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25 Social Media Tips for Small BusinessA UT HO R : MA R K FE R G USO NSMARTERPILLAR.COM

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Mark Ferguson

• Blog at Smarterpillar.com

• Director of IT at Business Services Firm

• Writer on Social Media Today

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Small Business is Tough

• Limited time, budget and resources

• Money spent on advertising needs ROI

• Often advice doesn’t this take into account

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Why Social Media for Business?

• It’s the word-of-mouth advertising of today…

• …on steroids and caffeine

• It can be cheaper than traditional marketing with far greater rewards

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#1. Focus On One Social Media Platform At A Time

• Makes workload manageable

• Choose platform that your potential customers use

#2. You Will Need Content To Share

• Share content from other sites which your followers find interesting

• Start a blog for original content

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#3. Create A Schedule

• Don’t make mistake of ‘fitting it in when you can’

• If possible, involve as many people as you can

#4. Be Consistent With Your Images And Social Media Names

• Use the same header images and logos on your profiles

• If possible, use the same name for each platform

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#5. Tweet, Tweet and Tweet Again

• You can never tweet too much

• When you publish new content, tweet about it multiple times

#6. Test Everything

• Try different variations of the same tweet

• Analyse which gets the most engagement

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#7. Analyse Your Updates To Find The Best Times

• Initially, post at various times of day to find best time

• Use that time to promote your own content rather than someone else’s

#8. Add Images To Your Updates

• All social media networks allow you to add images

• Analyse to see if it increases engagement

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#9. Connect To Target Companies And Their Owners

• Connect with target customers not just current customers

• Find the decision makers in these companies and connect to them too

#10. Use Companies Social Media Names

• Use ‘@company’ or ‘@person’ in tweets so they get a notification

• You never know where it will lead

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#11. Respond to Messages

• Where message isn’t automated or spam, respond

• This politeness pays dividends down the line

#12. Link From Your Profiles To Your Main Website

• Better link back to a ‘benefits’ page rather than homepage

• It may seem obvious but often gets forgotten

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#13. Announce Promotions And Deals on Social Media

• Others spread the word about your promotion

• Add some urgency by including a time limit

#14. Place Links To Your Social Media Profiles On Your Email Footer

• Creates a lot of extra exposure for your business

• People you email are already interested in your business so will engage

Smarterpillar.com#15. Don't Be Afraid To Promote Your Products Or Services

• You are unlikely to convert customers with one post or tweet

• Find the right ‘soft sell’ balance for your updates

#16. Spend Money On Advertising

• It doesn’t have to be expensive

• You can make an impact with only a couple of pounds a day

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#17. Don't Always Put A Link In Your Post Or Tweet

• Sprinkle in a few conversational tweets

• Ask a question or quote an influencer

#18. Experiment And Be Creative

• Get very quick feedback on if something’s worked

• Social media has a short memory so no lasting damage

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#19. If You Find Something That Works, Repeat It Again

• Repeat the formula until it stops working

• Define what you consider to be ‘success’

#20. Integrated Campaigns

• When comfortable, use other platforms to cross promote

• Use one network to publicise another

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#21. Customer Service

• Deal positively with customer service issues

• Shows potential customers how good you are

#22. Be Consistent

• Consistency is the key to sticking out from your competitors

• You can only achieve consistency with a sustainable strategy

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#23. Automate, Automate Automate

• Plenty of tools available to speed up processes

• I use Buffer, Crowdfire and Swayy amongst others

# 24. Be Patient

• People expect results too quickly

• What will you gain from stopping?

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#25. Have Fun!!!!!!

• Social media marketing should be fun

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For Further Info, Please Visit :

• Smarterpillar.com

• SocialMediaToday.com/users/Mark-Ferguson