{"id":35289,"date":"2020-11-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newrcblog.wpengine.com\/introducing-social-media-101-for-small-business\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:56:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:56:54","slug":"social-media-for-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/social-media-for-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media for small business: An in-depth guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a social media strategy for a small business can seem intimidating. With so many platforms out there, it can feel overwhelming to choose which ones would<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/how-to-grow-a-small-business\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grow your small business<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the fastest. In a time where<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/effortless-customer-engagement.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> customer engagement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is everything, venturing into the social media world will be imperative for growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Globally, over <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hootsuite.com\/resources\/digital-trends?utm_campaign=all-tier_1_campaigns-digital_2021-glo-none----smw_landing_page-en--q1_2021&amp;utm_source=third_party&amp;utm_medium=directory&amp;utm_content=smw\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.2 billion people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> use social media. Moreover, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.globalwebindex.com\/chart-of-the-day\/social-browsers-brand\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of social browsers use social media to research products and services. If your brand doesn\u2019t have an effective social media presence, you\u2019re already falling behind in a competitive digital world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, we take a look at why <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">every<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> business needs a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media strategy <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and provide some actionable tips to help you get started. Let&#8217;s dive in:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#one\">Which social media platforms should a small business use?\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#two\">Essential social media tools for small businesses<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#three\">How to set social media goals for your business<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#four\">Social media strategies for small businesses\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\ud83d\udd11<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 What\u2019s the key to building a strong, customer-centric team? Grab our eBook to find out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-form-widget standart-download-form\" data-url=\"https:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/ebook\/the-key-to-building-a-customer-centric-team.pdf\" data-id=\"69d2a42da3c5a\" id=\"69d2a42da3c5a\">\n\t\t<button tabindex=\"on\"  on=\"tap:69d2a42da3c5a.toggleClass(class='open')\" class=\"open-modal-download-action download-form-button\" type=\"submit\">\ud83d\udcd9 Get the eBook<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-body\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-content\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-title\">\ud83d\udc40 \u200a Get this free eBook to learn how to build a customer-centric team. <\/div>\n<form class=\"download-form SMB\" method=\"post\">\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Full Name\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"text\" name=\"fullname\" placeholder=\"Full Name\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"text\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"email\" autocomplete=\"on\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"email\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"popup_form\" value=\"1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"Lead_Entry_Source__c\" value=\"RC Blog\" class=\"download-form-input\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"download-form-submit\" type=\"submit\" data-dl-element=\"button\" data-no-auto-dl=\"true\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\" data-dl-name=\"Get it now\">Get it now<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<button on=\"tap:69d2a42da3c5a.toggleClass(class='open')\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\"  class=\"download-form-modal-close\"><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-thank\">Enjoy! <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"one\"><\/a>Which social media platforms should a small business use?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to social media platforms, there are five that come to mind. Based on the type of business you have, one could be more beneficial than others, or perhaps a combination is what you need. Here we break down the social media platforms and their use cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. LinkedIn<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.linkedin.com\/content\/dam\/blog\/en-us\/corporate\/blog\/2018\/april\/Top_Card.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn Tips to Keep Your Profile Fresh | Official LinkedIn Blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn is a platform for business professionals to network and connect online. If your company is one that loves to share business trends or learnings, then LinkedIn is a great start for your social media presence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn can also be essential when it comes to recruiting new employees as well as good for brand awareness. LinkedIn is a great platform for video, so if you have a dedicated product video or graphics team, this platform may appeal to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe\" id=\"new-rc-subscribe\"  style=\"background-image:url('\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ringcentral\/assets\/images\/temp\/subscribe.png')\">\n\t\t<button class=\"close js-popup-close\"><svg class=\"icon_close_mobile\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\"><use xlink:href=\"#icon_close_mobile\"><\/use><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__wrapper_text\">\n<h3 class=\"rc-subscribe__title h2\">Stay informed with RingCentral<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__subtitle\">Subscribe to our emails for the latest blogs, events, and exclusive content on AI-powered communication solutions. Stay ahead with insights and tips from the leader in trusted AI communications.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/legal\/privacy-notice.html\" target=\"_blank\" data-dl-name=\"Privacy Notic\" data-dl-element=\"link\" data-dl-additional-info=\"social\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Privacy Notice<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__wrapper_form\">\n<form class=\"\" data-event-init=\"true\" novalidate data-js-form>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tname=\"email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tplaceholder=\"Email address *\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Must be valid email. example@yourdomain.com\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminlength=\"4\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmaxlength=\"255\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trequired\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpattern=\"[a-z0-9._%+\\-]+@[a-z0-9.\\-]+\\.[a-z]{2,}$\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"field__control\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tautocomplete=\"on\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-required=\"true\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-events-hover=\"true\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-element=\"email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-additional-info=\"LET'S WORK TOGETHER\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"Email address *\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-errormessage=\"email-subscribe-errors\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"field__errors\" id=\"email-subscribe-errors\" data-js-form-field-errors><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<select\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tname=\"Country__c\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trequired\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"field__control\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-required=\"true\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-expanded=\"false\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"Country *\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taria-errormessage=\"country-subscribe-errors\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t><option value=\"\" disabled=\"disabled\" selected=\"selected\">Country<\/option><option value=\"Canada\">Canada<\/option><option value=\"United_States\">United States<\/option><\/select><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"field__errors\" id=\"country-subscribe-errors\" data-js-form-field-errors><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"rc-subscribe__row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"submit\" data-event-init=\"true\">Subscribe<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"confirm-form\" role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" style=\"display: none;\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"confirm-form__text\">Thank you for your interest in RingCentral<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Facebook<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-50266\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-09-at-12.05.41-PM-1024x926.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"926\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook is most likely the largest and most efficient social media platform that can be used by small businesses. With over 1<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zephoria.com\/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> billion daily users and 2 billion monthly active users<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, your target customer is bound to be using this platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook is perfect for keeping your customers in the loop when it comes to new promotions and it is also open to engaging with various different types of content. However, over-posting on Facebook can be detrimental to your strategy. Do not post more than once a day, but do post more than once a week. Defining a good cadence for posting is imperative in a successful Facebook marketing strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Instagram<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-50267\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-09-at-12.07.32-PM-1024x861.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"861\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marketing on Instagram for small businesses has boomed in recent years. Instagram thrives on visuals and offers different mediums within the platform to share information (posts, reels, and stories). Instagram is also the home of influencer marketing, which can create the brand awareness your small business may need.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Twitter<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-45570\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/classpass-twitter-response-1024x645.png\" alt=\"classpass twitter response\" width=\"1024\" height=\"645\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter is the most conversational platform on this list. Unlike Facebook, a Twitter strategy will be more work, as posting several times a day will be imperative in order to break through the noise of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hootsuite.com\/twitter-statistics\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5,787 tweets every second.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. YouTube<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-50268\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-09-at-12.11.03-PM-1024x509.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"509\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When thinking about social media platforms, many businesses forget about the value of YouTube. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/youtube-stats\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube is the second largest search platform on the internet. It is also the second most trafficked website behind Google<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which means it has an enormous daily audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube allows for unique video content to be created.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube is great for early stage content such as &#8220;How To&#8217;s&#8221; and product demo videos. With YouTube, your small business is going to need either a videographer or graphic designer as well as a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.obilityb2b.com\/blog\/how-to-do-seo-for-youtube\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> YouTube SEO strategy<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to maximize the benefits of a YouTube social campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. TikTok<\/span><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50270\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50270\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50270\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/tiktok.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"427\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50270\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image source: FanBytes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok has over a billion users worldwide and is an essential social media app for connecting with Gen Z and millennial audiences, as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.globalwebindex.com\/trends\/tiktok-music-social-media\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">41%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of global users are between the ages of 16\u201324.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok enables users to create and share short-form<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> video content,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and its fast-paced nature means that it\u2019s engaging at all levels. It\u2019s a great tool for marketers as it reflects key social media trends that involve collaboration and creativity among its younger audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best thing about TikTok is that small businesses can make and share videos with just a smartphone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Posting to all these different social media channels can be extremely time-consuming. Logging in and out and keeping track of individual platforms isn\u2019t an efficient way for your team to spend their time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, a platform like RingCentral Engage Digital integrates all your social media accounts under one digital roof to streamline your business communications.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"two\"><\/a>Essential <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media management tools<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for small businesses<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A quick Google search for \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketing tools<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d will bring up hundreds of options. There are some big players, like HubSpot, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social that are great as standalone social media management and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">analytics tools<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to help you manage your social media activities without needing a full-blown social media team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look for tools that allow you to manage social media engagement with robust analytics. Hootsuite, for instance, allows you to track <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">engagement rates<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across channels from a simple dashboard. It also allows you to create detailed reports across all your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media sites,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which can help you better understand how your social media strategies are performing. These tools are typically available on tiered <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pricing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plans that can quickly get expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">small business owner<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, some of these tools might not be affordable at the beginning. Moreover, it\u2019s likely your tech stack consists of various tools including a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/what-is-a-voip-phone.html\">VoIP phone<\/a> system<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/video-conferencing-software\/\">video conferencing software<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, customer relationship management tools, productivity software, and much more\u2014which all cost money!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A platform like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/digital-customer-engagement.html\">RingCentral Engage Digital<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allows you to consolidate all of your essential business tools and apps into a single platform. Instead of having to switch between different social media platforms to respond to customer support requests, you can do it all from a single app:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-50271\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-09-at-12.21.02-PM-811x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"811\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral Engage Digital allows small businesses to connect all their social media profiles in one place. Not only does this make social media management much easier, it also empowers you to provide a more consistent <\/span><a href=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/customer-experience-strategy\/\">customer experience<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across your social channels. All of your team members can see your customer\u2019s journey and interactions, whether they\u2019ve tried to connect on Facebook, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Instagram, or via email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"three\"><\/a>How to set social media goals for your small business\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are various goals that can be measured through social media. When it comes to setting social media goals for small businesses, the goals may be smaller or more manageable to start out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These goals can always be built upon results and company growth. Developing SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-Bound) will be integral in proving the success of your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kontentino.com\/blog\/social-media-strategy-make-the-most-of-a-social-media-plan\/\">social media strategy<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hootsuite.com\/resources\/barometer-2018-global\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">research by Hootsuite<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the main goals businesses are trying to achieve with <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">include building<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (90%), managing brand reputation (77%), building and managing an engaged community (71%), and increasing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">conversion rates<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (61%).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are great broad goals to start with, but be sure to make them SMART. Your goals might fall into some of these categories, but they should be more detailed to help your social media marketers and the rest of your business know <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exactly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> what you want to achieve from your social campaigns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Goals will also hold you and your team accountable, guide your budget, and encourage your team to pay close attention to data to ensure they\u2019re on track.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on your specific business objectives, there are various methods you can use to set SMART goals. For instance, you might choose to set goals based on where you want users to be in your sales funnel, the industry you\u2019re in, or what your competitors are doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s say, for example, that your small business social media goal is to build a larger local community following on your Facebook and Instagram pages. A SMART goal might be to increase your follower counts on Facebook and Instagram by 15% by the end of the next quarter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound\u2014it\u2019s SMART.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever goals you set for your social media efforts, be sure to assign them key metrics to measure their success. For instance, if your goal is related to boosting<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> engagement rates, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019ll want to track metrics that measure engagement such as likes, comments, retweets, shares, and so on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"four\"><\/a>Social media strategies for small businesses<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve established your social media goals, you can start making them a reality with various <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategies. Here are some <\/span><b>social media tips<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for small businesses looking to reach their full social potential.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Identify your audience on social media<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the first things you\u2019ll need to do in any digital marketing strategy is to outline your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">target audience.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Although you might have already identified who your audience is, you can leverage social data to deepen your understanding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Begin by compiling relevant data on your current audience. Look at audience demographics and their online behavior to better understand which social sites they interact with and how they interact with them. You can then use social media analytics tools to dig deeper to understand who\u2019s buying from you and interacting with your business online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also look into analytics directly through the social media platform. For instance, on Twitter, you can click on \u201cAnalytics\u201d and \u201cAudiences\u201d to access data to help identify the kind of people who are looking at your page and where they\u2019re located.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve defined your target audience, you can create buyer personas that are fictional representations of your ideal <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This allows you to better target your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strategies with those buyer personas in mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Use social listening to expand your audience<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social listening is the practice of monitoring your brand\u2019s social media accounts for direct mentions, customer feedback, and relevant conversations including industry topics, keywords, or competitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The purpose of this is to help you understand what people are saying about your business and use these insights to improve future campaigns, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">build brand awareness<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, reach <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new customers<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, stay ahead of the competition, and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a variety of social media listening tools you can use to do this. These tools enable you to monitor activity on your social pages. Once you\u2019re aware of how customers are talking about you and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">they\u2019re talking about, you can use social media to reach out directly or <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">share content <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that\u2019s driven by trending topics in your niche. While a lot of social listening tools are standalone, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/digital-customer-engagement.html\">RingCentral Engage Digital<\/a> rolls this feature into the rest of its omnichannel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/contact-center.html\">contact center<\/a>, so all of your data is in the same place:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-47812\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-24-at-11.42.05-AM-835x1024.png\" alt=\"RingCentral social listening analytics UI\" width=\"835\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hootsuite.com\/resources\/digital-trends\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2021 We Are Social Global Report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the main reason people use social media is to stay up to date with news and current events. Use this to inform your social listening strategy by monitoring key topics and trends in your industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This way, you can be the first to share relevant updates with your audience, establishing your brand as an industry leader. The content you share will be relevant and more likely to capture the attention of your audience while they\u2019re<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> scrolling.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Build relationships with engagement\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the main reasons you should be using social media is to engage with your audience directly. That\u2019s how you build relationships with them, but it\u2019s also how you rise in social <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">algorithms<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and increase your exposure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many reasons customers reach out to brands on social media channels. Your social strategy should involve sharing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content that\u2019s relevant and valuable to your audience, as well as being there to answer any questions they might have.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, consumers are more likely to connect with brands on social media when they have questions or product\/service support requests. It\u2019s much more efficient than making a phone call or waiting for an email response. With social media, you can respond to customers in a timely fashion through live chat, messaging, or commenting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a <\/span><a href=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/what-is-ucaas\/\">unified communications platform<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like RingCentral Engage Digital, you can consolidate all your business communications (including social media channels) in one place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This empowers your<\/span> customer service team<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to provide<\/span> <a href=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/omnichannel-vs-multichannel-whats-the-difference\/\">omnichannel support<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, whether it\u2019s on the phone, video chat, messaging, email, or social media. Moreover, with all your communications channels and customer data available on a single platform, your team won\u2019t have to waste time toggling between apps, so they can be more productive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond proactively responding to customers who get in touch with you, there are several other ways to <\/span>engage with customers<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to build relationships:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Create groups: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can create groups to increase <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brand loyalty <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and provide followers with a sense of community. For example, National Geographic created a Facebook group called \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en-gb.facebook.com\/groups\/2121020774841090\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women of Impact<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (with over 71,000 members!) that encourages women who are passionate about making an impact to join and share issues and initiatives that they\u2019re interested in.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Connect with <\/b><b>entrepreneurs<\/b><b> and <\/b><b>influencers<\/b><b>: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a great way to boost your brand authority on social media. For small businesses, you can reach out to micro-influencers<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with as few as 1,000 followers to increase engagement and build trust.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mention followers on social media: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharing user-generated content gleaned from contests or hashtags in your posts and stories is a great way to establish relationships with your followers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, a retail company might ask fans to share photos of themselves in the brand\u2019s clothing, which are then shared as stories on Instagram, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">retweets <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on Twitter, or featured posts on their<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Facebook page.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This will also encourage other people to start interacting with your socials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Stay organized with a social media <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content calendar<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s important to plan your content in advance to ensure you\u2019re not left lost for ideas when it comes time to post. Set up a simple Excel spreadsheet as a social media calendar. This way, you can plan your weekly posts including keywords and hashtags you want to include.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planning your social posts with a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content calendar <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">helps ensure your content is fresh and organized. It\u2019ll also help you differentiate between content on different social platforms and how frequently you\u2019re going to post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s also a good idea to factor holidays or special occasions into your calendar. For instance, if you run a successful online <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ecommerce <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">store, you might plan content related to Black Friday or Christmas, and post more frequently around this time to boost your visibility and encourage customers to take advantage of any deals you\u2019re running.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Experiment with different <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">types of content\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media isn\u2019t just about posting text and static image content anymore. Nowadays, social networks have expanded well beyond this potential. To keep things interesting for you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your viewers, it\u2019s a good idea to mix up content formats every so often.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be sure to take advantage of platform-specific formats like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instagram stories<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and reels, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> videos, or <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">articles. You might even consider going live on Instagram from time to time to encourage your audience to interact in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">real time<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s always a good idea to use visuals in your posts. Today, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video content <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is one of the most popular and sought-after types of content with audiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/video-marketing-statistics?_ga=2.171887844.510899788.1612468743-111581768.1612468743\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HubSpot<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 54% of<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> social media users <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">want marketers to share more <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video content<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Moreover, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sproutsocial.com\/insights\/types-of-social-media-content\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of marketers agree that video is the most valuable format for social goals. On Instagram, videos get <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sproutsocial.com\/insights\/social-media-statistics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">21.2%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> more interactions than images and 18.6% more interactions than carousels. YouTube is the second most popular platform for sharing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video content <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/buffer.com\/state-of-social-2019\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buffer.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> So, if you\u2019re not using video\u2014it\u2019s time to start!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also take advantage of different interactive tools available on platforms. For instance, use Instagram\u2019s question or poll feature in stories to encourage your audience to engage with your brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Choose your hashtags carefully<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hashtags are another great way to increase the reach of your social media posts, and therefore your potential <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer base<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/business.twitter.com\/en\/resources\/agency-playbook.html?utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_source=twitter\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement than those without. Hashtags get your posts out in front of people who aren\u2019t already following you, who can also convert to paying customers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of free tools online to help you find the best hashtags for your social posts. You can also find out which hashtags to target by researching those that your top competitors are using.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, be aware of hashtags relating to specific holidays or events. This is a great way to take advantage of trending topics while getting your social media posts out there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Track, analyze, and improve<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like everything you do in<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> business marketing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as soon as you start implementing your social media strategy you need to keep track of key <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">metrics <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and data to understand what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not. Armed with these insights, you can refine your strategy to improve results for the next campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a competitive business landscape, simply following social media tips and tricks you read about on the internet isn\u2019t going to cut it. You need to design your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media strategy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with your business needs and objectives in mind and keep updating it as consumer behaviors and technology trends change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of <a href=\"https:\/\/contentstudio.io\/blog\/social-media-management-tools\">social media management tools<\/a> that can help you to track and analyze the performance of your social channels, which brings us to our next section.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your small business social media strategy: It&#8217;s up to you!\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small business social media can be daunting. Remember, there are other ways to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/best-customer-service-software\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reach customers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> besides social media.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/small-business-call-center\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call centers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/multi-line-phone-system.html#office\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">multi line phones<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have long been popular in customer service capacities. <a href=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/social-media-customer-service\/\">Discover more tips on social media customer service in this blog.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investing in social media is necessary to grow your online business in today\u2019s day and age. Following the social media tips mentioned in this article and implementing a solution like RingCentral Engage Digital that allows you to consolidate all of your social media platforms into a single platform is a great place to start.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This way, you can begin increasing your brand reach, driving more traffic to your website, and converting more customers in no time at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creating a social media strategy for a small business can seem intimidating. With so many platforms out there, it can feel overwhelming to choose which ones would grow your small business the fastest. In a time where customer engagement is everything, venturing into the social media world will be imperative for growth. Globally, over 4.2 &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":50272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17901],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Social media for small business: An in-depth guide | RingCentral Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can social media be best used by small businesses to grow their brands, provide better customer service\u2014and even hire the best talent? 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