Social media is one of the greatest marketing tools ever created. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram may not have been created with businesses in mind, but they sure have evolved into money-making machines. No small business is complete without a strong social media presence. We know it, and you know it. That’s why we’ve put together these social media marketing tips for beginners – we want to empower you to draw an audience and sustain your brand! 

If you’re not leveraging the power of social media, you’re not putting your brand in front of billions of pairs of eyes. Seriously, there are 4.2 billion social media users around the world, and that number continues to grow. That’s more than 53% of the global population! Who wouldn’t want to learn a couple of social media marketing tips to get their business off the ground? 

Pick the Right Social Media Platform 

Although you could put your brand on every social media platform, you’d quickly find that you’re spending way too much time on social media marketing for not a lot of results. 

Honestly, loads of people believe that social media marketing is more exhausting than climbing Mt Everest. We guarantee that those people have a bad or nonexistent strategy. 

Rather than doing a subpar job on six social networks, why not start with, say, three and create a really strong presence there. Definitely not as tiring as climbing a mountain! 

Which platform is suited to your target audience? 

True, most social media users use more than one platform, but each platform has its own unique drawing power. You can leverage the identity of each social network to get the most value out of your social media marketing. For example, almost everyone knows that LinkedIn is the place to be for B2B marketing, whereas Facebook and Instagram are amazing for B2C marketing. 

What kind of content do you like to create?

You also want to think about what kind of content you like to create, or best suits your brand. 

YouTube Content 

Video content is increasingly popular in all forms of social media. If you’re good at filming and editing videos, you should definitely get your brand on Youtube. People know and rely on YouTube as a video sharing platform, and often search YouTube as they would Google for answers to questions, reviews, and current events. 

Facebook and TikTok Content

Video is also one of the most consumed types of content on Facebook, more so than images and text. In fact, Facebook just added three new ways to monetise video content on its platform. With that said, the Facebook algorithm boosts videos hosted on Facebook before they boost videos hosted on YouTube, so that’s something to consider! 

Facebook is still a great place to post your imagery and text-based content, too. Facebook offers plenty of tools to attract an audience and promote your brand with ease. You can send invites to like your page, filter for your target market, go live for special events, and post paid promotions to expand your reach. 

Similarly, the rise of TikTok showcases the massive appetite for short-form video content online. TikTok was the most popular overall app downloaded globally in 2020, according to this article by Influencer Marketing Hub. Videos go viral on TikTok more often than the clock strikes twelve, so if you’re plugged into the memescape and stay on top of current trends, you could attract a lot of followers (and potential customers). 

Instagram Content 

Instagram is a highly visual social media marketing tool that supports short and long-form video content too. Instagram is becoming more and more suited to online business but it’s also super competitive. You’ll have to combine awesome graphic design and photography skills with a strong point of view and lots of engaging behind-the-scenes content to draw an audience. The Instagram algorithm makes you work hard for your visibility, so daily posts, comments, stories and engagement is required to stay on top. 

Start Creating Content on Social Media 

First, you have to complete your brand profile in its entirety. Whatever social media marketing tool you decide to use, make sure to: 

• Pick a username 
• Connect an email address
• Post polished profile pictures
• Add a description of your brand and its values 

No one will follow an account with no identity or content attached to it! Make your brand identity clear and be sure to let your followers know why they should follow you. Tell the world how following you will benefit them and what your brand can do to make their life so much better. 

If you’re not sure how to do this with confidence, check out some of your competitors. Every business and brand has competitors. See what kind of content they are creating and how it’s being received by their followers. Translate these ideas into your content. 

For example, behind-the-scenes content tends to do really well for all kinds of brands. Small businesses in particular benefit from a sense of intimacy and transparency between the followers and the brand. Showing your followers who is behind the screen and what they get up to is really engaging for most people! 

Build a Connection with Your Fellow Humans 

Although you’re reading these social media marketing tips because you want to grow your brand, they are still social networks. You have to send a friend or follow request to everyone you know, engage with their posts by leaving likes and comments, invite them to like your page or follow your account – build connections! 

It’s pretty daunting to build connections with people you don’t know. Usually, you have to work a little bit harder to get them on board. Below are some social media marketing tips for building connections with new people: 

• Search for keywords and phrases related to your industry on your chosen social networks. Find people in that space who are talking about your specialties. 
• If they’re asking for advice on your industry, help them out in the comments. 
• If they’re writing or sharing interesting and valuable articles, share or reshare them to your page. 
• Look for people in the comments and responses to those articles and see if there are questions you can answer and connections you can make there. 

It’s not just about growing your follower count, it’s about creating and maintaining awesome relationships with other people and brands in the online space. You don’t want followers who are not truly interested in your brand – they’ll just unfollow you and crash your algorithm performance. Instead, you want followers that enjoy what you do and are interested in long term engagement. 

Don’t Start with a Sales Pitch 

Perhaps one of the most overlooked social media marketing tips is to wait for three to six months before you start promoting your business online. Create beautiful and engaging content for your social networks. Share your brand values, vision and mission. Establish a strong brand identity on your chosen platform for the first three or more months of posting. 

Why? Because you can’t start promoting your brand to no followers, it doesn’t make sense, and it’s not a great look either. Instead, fill out your account with great content and loads of information about your brand and industry before you start to pitch your products and services. This helps to draw users in and keep them engaged when the selling starts. 

So, what do you think about these essential social media marketing tips for beginners? We hope that these insights help you to launch your brand and take it global, one step at a time. Be sure to check out our other blog posts for more insider information on SEO, social media, website design and so much more.