I sat down with Casey, our Content & Social Media Manager here at Trellis and Greenshoot,our sister B2C company, to chat about the latest trends in social media and why the channel is so important for small business owners.
Please could you let me know what you do and what you like the most about your job as social media manager?
I am a Social Media & Content Manager for B2B and B2C clients. This entails designing bespoke social media marketing strategies for clients and creating content, copy, and creatives for organic marketing. I am also responsible for optimising blog posts.
I love coming up with new ideas and manifesting them into campaigns or high-performing content. Bringing clients’ visions to life is a super rewarding experience, and I love supporting them as they get their products and services exposed to a wider audience.
Furthermore, I love how spontaneous my role can be. No two days are ever the same and I find this super exciting.
What is your favourite social media platform and why
Currently, I would have to say Instagram, however, TikTok may slowly replace that. I feel that Instagram provides a place for everyone regardless of their age, interests, etc. Whether you’re a business looking to drive traffic and awareness, or increase sales, there’s always so much happening and there are so many opportunities to take advantage of.
What social media platforms are the best for small businesses and why?
There is really no right or wrong answer when it comes to this. The key is to identify what you are trying to achieve, and who your target audience is. Regardless of whether you decide to use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc, they can all help your business to reach new heights.
One piece of advice I would give to any small business owner is that you don’t need to be on every single social media channel. This is a common mistake that a lot of people make.
Instead, think of which platforms will serve your business best and contains the majority of your target audience.
How would you recommend a small business make its first Instagram appearance?
First things first, you want to start off by planning. Ensure that you have an effective digital marketing strategy that will keep you on track and make sure you don’t lose momentum. Ask yourself: “what am I trying to achieve on Instagram?” This will help you utilise the integrated app features effectively and efficiently and maximise the use of your platform.
Here are some pointers if you’re just getting started:
- Use your Instagram account as your shop window, and make it aesthetically appealing. From the moment that a customer clicks on your page, you only have a matter of seconds to draw their attention before they continue scrolling through their feed. So, start off your posts with creative types of content which really show who you are as a business, and what followers might expect from you.
- Ensure that you use high-resolution images, even in your profile photo. Make sure the images that you use really allow your audience to get a grasp of your business through every post.
- Spend time crafting a gripping bio, explaining what you do and what sets you apart from your competitors. This will be one of the first things your followers will see, so really try to design something that will have them wanting to interact with your page.
- Turn the ‘business account’ setting on for your page. This will allow you to keep track of important analytics such as your reach, impressions, etc, along with highlighting your page to those who search for businesses within the industry you are in.
What are your favourite social media tips and tricks for a small business?
I would always advise my clients to ask their friends and family to support them by turning on their post notifications and sharing their content. The more engagement you can receive as soon as a post is shared, the more it will get shown on more people’s feeds. This is because the algorithm sees it as a post that a lot of people are interested in.
Collaborative posts are something that I highly recommend, especially for small business owners. They are posts that are shared amongst a number of accounts and are often competitions or giveaways. This allows you to take advantage of other businesses’ audiences to help drive more reach to your page.
Also, sharing other business posts builds a better social media relationship. Obviously, you don’t want to be sharing your competitor’s posts, but remember, your network is your net worth! When other companies see that you support their movement, this may result in them supporting yours in return. This can do a great deal for your account growth, especially if their following is larger than yours.
What type of businesses do you think benefit the most from Facebook Ads?
The beauty of Facebook Ads is that it’s suitable for any and every type of business. The main thing is developing an effective paid ads strategy specific to your business goals. The most important thing to do is to identify what exactly it is that you want to achieve, whether you want to generate leads, drive sales or spread a message.
As a small business, you might want to use the platform to simply get your name out there, and expose your brand to people. In contrast, more established businesses may want to diversify their audience and reach more markets. There are endless opportunities!
Do you recommend the use of TikTok for small businesses and why?
Absolutely. If your target audience are TikTok users, then you should most definitely be on it too! The platform is known for having very engaged audiences, meaning that you have more of an opportunity for your content to go ‘viral’, even without a huge amount of followers.
Furthermore, TikTok is known as the social media network for collaborations and partnerships, meaning that you can use it to grow your contact list and benefit from each other’s exposure.
How do you make sure social media posts are optimised for the right audience?
You would have identified the demographics of your audience. So now you need to make sure you’re using the right language. For example, if you are trying to target young adults and teenagers, corporate or formal language may not be the way to go. Use keywords that your audience will relate to and connect with.
This ties hand-in-hand with making sure you are using the correct platform. The last thing you want is to spend time and money creating amazing content, only for your target audience not to see it.
Identifying trends and using them to your advantage will make your business more appealing to your customers. This will make you a topic of conversation, which will only result in an increase in reach and exposure on the platform.
Any other advice you would personally like to share that may benefit small businesses?
Always remember that creating a social media presence takes time. Everyone would love to have thousands of followers the moment they go live, but that isn’t realistic. Don't be discouraged by not having loads of followers or likes. This does not mean that your content is rubbish!
Furthermore, always remember that social media is a very ‘loud’ place. Do not try to speak to everybody, but instead just focus on the right people (your target audience). Your goal should not be to compete with everybody but to better your brand with every post!
