Small Business Guide to Social Media
                     Small Business Guide to 
Social Media
Start with a plan
Without a plan, you have no clear goal for 
what you’re trying to achieve. That means 
there’s no way to know if you’re getting a 
return on that investment.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Decide which 
platforms are right for 
you
To make sure you’re using social media for 
business effectively, you’ll need to conduct 
some research of your own. This will help 
you to understand how your specific 
audience spends their time online.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Know your audience
One reason using social media for business 
is so effective is that you can micro-target 
your audience. But first, you need to 
understand who your audience is.
Start by compiling data on your current 
customers. Then, dig deeper with social 
media analytics. You’ll soon start to 
understand who’s buying from and 
interacting with you online.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Expand your audience
Once you have a clear picture of who your 
audience is, you can revisit your social 
media plan. It’s time to look for ways to 
reach more people just like them.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Build relationships
The unique benefit of social media 
marketing for small business is that it 
allows you to talk directly to customers and 
followers. You can build relationships over 
time, rather than asking for a sale upfront.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Sell your stuff with 
social commerce
Social media marketing has evolved in 
recent years to include social commerce: 
the ability to sell your products directly 
from social channels. And business is 
booming, with a global market value of 
$89.4 billion in 2020.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Mix up your formats
Make sure to switch up your social post 
formats from time to time. If you usually 
post GIFs, try a JPG. If you normally post 
still images, try a video.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
 Focus on quality over 
quantity
The sheer number of social media 
marketing options for small business might 
seem overwhelming—but you don’t need to 
do it all. It’s more important to create 
quality content on a couple of key channels 
than it is to have a presence on every 
single network.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Use the right tools
The secret to using social media effectively 
is to take advantage of tools that automate 
or simplify much of the work.
There are loads of tools to help boost your 
productivity. That means you can start 
using social media for business without 
having a full-scale social media team.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com
Track and refine your 
performance
As you implement your social strategy, it’s 
important to keep track of what works and 
what doesn’t. You can then fine-tune your 
efforts and improve results.
Source: blog.hootsuite.com