Businesses today are most heavily influenced by social media, and yet the importance of having a social presence is still overlooked by tons of companies - especially smaller retail stores. So often, businesses pass off the responsibility of posting on social media to their hourly employees who don't have the time, knowledge or skills to effectively utilize social media; in other words, efficiently scaling the business, increasing traffic, revenue, and brand awareness, and understanding the marketing aspect behind social media itself.
It can be so easy to neglect the social aspect of your business to focus on making in-person sales (especially when you don't have someone dedicated to managing your business' social media accounts) but when you put the effort into growing your online presence, it only benefits your business! Once you establish your brand online, you're able to expand and engage with your audience, increase market reach and traffic to your website, further develop your brand and increase your revenue and customer networks, among so many other things.
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Instagram for Small Businesses + Retailers
Instagram is slowly transitioning from just a photo-sharing platform to a video-based, shopping-centric app that businesses can thrive on. If you have an online store, it can be integrated into your Business Instagram account so your customers can shop specific products directly from your Instagram profile - and it's proven to be a popular way for customers to shop, considering commercial posts are raking in about 130 million monthly clicks! The app's ever-changing algorithm is also pushing for more unique video content right now, which means you can show some personality behind your brand and connect on a more personal level with your audience.
Pinterest for Small Businesses + Retailers
Having an online shop is the perfect reason to get your business on Pinterest - at least 1/3 of its 442 million users use the app specifically to follow businesses. It's one of the leading platforms for image searches, and you can now shop directly from the app as well, which makes it the perfect space for a business to thrive! You can schedule months' worth of content at a time, and using optimized keywords in your descriptions can increase your content exposure and drive tons of traffic to your website, even if you don't have an online store. It's arguably the best platform to create original, on-brand content like styled photos of your products that appeal to countless potential customers searching for what you provide!
Facebook for Small Businesses + Retailers
Facebook is a given for any business that's on social media, whether you have an online store or not, and regardless of what you sell (seriously, there are at least 80 billion small business pages on the platform. Facebook is great for local business specifically, as much of the older generations are using the site to find small businesses near them to support. Business pages are key to utilize, as you can check into different locations, share updates quickly, connect with specific groups of people, and spread the good word about your business effortlessly!
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There are numbers of other platforms to utilize as a small business, if only for the increased exposure and potential to gain a more engaged community. It should also be noted that social media management is typically its own position for a reason. Social media is active 24/7, meaning your audience has access to your content and can engage with it at all times - this, in turn, means that your social media presence should be consistent, unique, and monitored frequently enough by someone dedicated to the growth and scaling of your business specifically. In other words: social media management isn't just posting a couple pictures on Instagram per week - and a business won't grow to its full potential if only the bare minimum is put into its social media presence.
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