your appreciation to loyal customers and followers and build loyalty, foster relationships and increase your brand visibility.⁴ Social media can also be used to provide great customer service. Many customers are turning to social media for help instead of waiting hours or days for a company to respond to an email.⁵ Data suggests that customers spend 20% to 40% more with companies that respond to customer service requests on social media, while companies that don’t end up losing 15% more customers per year.⁶

6. Analyse and optimise

Monitor your social media performance and use that data to help you build your strategy going forward. You can analyse metrics such as reach, engagement or revenue then identify what’s working, what’s not, and tweak your content according to that data. You may also want to keep an eye on the latest trends in social media marketing and make changes according to needs of your audience.⁴

Harnessing the power of social media could be the key to growing your business as long as it is used effectively. Selecting the right social media platform for your business, gathering inspiration, and creating a content plan are great ways to start using social media to help grow your business. Use strong CTA’s on each post to get results and engage with your followers to help build loyalty and brand awareness. Using the data you gather from the results of your social posts will help you analyse and optimise your social media strategy for continued growth.

For even more advice, read Five Tips to Help Grow Your Business.

Sources

A Guide on How to Grow Your Business on Social Media