5 best practices for your social media marketing

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing is using social platforms to find customers and keep them close. There are two ways to do it. Organically, with your own posts, videos and replies. And paid, with ads shown to an audience you choose. Many businesses use a mix of both.

Social media has changed in recent years. You used to see mainly posts from accounts you followed. Now Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn increasingly show posts from accounts you don't follow, based on what interests you. That means your follower count says less than it used to. A good post can reach new people too. What you make counts for more than how many followers you have.

People also use social media more and more as a search engine. They search Instagram or TikTok for a hairdresser nearby, a recipe or a fix for a small job. Clear words in your captions and profile help you get found.

1. Start with a plan

Without a plan, social media becomes a loose collection of posts that achieves little. So start with one question. What should social media do for your business?

Possible goals include more awareness in your area, more website visitors, more enquiries or new staff. Pick one or two. Make them as concrete as possible, with a timeframe attached.

A good plan fits on one page and answers these questions.

• What is our goal?
• Who do we want to reach?
• Which platforms are we on?
• Which three or four themes do we post about?
• How often do we post and who does it?
• How do we measure whether it works?

2. Know your audience and choose your channels

You can only make good content when you know who it is for. Who are your customers? What is on their minds? Which questions do they keep asking you? Those questions are gold for your posts.

Then choose your channels. You don't need to be everywhere. One or two platforms done well beat five done half-heartedly. A few rules of thumb.

• LinkedIn works well for business services and recruitment.
• Instagram and Facebook suit businesses that want to reach local consumers, such as a salon, a restaurant or a plumber.
• TikTok and YouTube Shorts are strong if you show what you do in short videos.
• YouTube suits longer explanations, such as tutorials and reviews.

Also check where your customers already spend their time. Just ask them.

3. Build relationships, don't just sell

Many businesses use social media only to show off what they sell. That rarely works. People are on social media for their friends, for entertainment and for useful tips. Not for adverts.

So aim for a mix. Help people with tips and explanations. Show who is behind your business and how you work. And yes, show your offer regularly too. Just don't make it the main course.

Social media is also a two-way street. Reply to comments and messages, ideally quickly. Ask questions back. Share posts from happy customers, with their permission. That builds a bond, and a bond builds trust. Read more about how to grow your engagement.

4. Be consistent

Being consistent means three things.

• A steady rhythm. Post regularly, at a pace you can keep up for a long time. A few times a week is manageable for many small businesses. One good post every week beats posting daily for a month and then nothing.
• A recognisable voice. Write in the same tone everywhere. Formal or informal? Playful or businesslike? Choose and stick with it.
• A recognisable style. Use the same colours, fonts and kind of imagery. That way people recognise your post before they see your name.

It helps to create content in batches and schedule it ahead. Many platforms let you schedule posts in advance. That keeps your rhythm going, even in busy weeks.

5. Measure your success

Without measuring, you don't know whether your time is well spent. Every platform has its own analytics, showing reach, views, comments, saves, shares and new followers.

Measure what fits your goal. Want awareness? Look at reach and views. Want enquiries? Look at clicks to your website and what visitors do there. Add a UTM code to your links, and Google Analytics will show which visitors and enquiries come from social media.

Look back once a month. Which posts did well and why? Do more of those. Let go of whatever does nothing.

Mistakes we often see

• Starting everywhere at once. You quickly get overloaded and no channel gets proper attention.
• Buying followers. Fake followers don't engage and make your figures unreliable.
• Not replying. A question left unanswered for days costs you a customer.
• No route to your website. Tell people where to read more or get in touch.
• Stopping after a month. Social media takes patience. Results build up over months.

How we approach it

We work with you on a plan that fits your goal and your time. Then we choose the channels where your customers are and create the content, or help you do it yourself. Every month we measure what it delivers and adjust. Fail fast, improve fast. Read more about our Social media service. Thinking about working with creators? Read what influencer marketing is.