6 Steps To Social Media Marketing Success For Your Small Business In Youngstown
With a cost of living 16% lower than the national average, it’s easy to see why locals love Youngstown, Ohio.
But that’s not all. This beautiful town in the Buckeye State boasts of natural wonders, magnificent architectural sites, a healthy entertainment scene, and a rich culture to boot.
In terms of businesses, Youngstown also has a lot going for it. After all, it’s the birthplace of Youngstown Business Incubator, the business that the rest of the world considers the best of its kind!
As someone who also owns a small business in Youngstown, you have the potential of reaching this stature too.
To do that though, you need to let people know of your existence first. And when it comes to spreading brand awareness, only a few are as effective as social media marketing.
To help you succeed with this marketing strategy, here are the six steps you must take.
1. Know Thy Enemy
You’re not the only small business in Youngtown. More importantly, you’re not the only small business of its kind in town.
Thus, researching the competition is the first thing you need to do to make your social media marketing campaign work. Do this, and you’ll know what makes your competitors tick. What they’re doing that’s making their doors swing with new and repeat customers alike.
When you know what works for them, you have valuable information to tap into. You can then use these insights to strengthen your own campaigns.
Here are a few examples:
- What exactly do they share on social media?
- Which of their posts get the most attention and consumer participation?
- What time of the day to they update their social media platforms?
- How many times in a day and in a week do they upload content?
Unearthing the strategies your competitors use gives you the chance to improve upon your own brand’s campaign. These improvements can then push you to the front of the line.
And who’s the first one people notice? The ones in front, of course.
2. Set Your Goals
All successful social media marketing campaigns have reached success because they’re goal-driven. It’s much like how your small business in Youngstown has its goals of generating profits. And then maybe expanding in the future.
This said, take the time to establish what exactly you want to focus on for your social media marketing campaign.
For instance, think about how building an online community for your market to participate in can drive brand recall. Or how this can increase leads to your site. Perhaps even make your market talk about your brand in their own social media accounts!
From here, you can proceed to setting specific metrics you should monitor. If you’ll push through with the online community, then you might want to track its members, specifically the number of new ones. How’d they find out about you and what made them interested are just some key metrics to consider.
These factors are vital because they give you valuable insight on crafting your content and messages. Knowing what makes your audience tick is key to keeping them tick in both the short and long run.
And the more they find your content appealing, the more chances you have of keeping them interested and part of your brand’s community.
3. Variety is Key to Successful Social Media Content Promotion
For the offline and online marketing campaigns of your small business in Youngstown to succeed, you need to accept the fact that content is king. And that it will always be.
But it’s not just about crafting content that talks about your brand, its products, or its specializations.
It’s also about the manner of delivery.
Did you know that aside from coupons and promotions, consumers also love to know more about product updates? That they value suggestions or how-tos? They also place importance on expert opinions about topics relevant to them.
These are just some of the most preferred types of content consumers wish brands would feed them.
This makes variety in how you create and layout your content integral to your social media marketing campaign. For instance, instead of just updating your Facebook with blog posts, why not upload a high-resolution video showcasing how to use your products?
Infographics are awesome too, since it makes information easier to digest.
4. Avoid Overselling
Yes, your social media marketing campaign’s goal is to promote your small business in Youngstown. Keep in mind though, that no one likes dealing with too-enthusiastic salespeople.
In other words, avoid uploading too much content that oversells or overpromotes your brand. At the same time, you don’t want to only share non-promotional content, as people may forget you’re actually a brand.
The key is to balance your own curated content with external sources. For instance, share content from credible sources talking about a topic relevant to your own industry.
This not only gives your followers a chance to expand their knowledge. It also works on your behalf, since you can build relationships with experts from your particular niche, too.
5. A Big No-No: Cookie Cutter Content
Just like how your small business in Youngstown offers unique products/services, your social media assets should also deliver unique content.
But with so many topics already written about, how do you come up with something different?
Give your own spin to them. For instance, look for trending topics and talk about your experience with them. Like how the Keto diet may be working for you, complete with your own tips and suggestions.
6. Create a Schedule and Automate It
Streamline your marketing campaign updates by creating a schedule and sticking to it. Sounds easier said than done though, right?
But we live in a world where automation has become a necessity. And it’s thanks to automation tools that make the lives of marketers and advertisers easy.
Programs like Buffer, for example, allow you to schedule when exactly you want your content published. More than that, it allows you to set which social media platforms you want them published in. They can also analyze and track results.
With these automating programs, you don’t have to worry about missing your schedules anymore.
Ready to Take Your Small Business in Youngstown to the Next Level?
We can help! Our skilled crew members are experts when it comes to helping entrepreneurs in Ohio, your small business in Youngstown included, succeed in their marketing campaigns. We’re locals, so we put our knowledge of the layout and the demographics of our state to good use.
Connect with us now to find out how we can help your marketing campaigns reach success.
