10 tips to grow your business using social media

If you’re in business, you’ve probably heard that social media is the way to go for advertising. And yes that’s true, social media is a powerful tool for businesses. However, with hundreds of different platforms, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Which platform should you focus on? And what kind of content should you post? We understand that for some, taking advantage of social media for your business can be overwhelming. Which is when we can step in to help. However, for those who are interested in learning, we have a guide on how to grow your business using social media that should give you the kickstart you need.

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1. Create a business profile

First things first, if you’re new to the game, create a business profile that is professional, but also fun. This is how you can make your social media presence stand out from other businesses in the same industry. Be sure to include your business name, logo, and contact information so that people can easily find out more about you and what services or products you offer. Include images of items that represent your brand (if applicable), as well as any videos showcasing products or services offered by the company. It’s also key to have a clear way for your audience to contact you—like an email address or phone number directly listed on the page.

2. Plan your post

Social media is your new reality, and you need to make sure you don’t lose sight of it. You should be planning your posts in advance so that you can post them on schedule and not have to worry about posting at the last minute, or forgetting because things have got too busy.

Here’s how:

• Create a simple content calendar for your social media, and use that calendar to schedule all future posts.
• Start by adding all of the imagery and videos you currently have available into the calendar, in columns or blocks, representing each month. If there are gaps between these blocks where no content is scheduled or planned yet, leave them blank; those are places where new content could go later! This helps avoid an overwhelming feeling when looking at an empty page with nothing listed on it.

3. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to get more views on your social media posts. If you post something without a hashtag, it’s just going to be lost in the sea of other posts out there. Hashtags are also useful in helping people find the content they might be interested in and find yours as well.

There’s an art to using hashtags, though. You don’t want so many that they look like spam or clutter up the posts with useless information, but at the same time, you don’t want too few so that potential followers can’t find what they’re looking for either!

Here are some tips for finding good hashtags:

• Use trending topics if possible – These tend to generate lots of engagement (and consequently followers) because people love being part of ‘the conversation’ on social media. When searching for these topics make sure to not just add them at random; make sure what you’re posting is relevant as well!
• Use consistent hashtags and track how well they are doing until you find a good set of hashtags that are getting you on the right people’s pages. Then all you have to do is customise the last hashtag to fit what the post is about exactly.

4. Post Regularly

Posting regularly is important to keep your audience engaged. It also helps you build a community, brand and reputation. A well-balanced schedule of posting will help you get a following of people who want to hear what you have to say and see what you share without having to search on social media platforms for new content from you.

5. And post AUTHENTIC and REAL content

We can’t stress enough how important it is for brands to be real and authentic! Your content needs to align with your business and your brand goals. It’s so easy to get caught up in the world of social media and copy content when you’re feeling unmotivated. But, connecting with followers by being genuine is critical, especially nowadays when consumers are looking for authentic content and holding brands responsible for it. Not everything in the world is perfect, and 2022 has seen social media take a 360 turn as TikTok blew up and user engagement rapidly increased when it comes to “genuine content”.

This also accounts demonstrating across social media your brands voice. Engaging with followers on your accounts? Use your voice! Don’t just comment an emoji that means nothing, or comment what the user above puts; Instead, start a conversation or express your opinion.

6. Measure your success and improve from there

The next step is tracking how well each post performs—and seeing what works best so that you can do even better next time! You can track post engagement (likes, comments, shares) as well as mentions from other people or brands who mention or share your content in their own feeds.

You can use analytics to measure the success of your social media campaigns by evaluating the following:

• The number of followers you have acquired, their demographics and location.
• When was the last time you posted a new piece of content? What was it? How many likes did it get? What about shares? Were those people real or bots? How does that compare with other posts on similar topics or in similar categories? You’ll want to look at these kinds of numbers over time so that you can see if some types of posts work better than others for your audience, but also across different platforms (for example, Instagram might be better at driving sales than Facebook).
• Are people engaging with each other within comments on posts. This will help determine what kind of content drives engagement among users who identify with one another through common interests or goals related to products/services offered by companies like yours!

And don’t forget about competitors: A good social media monitoring tool will tell you what they’re doing so that you know how to beat them at their own game!

7. Keep Track of Competitors

Social media is a great place to keep tabs on competitors and see what they are doing, who they are following and how they are using social media. You can use this information to find out about new trends or products that may be useful for your business, as well as get feedback on your own business. This also helps you identify any weaknesses in your own business’ social media strategy and gives you ideas for strengthening it in order to grow your business using social media.

8. Human interaction / Influencer Marketing

Social media has a shift away from advertising and selling, and has put an emphasis on human connection. Through the use of the latest tools within social platforms, such as reels and live videos, it’s given companies the opportunity to demonstrate who they are as a brand. People want to see the faces behind the business, so show them!

Another big area in social media is Influencer marketing. It’s the process of leveraging key individuals with a large following to promote your brand. As you know, influencers are people who have influence in their industry or community. You can find influencers by looking at your competitor’s followers list and identifying which ones they promote the most. You can also use tools like BuzzSumo or FollowerWonk to identify influential people from your niche in the yachting industry, from crew to captains. Once you’ve identified some potential partners, reach out to them with an offer that would be mutually beneficial for both parties.  For example this could be an Instagram collaboration or a sponsored post or reel on their page.

9. Attract Followers with Contests and Giveaways

Giveaways and contests are a great way to grow your business using social media if you’re a start up company. People love to win stuff and they’re more likely to follow you if you’re offering them their favourite prize. This, however, may make more sense for some businesses over others and there’s no guarantee these followers will stay for future content.

10. Handle Online Criticism Well

When your business is criticised online, it’s tempting to get defensive. But jumping into a fight on social media isn’t going to win you any friends or make your customer service better. Instead, consider the following:

Don’t take it personally. It’s important not to let criticism get to you—especially if you’re doing something new and different for the industry! Remember that negative comments are often just expressions of one person’s personal preference or perspective, and not necessarily accurate reflections of reality.

There you have it! Ten ways to use social media correctly which will help your business grow. If you found these tips helpful, share them with other small businesses who could benefit from this knowledge.

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