Have you been feeling limited by the slow growth of your small business this year? For many small business owners, the work of going above and beyond for your clients or customers is top priority but they worry about staying in front of people and positioning themselves for success. For an everything CEO, there never seems to be enough time to market their biz effectively.

Have you really tried social media marketing yet? My guess is that you haven’t had the time or the expertise to really give social media a shot and you’ve found your past efforts to be lackluster at best. This is quite common but businesses who become discouraged with social media marketing are missing out on a BIG opportunity to show up for their ideal audience.

Your social media channels allow your business to be exposed to entirely new audiences. The growth potential of this online marketing tool allows businesses to scale much more quickly than word of mouth or in-person efforts.  If you have taken the steps to properly and robustly build out your social media channels, you can not only show up in search results, but can grow your followers and fans to a whole new level!  

If you are tired of feeling like your work never gets noticed, it’s time to properly build out your social media platforms for search success!

Hashtags

Yes, hashtags are more than silly phrases strung together to get a good laugh. They are search engine rockstars! Using the right hashtags will drastically increase how many people find your page or profile on social media. 

Action Item: Develop a list of 50-75 hashtags to rotate on a consistent basis in your social media posts. You’ll want to use 3-5 on any Google My Business posts or on any shares on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If you are using Instagram, you’ll want to use 15-30 on each post. It is imperative to have a large list to choose from because you’ll have more success when rotating them out than if you just use the same ones on each post.

The Right Words

When you are writing copy for your website, your social media, or anything else you share online, keyword phrases are super important. You need to use the exact language that your ideal target audience will type into a search bar to find what you do. If you aren’t sure what someone might type into Google to find you and your business, ask around. Do some simple searches yourself. Need a new plumber? Pay attention to the exact words you use online to find a plumber in your area to help you. You can also use tools, like Moz, for ideas on what people might be searching for in your area or industry. Then use those exact phrases when you are writing your captions for social media.

Action Item: Make a list of 20 keyword phrases someone might type to find your business online.

Engage, Engage, Engage

If your plan is to post content and then move on to other things, you are going to be disappointed in your results. Social media is designed to be social. We aren’t telling you to sit on top of your social media all day, every day but you do need to make time to respond to your followers and engage with other people online. Too many small business owners disappear after posting or only respond to the people who are engaging with them. I know it sounds repetitive, but if you aren’t responding to comments or engaging in further conversations with the people engaging with you, it is very much a 1 way relationship.  If you take the time to care and respond, your audience will remain loyal fans.

Want to feel limitless on social? Use these platforms! Find people in your industry, your area, your networking group, or circles and comment and share their posts. Ask interesting questions and start engaging conversations in forums and groups. 

Action Item: Send 15 minutes each workday responding to your audience and interacting with other people on your preferred social media channel.

Social media marketing works if you do the work and if you understand how these platforms both penalize and reward you for the ways you show up.

If you are overwhelmed, let’s start with our best tip. Every platform is searchable.  Every word matters.  Do you have a few paragraphs in the about section of each of your social media accounts? Are they padded with the right, searchable keywords? Is your messaging current? Not sure what your online presence says about your business? Now is the time to revamp your online assets! This commitment in time, money, and effort will produce results you never expected and it’s a great way to position your business better online without making a long-term financial commitment. Give the Social Media Advisor team a call today to discuss options.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.