How to Create a Social Presence for your Business on a Budget
A social media presence doesn’t have to break the bank. It’s a common misconception that this is going to be a major cost for your business. Following the correct guidelines, you can market your company on social media within a tight budget.
For starters, pictures and videos will see more success online than just text posts. It’s best to use photographs that are high quality, yet don’t necessarily look like stock photos. Photograph your product or service in action. If you own a bar, photograph your latest creation (especially if it is associated with a special deal) and post it to your Facebook page. Tread carefully when it comes to video. Videos can be expensive, and if done too cheaply, can look like, well, garbage. Certainly, we can all think of a local television advertisement gone wrong. However, if done correctly, video can be a powerful tool. If you are a personal trainer, for example, you could make a quick instructional video for Instagram. There are so many possibilities here.
A great and virtually free way to post content is to not create it yourself: take advantage of user-created content. Repost images from followers. On Instagram, you ask them to direct message you the images they took. Followers are often thrilled to be featured, as long as credit is given when it’s due. For example, when students at my college uploaded photographs of the campus to their personal Instagram accounts, the college-run Instagram account would often repost them. They would find the images using the campus hashtags and by searching by location. Students were always thrilled to see theirs and their friends’ photographs, which ended up creating a lot of engagement.
Though you may be skeptical at first, you may want to spend a little money on Facebook advertisements. According to a study done by moz.com, “if you just spend $1 per day on Facebook ads, you will get in front of 4,000 people that wouldn’t have seen you otherwise. If you are doing that and your competitors aren’t, you win the awareness game in your niche.” Money is tight, sure, but the return on investment here can really work in your favor. Choose the content you want to promote very wisely, and it can be a successful move for your business.
There’s a reason social media marketing is growing, and it’s because it works. Don’t be the last one to jump on the bandwagon, even if you don’t have much to spend, because otherwise you could be left behind.