When you launch your very own venture, you have a lot of things on your mind. How to use social media for small business is one of them — and rightfully an important one.
The right social media marketing strategy is a powerful tool for growth, brand awareness, and lead generation. However, putting things in motion is difficult when you lack the resources, time, and experience that larger companies can call on.
But don’t worry, there are some tips to keep in mind to help you punch above your weight. That’s why I put together this complete guide to social media for small business owners and marketers.
I’ll cover why social media is important for a small business, how to build a reliable strategy and schedule social media posts, and showcase some examples of brands rocking it online right now.
Why social media marketing is important for small businesses
Everyone’s on social media in 2024. If your business isn’t active on any social channel, I can’t lie… it’s sus, both for your customers and business partners.
Would you order food from a place with no Insta account, no Google reviews, nothing?
That’s why creating social media accounts for your business should be a top priority in your marketing strategy. Here are four core reasons to invest in a social media marketing strategy as a small business:
Boost your reach and brand awareness
Numbers speak louder than words: over 5.07 billion, or 62.6% of the world’s population, are social media users. On average, the audience spends 143 minutes per day surfing social media platforms.
This is an insane number of people — and you can reach out to them with your products and services!
With such a vast audience, social media provides small businesses with an unmatched opportunity to boost their visibility and increase brand awareness. No other medium offers access to that many potential new customers. Engaging posts, targeted ads, and interactive content can propel your brand into the feeds of countless people.
Build relationships with your customers
Social media is a two-way street. Regular engagement through comments, messages, and posts isn’t about getting more likes — it’s about building relationships.
Social media channels act as a direct line of contact. Show your customers that you care by answering questions, engaging in a dialogue, and just simply being there for them. This kind of personal attention turns casual browsers into customers who love and advocate for your brand.
A good community management strategy helps you stay in touch with your customers and build lasting, trust-filled relationships.
Shine a spotlight on what you have to offer
Social media is a dynamic showcase for your products or services. With 71% of users likely to purchase based on reviews they see online, social platforms are a vital part of any sales funnel. That’s where people first discover new brands, study products, and make a decision about the purchase.
Your content strategy for marketing a product can include:
- Educational content and guides that help your audience understand your products better.
- Short-form videos of behind-the-scenes glimpses, tips, and insights from your team for added transparency.
- Customer testimonials and reviews to show credibility and back up positive experiences.
- Industry news, if relevant, to help build authority.
Your social media channels are a Wiki for every why and how your potential customers might ask. Use these channels as discovery points and tools for leading customers down the funnel.
Gain valuable feedback and insights
As a small business owner, you want to be as close as possible to your customers. Social media marketing is a great way to build a direct line between you and your audience.
Any feedback is information. Likes, comments, shares, direct messages, and even chatbot questions all signal the sentiment of your potential customers. You can draw inspiration from these insights and create engaging content that speaks to your followers.
Negative mentions are vital, too, and sometimes they give you even more insights. Understanding what your customers like and don’t like helps you adjust your offer to meet the market’s needs.
How to use social media marketing for a small business
As much as we’d want to, we can’t just pop social accounts and start creating content on the spot. First, there are many questions to answer. Which social platforms to choose? What to post? How to translate marketing goals into posts on social media?
You need a social media strategy to guide your efforts. Here’s how to create one:
Step 1. Choose the right social media networks
You don’t need to be on every platform.
Social media marketing is about efficiency. Being on every platform makes no sense and takes a lot of resources, which you may simply lack.
Pick the best social media platforms for your specific target audience. It can be one or two social channels that drive traffic and generate the most engagement. If your audience spends most of their time on TikTok or Instagram, you don’t need to invest in a Facebook page.
Dominic Edmundson, Marketing Manager at AMRIT Restaurants Berlin, highlights:
You need to know where your audience is, so your initial research is vital. Who’s your target audience, and which platform do they typically use? It’s not necessary to be on every platform, and that’s OK. Better to do two platforms well than four to an average standard.
This focused approach saves time and effort, allowing you to create more compelling content and tailored marketing campaigns.
Step 2. Set your social media pillars
Social media trends are fun, but you need substance for your content strategy to be effective.
And that’s what content pillars and brand pillars are for. Content pillars are the main themes or topics your content will touch on. Brand pillars define the essence of your brand and contribute to your social media aesthetic, setting your company apart from other businesses.
Aligning your strategy with content and brand pillars helps you ensure every post tells part of your brand’s story and works toward your business goals.
Millie McKenzie, Founder of Ugly Chicken Social, puts it this way:
You can’t solely rely on trends to build a brand. It’s great if you manage to have fun and go viral once or twice, but without a foundation of brand storytelling content, you’re just seeing numbers on a screen and no conversion into loyal brand advocates or customers
Content pillars also help you fill your social media calendar with content ideas. Researching and brainstorming future posts is much easier when you have specific topics. You can even ask your colleagues to come up with ideas and work those into your strategy.
Step 3. Plan batches of content ahead of time
Consistency in posting content is the key to stable growth on social media.
Setting up a social media calendar helps you organize and schedule your post ideas in advance to avoid content gaps. Regular posting brings more engagement and visibility. Batch planning ensures you always have something to post.
Planning your posts ahead of time also streamlines content creation. With more time to prepare content, you get to explore and test various formats instead of sticking to whatever’s faster to create.
Justin Clark, Founder of SocialNorth, suggests trying out different types of content to see what works best:
How do you know which content types to use? Try everything. Test, test, and test again. Trial and error is your friend. Learn what works and repeat. It’s that simple.
The best-performing formats depend on many factors. Different industries, audiences, and products have different preferences. So you’ll want to test formats and monitor social media metrics before batch-scheduling a month’s worth of video content only.
Step 4. Schedule your posts when they are ready
There’s always something more important than posting another social media update. And that’s how you break the consistency.
To stay consistent and save time for more urgent things, schedule your social posts as soon as you mark them ready. Femke Brüll, Comms and Social Media Manager at Cinetree, recommends investing in an idea calendar:
In a small business, social media has a tendency to become a sideshow. By planning ahead of time and scheduling your content, you will prevent this from happening. Make a calendar with post ideas and all the important dates for your business, add any relevant content days you can think of.
Use scheduling tools to plan your content batches up to one or two weeks ahead. This way, you won’t need to log in to every social platform and post at a specific time — the tool will do everything for you. You can also accomplish your hashtag strategy by including hashtags in the post or scheduling the first comment.
Step 5. Engage with your community
A community means people connect with your brand and each other, not just follow your posts. This connection creates more meaningful interactions, increases social media engagement, and builds brand loyalty.
Communities can advocate for your brand, defend it, and provide valuable feedback. However, if you don’t actively engage with your community through comments, content, and DMs, people might feel ignored and be less likely to support you.
You can support your community both online and offline. Lauren Grubb, Social Media Specialist at StrategiQ, highlights the importance of investing in both:
In the online space, community management and engagement are key to growing your brand and being seen. You can build relationships with your customers, get to know them better, and give them a reason to return. Physically, ensure you are being seen in your community. Whether you are volunteering, working, or collaborating with other businesses, this gives you a great opportunity to post about these moments, tag the business, and see the engagement off the back of their community.
Step 6. Use the right social media management tools to help you
Anything that makes your work easier and more efficient is worth using, especially for small businesses with few resources.
Social media management is a lot of work. You need to create content, approve it, distribute it across all your social channels at the right time, and monitor social media metrics to tweak your strategy. Trying to handle everything manually can quickly become too much.
The right social media tools can be game changers. A good tool should help you plan and collaborate on your content, approve posts, and schedule them all in one place. These features keep you organized and allow you to focus more on big-picture strategies rather than get stuck in daily tasks.
3 best social media marketing tools for small businesses
Small businesses have specific requirements for their social media tools. The right platform should tick three core boxes: it has to be easy to use, powerful enough so you don’t have to invest in another tool, and cost-effective — because budget is always the most important.
Check out the three best platforms for implementing your social media strategy as a small business:
1. Planable – best for content planning, collaboration, and scheduling
Powerful yet easy to navigate, Planable is a great social media management platform for small businesses looking to kickstart their campaigns.
Scheduling, approvals, media library & collaboration features in Planable
In Planable, you can create, collaborate, and schedule all sorts of social media content. Text tweets? Check. Visual content for Pinterest? Check. Reels and Stories for Instagram? Check. Long video content for YouTube? Double check.
I personally love the feed view. It gives you perfect mockups of your posts so you can see exactly how they will look before they go live. This helps so much when giving feedback since everyone can see how it looks in context.
Feed view in Planable
Collaborate with your team on content creation, exchange feedback, and approve your content to go live — all within the same platform. Once the posts are ready, schedule them in a visual calendar. The calendar view offers a big picture of your social media efforts, helping you immediately see content gaps.
Content calendar in Planable 🗓️
Unsure if the design of the post fits your Instagram grid? Choose to preview your posts in feed or grid view, ensuring consistency in your design.
Instagram grid view in Planable 🫶
Key features
- Content calendar
Plan content for social media platforms with the visual calendar. Set up your posts to go live automatically on 9 core platforms, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
- Collaboration on drafts
Your team can work together smoothly on drafts, share immediate feedback, and refine content until it’s perfect. Produce high-quality content, and don’t compromise on less!
- Planable AI
Your writing wingman. You can make your current text shorter, longer, or snappier or generate a new one altogether. Planable AI can also create engaging Instagram captions for your high-quality images.
- Analytics
This add-on allows you to track the performance of your social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. All core metrics, like follower count and engagement rate, are gathered on one dashboard.
2. Buffer – best for basic social media management
Buffer is a simple tool for small businesses to manage their social media. It allows you to set up posts in advance and publish them across major platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and more.
Buffer’s dashboard displaying post previews, follower growth, and engagement rate analytics
Key features
- Scheduling and publishing
You can plan and automate your posts to go live across all core social channels. It even integrates with Shopify for those who sell online.
- Performance recommendations
Buffer’s ‘Answers’ feature offers tailored social media tips on when to post and what content best engages your audience.
- Affordable
Buffer is free for up to three accounts, with an option to add detailed analytics for $6 per channel each month.
3. SocialPilot – best for small marketing agencies
SocialPilot is an effective platform built especially for agencies managing multiple clients. It packs everything you need to schedule posts, track how well they do, and talk to your customers all in one place.
Social Pilot’s social media content calendar in monthly view
Key features
- Social media analytics
Get detailed reports about your posts’ performance on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google My Business, and Twitter.
- Unified inbox
Track and answer all your messages, comments, and reviews from different social media from one spot, saving time and hassle.
- Collaboration tools
Work together with your team: assign tasks, set roles, and approve posts quickly.
Examples of small businesses using social media effectively
We often learn from others. Whether it’s a competitive analysis or an array of inspiring cases, these insights help small business teams find their path and navigate the market.
Check out my current personal favorites on social media:
POPFLEX
POPFLEX Active is an inclusive sportswear fashion shop created by fitness influencer Cassey Ho. Cassey’s team uses Instagram to:
- Reach out to the target market and ask for their opinion on new designs.
- Showcase their products for old and new audiences to see and understand.
POPFLEX is an excellent example of the ‘You asked, we delivered’ approach. For instance, POPFLEX often shares Reels showing requests from the audience and how the team alters its product line accordingly.
In this video, the audience asks if the brand has less revealing swimsuit options. Not only did the brand create a more modest model, but it also demonstrated how the new swimsuit looks on girls of multiple sizes and heights.
People love a brand that listens.
Onda Pasta Bar
Being authentic is a solid way to get people interested in your business. Onda Pasta Bar, a small restaurant from Manchester, does it exceptionally well.
The restaurant creates authentic, valuable content focusing on its team and owner, putting them at the heart of their content. The video of a Tiramisu drawer is nothing fancy or even aesthetic in a Michelin way — but it got over 1M views on TikTok!
Millie McKenzie, the Founder of Ugly Chicken Social, explains the team’s success:
Onda Pasta Bar connects with the general public of Manchester by moving away from overly polished restaurant content and into storytelling content that feels authentic and natural.
SURREAL
SURREAL, a London-based cereal company, proves that LinkedIn can also be a great platform for a small business.
Their tone of voice is very sarcastic and sassy, and they own it fully. From their LinkedIn bio to out-of-home advertising, they stick to their snappy guns.
Many brands have tried this approach (like Ryanair or Duolingo), but SURREAL took it to another level. In LinkedIn’s very corporate space, this brand feels quite unique and brave.
Disclaimer: This approach is hard to master. Many people might think it’s all a bit too much. Don’t rush into it unless you’re ready for backlash or absolutely sure of your target audience.
Implement a social media marketing strategy for your small business
A small business can and should leverage social media presence and the opportunities social media marketing offers. If cooked right, the recipe above can make your small business relevant on any social media platform and help you with brand awareness, lead generation, and ROI.
Put your business on the social media map with Planable — use 50 free posts to start your journey!
Content marketer with a background in journalism; digital nomad, and tech geek. In love with blogs, storytelling, strategies, and old-school Instagram. If it can be written, I probably wrote it.
