Take a moment to think about all the small businesses you have run across on social media. So, did you come up with a lot?

You should have! Nearly 96 percent of small businesses have used social media to market their business. On top of this, social media has grown to be the most utilized B2B digital marketing effort as of this year.

Some businesses are even resorting to using social media as their primary source for marketing and customer engagement.

But wait, it’s not as easy as it sounds. You can only use social media to your advantage once you’ve understood the proper and most beneficial ways to use it. Here are our top do’s and don’ts on using social media to help your business’s marketing.

Do's:

1. Do separate your personal and business social media pages

Sounds pretty obvious, right?

Not always, especially when someone is just starting up a business.

Remember to set up completely new social media pages for your business the moment you decide to enter the world of social media. People tend to use personal accounts to put out their opinions and information about their lives, and these should not be connected to your business.

Keep your business page free from any personal or controversial thoughts, and you are one step closer to social media success.

2. Do post regularly and create a posting schedule

There’s a method to the madness!

Managing and creating a schedule for posting will benefit both you as the business running a social media page and your followers who want consistency, but not an overload of content.

There are many programs that can help you schedule when your content goes out on social media like Sendible or Buffer.

If you are looking for more information on this topic, read our blog on social media marketing and scheduling social posts.

3. Do engage with others and encourage engagement

Engagement is a crucial indicator of social media success. In fact, 64 percent of marketers said that increasing engagement is vital for a social media marketing strategy.

Engagement is a two-way street, however, and that means that a business should be making efforts to engage with followers and other companies when the opportunity arises. This shows involvement and personability in the social media community.

You can also increase engagement by putting up polls on Instagram or Twitter. This gets engagement going, and it also helps to gain feedback from followers.

4. Do communicate in a professional but fun way

As we mentioned, personal and business pages should remain separate, but that does not mean you can’t make your social media page fun and engaging for followers!

Maintaining a level of professionalism is important, but you can also put up posts that are interesting for followers to see. Try writing posts in a friendly and fun voice to achieve this.

Take this tweet, for instance:

5. Do use video whenever possible 

Video content on platforms like Youtube and Facebook has come to dominate social media followers’ interest.

There is a balance with everything we post, but it has been found that social media users enjoy engaging with video content. So, if you get the chance to use this, take it!

A quick tip for creating video content on Facebook is to consider the length of your video. Facebook recently came out with video ranking changes that reward creators with better rankings for videos that keep viewers engaged, especially if the video is at least three minutes long.

It's also been found that live videos are viewed three times longer than pre-recorded videos, so try giving your followers more live video content on Facebook. It's simple, and it creates a more direct connection between you, the small business and your customer.

Facebook is great, but don't forget about Youtube! For more details on the power of YouTube and the best ways to utilize videos, click here.

Don’ts:

1. Don't fall for trolls

It’s easy to fall victim to rude or patronizing comments, but it is not worth jeopardizing your business’s reputation.

This tip goes back to keeping personal and business thoughts and ideas separate. Treat a social media user as you would an upset customer in your business; give them excellent customer service and offer ways to resolve their issues.

So, what's the best way to do this? The best recipe for dealing with this issue is to respond kindly and calmly no matter the situation.

2. Don't use excessive amounts of hashtags

There is a science to hashtags.

While hashtags are super helpful in getting more exposure to a post or a page, it is possible to go overboard. It’s been found that tweets with more than three hashtags get 17 percent less engagement. This hashtag problem is not limited to just Twitter, but it is especially true on this platform. 

Read this blog to learn more about hashtags and their uses on different platforms.

3. Don't forget to do a spelling and grammar check

Nothing ruins brand perception more than carelessness, and having improper grammar and spelling is a tell-tale sign of that on social media.

Avoiding this is as simple as rereading and editing before you send out a post. If you are still on the fence about something, there are many different online grammar and spelling checks like Grammarly for you to use to fine-tune those posts.

We even have a blog that covers the top grammar mistakes and how to avoid them! 

4. Don't over-promote your business

As mentioned earlier, a balance is healthy in social media posting and scheduling.

Followers don’t want to see too little or too much on social media from brands that they follow. This is especially true with promotions on social media. Users tend to lose interest when a brand promotes itself too much.

Follow best practices in this case, which say to post one promotional post for every four non-promotional posts. 

5. Don't forget to use platform-tailored posting

Not every social media website is the same.

Each site brings in different demographics and is optimized for specific content. For example, if you’re looking to put up a high-quality image, post it on platforms where people are looking for nice photos like Instagram. Make sure the posting medium fits the platform!

Keep track of your analytics and demographics on different social media websites to understand what people are enjoying and who is interacting the most. This way, you can tailor a posting strategy to each platform.

Bonus Tip

Don't post promotions, sales or any related content on remembrance holidays. Days like Memorial Day, for example, should be reserved for respect, remembrance and sensitivity, not promoting your business.

This is a simple but thoughtful move on your small business's part.

Final Thoughts

While this list may seem daunting, having well-run social media pages comes down to making thoughtful decisions to benefit and align with your business's marketing strategy.

So, follow these steps to lead you down the path of social media marketing success.

If you're looking for more support along the way, check out the social media services that RevLocal has to offer your business and fill out a form to request a demo for more digital marketing suggestions that are tailored to you!