Posted on: 27th Jan. 2023

Driving the social media in business can seem like an overwhelming challenge for many SME leaders, especially when you’re looking to use your platforms to scale your business to 7 or 8 figures.

Just like growing your business, growing your social media presence can produce significant value when executed with care. Transforming your social media presence from an occasional company news outlet into a genuine source of leads and revenue for your business, or for confirmation that you’re on the right path, this blog shares how, and why.

What role does social media play in scaling a growing business?

Aside from the benefits of being able to communicate directly with your customers and put your businesses’ products or services at the forefront of their minds, when your social media presence is really performing, it can become a cost-effective source of new customers and leads.

You also gain the advantage of being able to compete on more than just price. You’re no longer just another business, your potential customer has an understanding of who you are and what makes you stand out. As a result, your margins aren’t being as tightly squeezed, and when your social media is exceptional and your customers perceive you as an industry leader, it sets the bar high for you to stand out.

What score would you give your social media presence?

The first consideration in optimising your social media presence is to assess the state of your current platforms and accounts. The goal of this exercise is to give you an informed perspective on your current situation and identify where you might improve.

Start by considering your company’s social media presence and approach to content creation. Does your content align with your company’s values? Is it unique and engaging? Does it have the appropriate tone to capture the interest of your target audience? Consider the businesses you follow on social media and why you value their content. Does your company create similar value through your posts?

If you find discrepancies between your social media output and how you want your company to be perceived online, or your social media isn’t currently generating tangible results for your business, it will help to go back to basics. Starting from the basics, you can create an overarching strategy for the social content you produce.

By carefully allocating the resources you have, you can start to craft your social media presence into one that truly captures the attention of your target audience, combining the right branding, messaging and interesting content. You may also have scaled to the point where it’s time to bring in a little outside content creation help from  specialists to take your business to the next level.

How are companies using social media to connect with customers?

Making connections on social media isn’t limited to B2C businesses posting enticing images of their latest product. It can be used effectively by businesses in all sectors, including B2B organisations. Perhaps you’re a growing B2B company who has recently been shortlisted for an industry award, or you’re organising networking events for your key clients? Sharing these experiences on social media can be a powerful way to build connections with your target audience, and demonstrate your success to potential new clients.

It’s important to remember, social media interaction goes beyond adding a quick “like” to customer comments on your posts; rather your online platforms are a great way to facilitate two-way communication, and answer your audience’s queries quickly and effectively. Efficiency is key here-: for example, if a customer asks a question about your delivery lead times, who would be notified? How quickly would they be able to respond? This can make or break your connection with your customers, so ensuring you have a process in place, and a list of answers to your FAQs, can enable you to handle queries in a speedy, effective manner, right at the key moment the potential customer may be considering your products or services!

Communicating with your audience via social media posts can also be an effective way to show them how your products or services are unique. Of course, when you’re busy with the day to day, it can be easy to feel you don’t have “something to say” on your social media profiles. This is where it’s important to consider what your target audience would value.

For example, if you’re a supplier of construction fixtures and fittings, it’s likely your potential customers would find an infographic on part compatibilities highly informative and useful in their purchasing decision. This is where some outside help can truly enhance your social media presence, and our talented team of content creators, designers and illustrators are here to help.

When do you know social media is working for you?

One of the main benefits of social media is the ability to gather in-depth analytics on the performance of your posts and accounts. Unfortunately, the stats can be so in-depth that analysis can be overwhelming, especially when you’re busy with other aspects of your business. Therefore, it is important to focus on tracking the right numbers.

While a post that reaches 5,000 people or generates 100 likes can be a great indicator of success, your bottom line depends on more than this. Tracking your links so you know how many orders or enquiries came from customers that visited from social media channels will give you a much clearer picture of how successful your approach has been.

When your social media is working effectively, you will notice your content being shared, your pages receiving direct enquiry messages, and a strong flow of visitors to your website via your posts. As an added benefit, this also signals to the social media platform itself that your content is engaging their users, giving you a boost in their all-important algorithms.

Why it’s important for social media to align with your business strategy

Although in the fast-paced world of social media it can be tempting to take a week by week (or trend by trend) approach, thinking about it alongside your business strategy can really elevate the quality of your content, and the quality of results.

For example, with the extra planning and time afforded by a more strategic approach, as an eCommerce store you could focus your social media plan around in-depth promotion of the top 50 products you’re going to be stocking in the next quarter. If successful, this will increase your orders during peak demand seasons, and greatly reduce the amount of stock you need to sell at a clearance price.

Similarly, in B2B, you might decide to devote the time to put out regular updates on industry trends or relevant new regulations, and make your social media presence a valuable source of information for your clients. In turn, this builds a following who see your business as leading experts, and by extension, being “top of mind” when they’re looking for your services.

What are some of the things you need to consider to get the best out of social media?

While a huge benefit of social media is the low barrier to entry, it’s still important to treat the platforms you’re present on as a valuable public facing presence for your business. In the same way that you’d want to send a high quality, professionally designed mailshot to your 500 best potential customers, it’s important to put this same level of care and attention into your social media if you want to see it succeed and generate results.

It’s also important that you’re always putting your target customer at the forefront of your strategy, and asking yourself whether they would find the content and stories you’re sharing engaging and informative. If this is done correctly, and you’re tracking your social media stats effectively, you’ll see the results in the form of increased enquiries, orders or leads.

How did you do?

One of the most exciting aspects of social media for a growing business is the ability to reach and resonate with your target clients, introducing them to what you believe makes your business special. It is possible you already have the stories to demonstrate this, and now it’s just a case of using your social media to share those with your audience.

Our team of social media specialists are great at asking questions, so if you’re looking to have a conversation about what you’re doing right on social media, where you can improve, and the best route forward, please get in touch and let us help shape your strategy.

Alternatively, if you’re already brimming with ideas, and you’re tired of thinking “if only we had the time to make that happen…” our team of social media specialists, designers, illustrators and writers would be more than happy to make your ideas a reality.