Every small business owner is strapped for time and money. But a limited budget and schedule shouldn’t stop you from finding innovative ways to tackle your business’s challenges.
By learning how to use social media, you can save valuable resources and run your business more efficiently.
Here are a few of the common challenges that small businesses face, and how to use social media to solve them.
“I want to increase brand awareness, but I don’t have the budget for radio ads or billboards”
Thanks to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, there are plenty of affordable ways to create brand awareness:
Cross-post content
A simple but effective way to increase the reach of your social media marketing is to post your content to multiple social networks. This allows you to connect with a larger audience, and lengthen its lifetime.
Facebook and Twitter Ads
Where billboards, newspaper spreads, and bus stops were once the best way for a small business to target a local audience, social media ad platforms offer much more powerful targeting tools. Plus, they’re perfect for budget-conscious entrepreneurs because they charge per click.
“I need to learn more about my audience, but I don’t have the money to put into market research.”
Social media enables you to learn more about your customers through metrics reports that analyze your customers’ behaviour.
Hootsuite’s analytics reports enable you to dive deep into the metrics behind your social media activity, and provide you with insight into how your customers engage with your brand.
“How do I provide great customer service while keeping costs down?”
With the advent of social media, customers expect assistance within hours, if not immediately, and reach out for it over multiple social networks.
Here are a couple of tips on how to respond effectively and consistently across every social channel.
Tip# 1: Quickly resolve customer issues
Make sure that you’re monitoring your social accounts across the social web. This way you can quickly pinpoint customers’ issues and help them in an efficient manner.
Tip #2: Measure customer happiness
Once you have the monitoring and response down, make sure you measure how effective your social customer service is. Use Hootsuite analytics to track mentions, and see whether your brand sentiment has improved or stayed the same.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 50 30442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
