In the digital age, leveraging social media strategies for small businesses is crucial. With a global reach of nearly 4.70 billion, social media is integral to new-age marketing and advertising.
The dominant platform is inescapable for established brands and startups alike. That is why a social media strategy for small businesses is necessary to thrive.
A successful small business social media strategy should spark brand awareness, build brand recognition, develop client relations, and make sales.
Table of Contents
Top Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs
Here are the best social media for small business tips and practices you can implement for your company.
- Plan Ahead
- Use the Right Platforms
- Understand Your Ideal Customers
- Expand Your Reach
- Establish and Strengthen Relationships
- Collaborate With Peer Groups
- Observe and Engage in Digital Trends
- Sell on Social Commerce Directly
- Combine Content Formats
- Concentrate on Quality
- Pre-schedule and Automate
- Monitor and Refine Your Performance
- Feature User Generated Content
- Provide Customer Service
- Maximize Paid Posts
- Host Online Events
- Share Valuable Resources
1. Plan Ahead
Creating a business Instagram or Facebook page will not cost you anything. Neither will you need to shell out funds for a Twitter presence.
And while it may seem easy just to leap in and get started on socials for brand promotion, you should have a good plan for executing social media strategies for small businesses. Invest time and effort in mapping out your use of social tools to market your company.
To ensure you get results from your social initiatives, these are tips for social media for small business to plot a social media marketing plan.
- Set your business goals for using social networks by following the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) framework.
- Base your objectives on definitive metrics that will impact your enterprise.
- Research and learn from what your competitors have been doing right and where they might be falling short. This can help hasten your learning curve.
- Read use cases and find inspiration for your online marketing success from other brands in the industry.
- Document a social media content strategy and develop a content calendar based on it.
- Apply the 80/20 rule in your small business social media strategy. 80% of our efforts should go to educating and entertaining audiences, while 20% should be allotted for selling your products and promoting your brand.
2. Use the Right Platforms
Put time and energy into social sites where your target consumers hang out the most. Use high-value platforms whose ideal content type resonates with them most strongly.
Managing multiple accounts can harm your small business’ social media strategy and exhaust your limited resources. You do not have to be present on every social networking site to market your brand effectively.
Staying on the platforms that work for you and doing away with those that do not are smarter social media strategies for small businesses. For example, you may be running a tech company that does great on LinkedIn, but your engagement starts to dwindle when posting on Instagram.
Social media tends to be a hit-or-miss for every industry; the key is finding which one works best for your product or service and then honing in on the one that generates more of a buzz around what you are selling.
3. Understand Your Ideal Customers
Apply the know-your-customer (KYC) concept to efficiently micro-target and understand your audiences.
Make the best use of built-in insights analysis tools of social platforms. Gather information about your existing customers—leverage big data on social media to identify buyer behavior and online interaction patterns.
From these details, define your target market and sketch your ideal buyer personas. Buyer personas will be your reference when generating content. Knowing what posts matter to prospective clients can tell you how to best connect with them.
- To create a buyer persona, research and note these details:
- The social networks your target online users frequent
- Accounts, influencers, and celebrities they follow
- The brands they support and buy
- The content they react to and share
- Posts they engage with through comments
- Their interests and hobbies
- Favorite hangout spots to visit
- Their typical vacation destination
4. Expand Your Reach
When you are clear with your target audience, revisit your plan. Reassess social media strategies for small businesses and make adjustments as necessary. Determine specific ways to reach a larger audience.
For instance, track and join in local conversations about your brand. You can use this geographic attribute to get in touch with prospective new customers within your area. Tweak your small business social media strategy to retarget local audiences.
5. Establish and Strengthen Relationships
76% of buyers access social media to research a brand or product before purchasing. Getting to know your company is part of their decision-making process. You should use social channels to earn trust and nurture relationships.
Be authentic and transparent in the way you portray your enterprise.
Instead of asking for a sale upfront, gain exposure from organic engagement. Create a loyal community around your brand. For example, a simple acknowledgment or response to user comments can go a long way.
Making your followers feel special and valued is one of the most impactful social media for small business tips. It helps with client acquisition and retention. You can take these steps to build customer relationships:
- Create a Facebook group for your community.
- Mention followers on your Instagram posts, reels, stories, and comments.
- Reshare follower posts that tag you.
- Start a customer-centric Twitter survey or poll.
6. Collaborate With Peer Groups
These are how you can connect with other companies and thought-leaders within your niche:
- Working with relevant businesses directly via partnerships
- Cross-promotion of product and service offers
- Joint content creation and sharing the output on each other’s social accounts
- Brand takeover tactic on live streams
- Following similar brand accounts proactively
7. Observe and Engage in Digital Trends
Hot topics online tend to change rapidly. It is a good social media strategy for small businesses to pay attention to new and trending features. And keeping up with them can help you gain more precise insights into what internet users look for when they log onto their accounts.
These are the most common reasons people have an active online social presence:
To catch up with current events and news
- To be entertained
- To pass spare time
- To stay connected with family and friends
- To share personal updates and content with other social users
Take advantage of their motivations for using social media. You will create more appropriate and valuable evergreen content that users want to consume.
8. Sell on Social Commerce Directly
Social media giants (Facebook and Instagram) now have shopping tools to sell services or products without a website. You can upload a post that redirects to their Shopping pages.
Moreover, you can enjoy these other lucrative ways of utilizing the power of social media:
- Live selling
- Paid targeted advertising
- Getting an endorsement from brand ambassadors
- Social listening
9. Combine Content Formats
Post diverse content types. Switch up your post formats depending on what message you intend to convey.
Social algorithms monitor and detect a good mix of original photos, graphics, GIFs, video clips, reels, and time-sensitive disappearing stories. Veering from monotony can help ensure your uploads appear more frequently on people’s feeds and timelines.
Follow these simple reminders for posting online:
- Use high-resolution visuals.
- Adjust image and video dimensions according to the social channel’s specific requirements.
- Make your posts accessible and viewable on all devices and operating systems.
- Write appealing captions.
- Do not overdo or duplicate hashtag usage.
10. Concentrate on Quality
When devising social media strategies for small businesses, pick quality, authenticity, and consistency over quantity.
On social media, frequency does not necessarily equate to effectiveness. Sometimes, posting too often may be found to be an unusual, repeated activity and be flagged as spam.
To give you an overview of how often you should post, you can follow the rule of thumb per platform:
- Facebook: One post per day is enough. Otherwise, you may cause users to withdraw engagement.
- Instagram: One to three standard single or carousel posts daily should do. Couple them with five to six stories, plus a reel.
- Twitter: Multiple tweets are advisable. You can go beyond 10. This is because a tweet has a short lifespan of 18 minutes at most and tends to get buried in the fast-paced Twitter environment.
- LinkedIn: Four in a week is an adequate number.
- Pinterest: The recommended number is no more than ten pins every day.
11. Pre-schedule and Automate
Another social media strategy for small businesses is taking advantage of productivity tools.
These help simplify your small business social media strategy without the need for a full-scale social media management team:
- Time-saving automated publishing platforms
- Chatbots for customer service via direct messaging
- Engagement management suites
- Analytics and insights
- Graphic design, editing, and video creation software
- Content curation programs
12. Monitor and Refine Your Performance
When you execute your social media strategy for small businesses, tracking the tactics that perform well is vital.
The following can help you fine-tune your social marketing programs and get improved results:
- Employ analytics tools extensively. These provide details on your online performance and its specific context.
- Compare insights with your metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Use A/B testing based on which you can modify and boost your current social media strategies for small businesses.
13. Feature User Generated Content
Social users love taking snaps of their purchases, posting them online, and tagging the brand’s account handle. Show your appreciation and reshare photos from your followers and brand patrons.
Besides showcasing regard and credit, user-generated content (UGC) is perceived to be more authentic than regular branded content or stock photography. 58% of consumers agree with this viewpoint.
Featuring more brand enthusiasts, alongside employee-generated content (EGC), on your feed is an excellent social media strategy for small businesses for the following reasons:
- It cultivates trust and loyalty.
- It encourages reposts.
- It garners attention.
- It attracts more followers.
- It serves as a realistic and organic form of endorsement.
14. Provide Customer Service
Make client care a part of your small business’ social media strategy. Customers prefer social media direct messaging. It is quick, convenient, and efficient. You can address customer concerns promptly.
If you get complaints shared publicly in comments, acknowledge it and politely redirect the conversion to private instant messaging.
15. Maximize Paid Posts
Cold reach is not the only social media strategy for small businesses.
Allocating funds to boost well-performing posts also significantly returns on investment (ROI). Spending $10 on a single Instagram ad would not hurt your expenses. It is a recommended steady approach to gain momentum and traction for high-quality content.
You can use paid ads to support and increase your organic reach. With a portion of your ad spend, you are guaranteed to reach a large audience outside of your existing followers.
16. Host Online Events
Occasional giveaways are a great small business social media strategy to reengage your present followers and draw in new ones. These are other online social events you can hold:
- Content-driven contests, such as soliciting submissions for the best product photos of the month or asking users to come up with an original hashtag for a new product you are launching
- Live stream for a contest or giveaway winner announcement
- Live stream for a product demo
- Brick-and-mortar store grand opening promotion
You can send early invites for these online events to stir up hype. The RSVPs will let you know how many are interested in attending.
17. Share Valuable Resources
Your social pages should look pretty. But they also have to provide value to users.
Create and share high-value resources that educate and inform. These will position you as a trustworthy and knowledgeable industry leader. Here are post ideas that add value to consumers:
- Link to your latest informative blog post
- Infographics
- Industry news
- Trivia and fun facts
- Tips for product usage
- Lifestyle hacks
The Best Social Media Marketing Agencies For Small Businesses
If you're looking to leverage the power of social media for your small business, consider working with these social media marketing agencies.
1. The Art of Business
- Location: High River, Canada
- Average Hourly Rate: $200
- Expertise: Branding, Digital Marketing, Logo Design, Small Business Website Design...
The Art of Business agency operates as an extension of their clients' business and handles everything marketing from planning the strategy and growth plan all the way to execution. They have a team of 20 experts at their customers' service.
The company develops websites, designs logos, or creates and manages social media in a way that is cohesive with their clients' overall marketing plan, which they create with the business they partner with.
The Art of Business clients include Austen Jewelers, Livable inc, Hometown Dental, and Phair Business Solutions.
2. Marketing Launch Team OÜ
- Location: Tallin, Estonia
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquiry
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Digital Advertising, Email Marketing...
A growth-centric and data-driven marketing agency dedicated to driving accelerated growth and results for their clients. They are Europe's first subscription-based digital marketing agency that developed award-winning brand stories for their clients and offers affordable and hassle-free premium digital marketing services including SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Content Marketing, Video Marketing, and more, at subscription packages.
Their clients have the flexibility and the power to upgrade/downgrade/cancel their marketing service subscriptions at any time. No one-time fee or hidden charges.
Marketing Launch Team OÜ's clients include Swiss Permit Solutions, GrowNections and WoofyToons.
3. Boyshero
- Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Average Hourly Rate: $50
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, SEO...
Boyshero is an agency that increases leads, phone calls, and other forms of capturing qualified targets for their clients in order to help them grow sales. They comprise of a team of digital marketers, web designers & developers, graphic designers, software engineers, app developers, game developers, cyber security experts, and IT experts.
The agency serves digital marketing and IT-related services all over the world and provides a complete package for any business growth.
Their clients include Raftalk, Beloss, Meetmat, and others.
4. LiFi Media Production
- Location: Rochester, New Hampshire
- Average Hourly Rate: $150
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Commercial Video Production, Video Marketing, Explainer Video Production...
LiFi Media has found rapid success in video production services for small to medium-sized businesses. The company has created long-lasting value by focusing on establishing relationships.
Mike Gentile, the Owner, Cinematographer, Drone Pilot, and Editor for LiFi Media Production, began his venture in video production as a necessity to market and advertise vehicles and heavy equipment for his sales position and quickly evolved into a business solution that clients were more than willing to pay for.
His love for music production and fast learning allowed him to quickly pick up how to capture and edit dramatic and emotional film sequences. The company's clients include The Sausage Guy, Gray Property Group and JJ Kane Auctioneers.
5. Viden
- Location: 3B Dzerzhinskogo Ave. Suite 17, Minsk, 220036, Belarus
- Average Hourly Rate: $75
- Expertise: Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, PPC, Google AdWords...
Viden is a customer-first digital advertising consultancy that helps businesses leverage their data, driving growth and elevating digital presence for brands across all channels.
They specialize in providing exceptional strategic consulting, digital advertising, and web analytics services to brands across the globe, using a data-driven approach to deliver efficient solutions to business challenges and achieve their performance goals.
The agency is a Google Marketing Platform (GMP) Premier Partner, Facebook Marketing Partner, and Microsoft Ads (Bing) Partner and operates in the markets of USA, UK, Canada, Europe, UAE, and Australia.
6. Rankin PR
- Location: 2437 Bay Area Blvd., Suite 200, Houston, Texas 77058, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $125
- Expertise: SEO, Social Media Marketing, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Reputation Management...
Rankin PR is a boutique public relations and content creation agency that grows demand for their clients' B2B solutions. They have established relationships with trade publication editors across North America and globally. Their feature articles have been published over 10,000 times.
The stories the agency has developed (for social media as well) have been featured on the cover of some of the most prestigious journals in the world including NASA Tech Briefs, Design World, Aerospace & Defense Technology, and Machine Design. They hand-pick the set of publications that best target clients' ideal customers.
Rankin PR's articles deliver SEO value by providing backlinks to clients’ websites and by appearing high in the search results for many keywords further driving people to clients' content.
7. Tribu
- Location: 801 E. Quincy St., San Antonio, Texas 78215, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, 360° Digital Services...
Tribu — the Latin word for "tribe" — helps businesses grow beyond humble beginnings and build their own tribe. Founded in 2011, the multi-awarded agency is composed of experienced innovators and outside-the-box thinkers who deliver digital marketing and creative services with a lasting impact.
More than social media, they offer a full digital marketing solution — from developing your perfect brand strategy to increasing conversion, nurturing, and ultimately winning hearts.
Tribu boasts over a hundred industry awards, including The American Advertising Federation, The American Marketing Association, The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, and Inc. 5000. The City of San Antonio, Dripping Springs Distillery, and Devils River Whiskey are among their clients.
8. Branch & Bramble
- Location: 545 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, New York City, New York 11238, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $150/hr
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, 360° Digital Services
Branch & Bramble is a trusted agency by lifestyle brands to create the kind of feelings people crave and form strong customer connections. They help value-based businesses penetrate the market by whisking together tangible data analytics, purpose-driven content, and digital insights.
Their social media strategies combine storytelling and customer service to spark conversations and drive action, especially targeting affluent consumers. They help develop content calendars, copies that resonate, and creative designs that catch the eye. They also have metrics in place to monitor performance and sustain engagement.
Branch & Bramble has worked with clients like Patagonia, WeWork, Simon & Schuster, and Hotel 50 Bowery.
9. Anderson Collaborative
- Location: 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd Suite 470, Miami, Florida 33146, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: Influencer Marketing, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Website Development...
Anderson Collaborative has led high-level marketing strategy for hundreds of businesses both small and large. The employees, specialists, contractors, and partners work hard every day to ensure that they are delivering their company promise and trusted results to clients spanning across countless industries.
At the offices of the Collaborative, the dream-big team is solving the marketing problems of today with the strategies of tomorrow. Their uniquely comprehensive approach to digital strategy is helping clients across the United States find success in their marketing and promotional efforts.
Clients include Body Ecology, JAMNOLA, Washify, Sotheby's, and Jack Daniels.
10. Talus Films
- Location: 4245 N Knox Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60641, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, YouTube Marketing, B2B Digital Marketing, Corporate Video Production...
Talus Films produces videos that capture any clients' mission visually, build trust authentically, and connect you with your audience emotionally. Their work is rooted in storytelling to set you apart and connect you on a human level all while saving you time, energy, and money.
We hope to leave the world a little better than we found it. For every project they work on, the agency donates to have trees planted to aid reforestation efforts along with bringing sustainable practices to set.
Clients include Nyssa, Family of Geniuses, Choobs, Trust of Public Land, and more.
11. ABC Web Service
- Location: 2054 E Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33306, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $100
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Strategy, Digital Marketing, WordPress Website Design...
ABC Web Service has been helping businesses succeed online since 1998. They focus on their clients' goals to provide them with a custom, holistic marketing strategy. They are located in Fort Lauderdale and work with clients across the country.
Having a great-looking website is no longer enough to be competitive in business today, and their digital marketing experience can help guide clients' businesses to new levels of success.
Clients include In Record Time, ABC Bartending, Creative Love Surrogacy, Platinum Luxury Auctions, and more.
12. Admiral Media
- Location: Calle de las Acacias, 66, Marbella, 29604, Spain
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: App Marketing
Most of Admiral Media's clients specialize in developing great apps but often they need fresh ideas and insights from other industries and apps that might be doing something different.
This is the benefit of working with Admiral Media. They run multiple million-dollar app advertising campaigns on a global scale and have the ability to replicate such insights for any business.
Clients include Fastic, Petit Bambou, and Immoscout24.
13. Adchemist Digital
- Location: 3274 San Jose St Sampaloc, Manila, 1008, Philippines
- Average Hourly Rate: $18
- Expertise: Search Engine Marketing, SEO Consultants, Small Business SEO, Local SEO...
Adchemist Digital offers the best Local SEO services, Social Media Management, Website Development, Outreach Marketing, Amazon Listing, and NFT Community Management in Manila, Philippines.
They help transform, create, and convert any “silver” business to “gold”. In other words, they develop businesses to a new level to achieve goals and help to create a solution to your problems.
Clients include Gabbc Inc., Modern Task, and Total Trust.
14. 24 East Media
- Location: New York City, NY
- Average Hourly Rate: $150
- Expertise: Branding, Digital Marketing
24 East Media's philosophy as a creative agency, working with clients around the country, is to create lasting relationships and work with them right from initiation, through to final product development, launch, and beyond.
They use an analytical approach to conceptualize and execute dynamic campaigns designed to elevate social presence and ignite audiences. The goal is to help clients reach their full potential in terms of sales success, brand recognition, and reputation.
Clients include Bulk Blades & Bits, Saavedra & Sons Group, Berde, and Pier Ridge Realty.
15. AE Digital, LLC
- Location: Remote, South Burlington, Vermont 05403, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $120
- Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Digital Strategy, SEO, PPC...
AE Digital specializes in search engine optimization/marketing, content marketing, website development, and social media marketing. They pride themselves on helping clients drive revenue, reduce operating costs, and deliver customer satisfaction in every project they take on.
Clients include Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Digital Advertising...
16. Jeff Social Marketing
- Location: 100-2 Toronto Street Suite 338, Toronto, M5C 2B5, Canada
- Average Hourly Rate: $50
- Expertise: Real Estate Web Design, Social Media Marketing, Social Media for Nonprofit
Having gained a wealth of experience with over 10 years working on websites, with website security and website hosting, Jess Social Marketing offers straightforward pricing, simplified website security solutions, 99.9% uptime, and 24/7 customer service.
They do everything digital - they offer a wide range of services related to digital marketing including web hosting, web security, web & graphic design, E-commerce, social media, marketing consultation, Express Services, SEO, media relations & crisis management. Located in the Toronto/GTA Area.
The agency's digital media experience includes: success in boosting the profile of social media accounts and websites for businesses and in the non-profit world - with a history of growing numbers.
Expert Insights on Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses
We asked the agency experts: “How should a small business with a limited budget approach their social media strategy?”
Kate Bourque, CEO and Director of Marketing at Nioma
“For businesses with limited social media budgets, it’s crucial to focus efforts on the right platforms and have a solid strategy. Consider outsourcing to an agency with social media expertise rather than hiring employees. Many agencies offer flexible pricing options tailored to small businesses’ budgets, making it a cost-efficient solution.”
Don Grantham, Director and PM at Evolve Media
“Small businesses with limited budgets should define goals, choose relevant platforms, and create a content plan. Engaging with the community, using analytics, and investing in visual content is crucial. Additionally, utilizing social media management tools can help maximize efficiency. This strategic approach can yield positive results within budget constraints.”
Tommy House - Owner/Creative Director of Tommy House Studios
“With social media, it is important to start and keep regular content flowing. Small businesses with limited budgets should focus on creating a targeted social media strategy, prioritizing platforms where their audience is most active.
Investing in engaging, high-quality content and leveraging organic growth tactics like hashtags, collaborations, and community engagement can yield significant results without a large financial investment.”
Oliver Karp, Head of Brand Partnerships at Otter Influence
“Work with [two to three] creators in your niche to generate as many TikTok videos as possible. Test lots of different types of content. Most of it should be optimized for “shareability.” Don’t just show your product; create content people will enjoy and want to share.”
Donald Kim, CEO & Founder of Optimized Webmedia
“The small business should take a Bootstrap Marketing approach. Determine social media goals and objectives. Define the audience and choose relevant social platforms. Create a content plan within a content calendar and have relevant posts that connect with their core audience. Be sure to engage, measure, and optimize.”
Wrap-Up: Why Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses Matter
The foundation of an effective social media strategy for small businesses involves high-quality content and consistency.
Finding the strategic rhythm that works for your brand and its target audiences is critical. Your small business social media strategy should speak your tone and voice. It does not have to be perfect, but it should always be aligned with your values and goals, regardless of your niche.
Ultimately, the goals of social media strategies for small businesses include:
- Wider audience reach
- User engagement
- Quality conversations with existing and potential customers
- Lead generation
- Customer acquisition and retention
- More sales and increased profits
Social marketing success does not happen overnight. It takes time, effort, patience, and persistence. Plus, you need to be equipped with the right technical tools to grow your social following. For maximum impact, it is best to combine social media marketing with small business SEO to attract and engage a wider audience.
Browse through our selection of best social media marketing companies to find your partner, or ask us to find the best one for you!
