If you’re running an up-and-coming small business, knowing what to prioritise and what should take a back seat will be one of your biggest challenges. Social media often falls into the latter of these two categories; something not too important that you can work on when you’ve sorted the key things out. Here, company formation agent 1st Formations look at why nailing social media should be towards the top of your to-do list from the get-go. Let’s get started.
An easy way to find your audience
TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and Facebook all provide search functionality that allows you to type in keywords, such as your product or service, and then be presented with the people mentioning these terms.
Regardless of the platform that you’re using, by using these searches smartly you can find the people who are talking about your industry, engage with them when appropriate, and use their profiles to help inform your own customer personas.
You can even piggyback on more established businesses working within your sector (and their partners) by following the people who follow them.
It’s a free customer services tool
Whilst interacting with your customers via social media channels may not be your idea of efficiently handling customer service queries, it’s often a preferred choice for the customer - especially when they feel they are having a bad experience. However, you can use this to your advantage.
Conversations about your business will happen on social media with or without your input. By quickly taking ownership of any issue you can demonstrate that your business values its customers, prioritises their experience and works to deliver solutions. In situations where there has been a misunderstanding on the customer’s part, you can control the situation by politely and professionally pointing out the issue.
Giving a face to your brand
It will depend on the line of work in which you operate, but you probably don’t want your business to be a faceless entity with zero personality.
Social media represents the perfect chance for you to introduce the people behind your business and enhance the tone of voice that you’re using in your existing marketing, such as your website and email communications. Remember, this doesn’t have to be ‘fun and quirky’ if this does not match your brand. You can convey a professional brand image through social media.
A chance to talk to your customers
Without social media, the majority of the engagement that you have with your customers is transactional or functional in order to deal with a problem.
By using social media, not only are you opening up a different avenue for communication, but you’re also inviting a different, more conversational type of communication. Ideal for gauging opinions on ideas you may have, receiving feedback on existing services, and generally just hearing how brilliant your business is.
Boost your content
If you’re consistently creating content (which you should be), social media is a great place to tell people about it and encourage them to share it. By producing a steady flow of expert content that regularly garners a solid amount of likes, shares and clicks you are setting yourself up as a thought leader in your industry.
And remember, it’s not a one-way street - you should also share content that your partners have created as well as other industry experts. By doing this you are building a community made up of like-minded businesses and followers.
Thanks for reading
So there you have it, 5 reasons why social media should be vital to your small business. Social media gives small business owners a fantastic, and mostly free opportunity to reach and engage with audiences, new and old. Make sure your business takes advantage of this.
Interested in starting your own business? 1st Formations are the UK’s top-rated company formation agent. Setting up your company is as simple as picking your company name, selecting the company formation package that’s right for you, making payment, and then completing the simple online company registration form. What are you waiting for? Get started now.
