5 Tips For Promoting Your Business Through Social Media

If you aren't using social media to promote your business, you're missing out on one of the easiest and most effective drive more sales. According to a recent report published by Pew Internet, a whopping 73% of all online adults use social media. With over a billion people reading, posting and accessing social media sites, it's a powerful advertising medium for business owners.

Tip #1) Cover The Basics

There are literally dozens of different social media networking sites out there. Trying to engage yourself on all of these sites is nearly impossible, so it's best to stick with the basics. If you haven't done so already, create an account on the following top social media networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. You should focus your time and energy on these sites until you build up a decent list of followers.

Tip #2) Offer Discounts and Coupons

If you browse around some of the social media networking pages of top retailers, you'll probably notice that a lot of them offer discounts and coupons. Posting coupon codes, printable coupons, specials promotions, etc. is an excellent way to gain more traffic to your social accounts while encouraging more sales. Check to see what other successful retailers are doing on their social pages and mimic it on your own.

Tip #3) Post Often

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make with social media is failing to update their accounts on a regular basis. Allowing your account to grow stagnant will send your followers packing in the other direction. So, just how often should you update your social accounts? There's really no specific answer to this question, but a good rule of thumb is to post at least a few times a week (if not more).

Tip #4) Use #Hashtags

Ever notice how Tweets, Google+ updates or other social media updates have the pound sign followed by a word or phrase (ie: #hashtag). These are known as hashtags, and they're a great way to draw more attention to your posts. When a user searches for a specific hashtag, the social media site will pull up a list of all recent posts including it. Therefore, using them in your posts will bring more attention to your social media sites, which is the secret to creating a strong following.

Tip #5) Respond To Questions and Comments

If you're going to use social media in your business marketing campaigns, make sure you take the time to respond to each and every visitor comment. Whether it's a positive or negative comment, responding to visitor comments is an important step in creating an effective and engaging social media presence.

5 Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Use Social Media

The use of social media networking has exploded in popularity within the past few years. Facebook alone has an estimated 1.3 billion users, spanning across all parts of the globe. Even with this massive expansion and reach, some small business owners fail to realize the importance of social media; thus, leaving untapped customers for their competitors to nab. If you're still on the fence about using social media for your business, keep reading to learn 5 of the top benefits it has for small businesses.

Reason #1) Makes Your Business Easier For Customers To Find

One of the lesser-known benefits of social media networking for small businesses is that it helps customers find the business more easily. The old days of using a phone book are long gone. Instead, shoppers use the internet to find a store's physical address and/or phone number. Maintaining active accounts on all of the top social media networking accounts will prove an outlet for shoppers to locate this information about your business.

Reason #2) Reach New Customers

Of course, the single most notable benefit of using social media networking sites for small businesses is that it allows owners to reach out to new customers. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or a combination of all the above, you're bound to attract new customers through social media.

Reason #3) Direct Contact With Customers

A third reason why small businesses should use social media networking is because it offers a medium for direct communication with their customers. If a customer has a question regarding a product or service, they can make a post on your social media account. And once you've responded to this question, other customers can refer back to this Q&A as well.

Reason #4) Shows Professionalism

Social media networking also shows a level of professionalism for small businesses. Customers are more comfortable making purchasing from small businesses that are actively engaged in social media over businesses that aren't engaged in social media. It's just one of the many techniques business owners can use to create a high level of professionalism.

Reason #5) Testimonials

Assuming your small business offers a quality product or service, you're bound to receive some positive customer testimonials by using social media. Customers will likely visit your social media accounts to make comments praising your business. This, of course, instills confidence among others potential shoppers and clients.