If you’re looking for social media marketing tips to help you grow your business, you’re in the right place.
Social media can be a little intimidating when you first start out. It’s easy to get lost in all the noise – and there’s a lot of noise!
The trick is knowing where to start and what strategies work best for your business.
I compiled this list of 17 outstanding social media marketing tips for beginners.
These are tried-and-true methods that have been proven by businesses (large and small) to be successful at driving engagement, traffic, and sales.
Let’s dive in.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing (SMM) is a process of promoting your company or products through social media platforms.
It’s a powerful way to connect and get your audience’s attention and spread the word about your business.
Social media sites are used for more than just marketing, however. They can also be used as customer service tools and lead generation sources, among other things.
Companies often use different types of media to promote their products. For example, they might post photos on Instagram while sharing links to their website with their followers on Twitter.
Why is Social Media Marketing important?
To sum it all up, social media marketing is essential because:
- It helps you connect with your customers and build a brand.
- It enables you to gain followers and traffic (therefore, more business).
- It helps you gain brand awareness and brand loyalty.
How do beginners start Social Media Marketing?
Beginners should start with social media marketing by planning and researching beforehand to avoid making big mistakes.
You’ll first need to identify your target audience to know which platforms they are using most.
Then you’ll have to do some more research on what content they are engaging with, so you’ll be able to create exactly what they are interested in. You can learn more about the Keys to Success with Social Media Content Marketing here.
The next step is to create a social media strategy for each platform you will use.
And then it’s time for action: post content that resonates with your audience and builds trust in your brand over time.
Social Media Marketing tips for beginners
Promoting your business on different platforms can help you build brand awareness, increase sales, generate traffic, and engage with your current customers & followers.
Let’s begin with the 17 tips.
1.) Choose your platforms wisely
You don’t need to be on every social media network. There are a lot of different kinds of platforms out there, and each one has different people on it.
That means you should think about which network your target audience is using before you jump into using any specific one.
Otherwise, you might waste a lot of time developing content that nobody is interested in.
2.) Understand the rules of each platform
If you’re going to be successful on social media, you must understand the rules of each platform (e.g., what content is allowed and how often you can post.)
- Don’t post links (Facebook doesn’t like it if you send people off of it)
- Don’t use direct calls to action (e.g., like my post if you agree, comment below) – your posts will get a lower reach because Facebook knows you’re trying to get more engagement, which means you would get in front of more people for free.
- Use their tools (Facebook Live Video, Reels…)
- Post between 1-2 pieces of content per day
- Post once per day
- Use stories (you can share more content there and connect with your followers)
- Create reels
- Don’t use banned hashtags
- Use relevant hashtags that relate to your content
- Always write captions
- Don’t overuse hashtags (use only 2)
- Tweet multiple times a day (don’t go over 5)
- Optimize your profile
- Don’t over-promote
- Be yourself (don’t fake it)
- Don’t create long videos
- Follow trends
- Post your content frequently
- Use keywords in titles, descriptions, boards… (for SEO)
- Don’t pin or re-pin too much (stick to 2-5 times per day)
- Don’t steal other people’s pins
- Create fresh new pins daily (the design has to be very different each time)
- Connect with the right people
- Post at least once per day (but not more than 5 per day)
- Use max 3 hashtags per post
3.) Optimize your Social Media profiles
You need to optimize your social media profiles to ensure they’re doing their job and helping you get results in your business.
Take some time to fill out all of the information on each profile.
- If something is missing – like a link to a freebie, add it,
- Make sure you describe who you help and how
- Have a clear and eye-catching profile image of yourself,
- Make sure you’re updating your info regularly,
- Use a call to action in your bio.
4.) Create a content calendar
Creating and using a content calendar is vital for your social media strategy. It allows you to plan what posts you will make in advance, rather than trying to remember at the last minute.
This can save you the time and stress of frantically finding content ideas when you’re busy focusing on other things.
Learn how to create a content calendar or get 7+ Years of Content Ideas that has:
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- 1600+ Content Ideas
- 90-day Social Media Template
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- How to Create High Converting Content (video training)
- Content Marketing & Storytelling Strategies
- Content Templates, headlines, and hashtags
- 35 Ideas Where To Promote Your Business
- List Of Holidays
5.) Use the 80/20 rule
There’s an essential rule for social media marketing: provide value. Don’t just publish promotional content – nobody likes that.
Instead, focus on sharing valuable content that will be helpful and interesting to your followers.
I recommend the 80/20 rule: 80% of the time, you share value-added content, and 20% of the time, you can share your own promotional stuff.
6.) Always be posting at the right times
It’s no secret that posting at the right time is a critical part of social media marketing – it’s crucial for getting views and engagement.
You can’t control when people are on social media, but you can determine the best times to post based on your analytics.
7.) Make sure you have a Social Media strategy
Now that you’ve created your accounts and are ready to start posting, you need to ensure that you have a great social media strategy.
But just what is a Social Media Strategy?
It’s a document that details the steps needed to achieve your goals on social media.
It’s often said that failing to prepare is preparing to fail, so make sure you take the time needed to create your own unique social media marketing plan.
You should also include a S.M.A.R.T. goals formula inside your strategy:
8.) Be consistent
Consistency is key to having success on any social media network. To build an audience, you need to find a schedule that works for your followers and stick to it.
If this is your first time doing social media marketing, there will be trial and error along the way. But as long as you’re willing to adjust, you’ll find a posting schedule that leads to success for your business.
Also, remember that consistency isn’t just limited to how often or what time of day you post.
You must also be consistent with social media branding across all your platforms.
This means using your logo, brand colors & fonts, tone of voice, and communication style on each platform.
9.) Use outstanding visuals
More than ever, people are looking for a visual experience. If you want to attract your target audience and get them engaged with your brand, you need a social strategy that focuses on creating outstanding visuals.
Whether you use high-quality images, videos, or GIFs, use something that’s visually appealing and jumps out at the user.
Save your time and increase your Social Media engagement with these 796 graphic templates.
10.) Keep your posts short and snappy
With all the information out there, you might be tempted to post everything you know – and then some. But it’s better to keep your posts short and to the point.
Why? Because people have short attention spans and they’re very busy.
Here are some tips that will help you create unique content:
- Use bullet points and numbered lists
- Use bold text to highlight important information
- Use emojis to make the text more interesting
- Use spaces between short paragraphs
- Make content that’s clear, concise, and easy to read
11.) Follow the 3 E’s of content marketing
To keep your audience engaged, you must understand what makes them tick. While the 3 E’s of content marketing may seem simple, they are often ignored.
So what are they?
- Entertaining – People need to be entertained before they’ll engage in any way with your brand
- Educating – Provide valuable information that will help your followers and customers
- Engaging – Make sure your content engages with your audience (you can use polls or questions)
12.) Boost your Social Media engagement
Boosting engagement is a lot of work and requires consistent effort. But there are some things you can do to help increase it.
Here are 5 ways that will help you out:
- Use a call to action
- Engage with others
- Create relatable content
- Post at the right time
- Use interesting visuals
You can read more about 25 social media engagement ideas.
13.) Regularly check your analytics
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. With social media, it’s essential to regularly check the metrics of your page and content so that you can improve it.
Knowing which posts resonate with your audience will help you create more of that type of content.
On the other hand, if a particular piece is performing poorly, consider how you could adapt the messaging to appeal better to your target customers.
14.) Use CTAs in your content
A call to action (CTA) is a clear instruction to your audience that urges them to take action (e.g., like a post, comment, share…)
When you use CTAs in your social media content, it can help you create a more interactive experience for your followers.
Here are some tips for how to use CTAs effectively:
- use 1 call to action per post,
- it should be clear and direct,
- keep it simple,
- create urgency.
15.) Find your brand message and voice
You’ve probably already identified some aspects of your personal brand, but are you putting that on display in your social media content?
If not, here are some tips for finding your brand message and voice:
- Look at who you’re trying to reach (What do they like? What do they want? What do they need? How do they feel?)
- Make sure those messages align with what you want people to think about when they hear your business name
- Write down all your values and write about them in your content
- Include the exact words (or sentences) your followers use to describe their pain points and desires
16.) Use business storytelling
Business storytelling is a powerful tool, and it can help you build your brand, connect with customers, and share your message in a memorable, emotional, and – most importantly – relatable way.
By telling stories, you can help people see how you can assist them and what makes your business stand out from the crowd.
17.) Don’t be afraid to experiment
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to experiment. We all learn from our mistakes, and it’s a great way to improve your social media marketing strategy.
You never know what will work and what won’t until you try! Don’t worry if something doesn’t go according to plan or you make a mistake – you can always make changes along the way.
Be bold when it comes to your social media strategy – test new things and watch how users interact with them, then adapt as necessary.
Conclusion
If you’ve never used social media marketing before, it’s time to start.
The benefits for your business are endless – it can help you connect with new customers and grow your brand, it’s easy to use, and it’s free.
Write down these 17 social media marketing tips for beginners and implement them right away. And don’t forget to check out these 9 Reasons Why 97% Of People Fail At Social Media Marketing.
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Petra Šranc (CEO of Big Income Paradise) is passionate about teaching female entrepreneurs how to do Social Media Marketing to grow their business online. She also focuses on teaching Social Media content tactics to skyrocket traffic, leads, and sales.