5 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

Phone showing social media icons.

As if running a small business isn’t hard enough, there’s social media to contend with. How do you make it worth your time and avoid another headache? We’ve got a few tips to help your small business make the most of social media.

1. Know Your Business

First things first, you need to know if social media even fits your business. Social media is inherently, well, social. Is your business social? Some businesses, especially manufacturing or business-to-business efforts, don’t need to be social—at least on the mass market social platforms. While others, like a retail business or nonprofit, need to be top of mind for consumers, so social is crucial. Think about your business and whether or not social fits at all. And it’s OK to decide you don’t need social media. Put your energy somewhere else.

2. Pick Your Platform

If you decide social is for you, it’s important to pick the right platform. You don’t necessarily need to be everywhere at once—that can be a lot of work and you might just be spinning your wheels. 

  • If you need broad-based awareness, Facebook might work. 

  • If you need business connections, maybe you should be on LinkedIn. 

  • If your audience is young, TikTok might be for you. 

3. Be Consistent

If you’re going to be on social, you have to commit. There’s nothing worse than seeing social channels silent for months on end. Come up with a consistent posting schedule and stick to it. Be realistic about what you can actually manage. 

4. The Right Tool

There are a number of tools that allow you to schedule social posts and even manage multiple platforms in one place. There’s Hootsuite, Buffer, Later, and plenty of others. Batch schedule an entire month in one sitting.

5. Offer Value

There’s a lot of noise out there. If you’re going to be on social, offer something of value. Reposting memes isn’t helpful. Just like we talked about with email newsletters, you need to focus on the customer and offer value. You’ve got a lot of expertise in your field, so share it. That’s the kind of content that makes for a valuable social media channel.

Give Us a Follow

We don’t claim to be experts, but we give social a shot. Come follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

David Lundy