As I meet with business owners, I see this issue far too often. Many have this mentality that their businesses do not necessarily profit from social media because they already have a strong brand and customers know where to find them already.

Sounds familiar to you? Don't get me wrong: It's nice you set up a loyal customer base. However, using social media doesn't only get you new clients it also maintains your existing ones by reinforcing social proof and making sure your business remains fresh in the minds of your customers.

Here is a list of 10 Awesome Tips to Help Market Your Small Business on Social Media in 2020... You’re welcome :)

Many times small business owners create profiles to all the social media accounts then they post content (and hope for the best). I know it seems good in theory, however, it’s like casting a broad net in an ocean -- you might catch the wrong fish. Instead, it’s better to know where your ideal customer spends most of his/her time. For example, if you’re selling to a generation Z customer, you’d be better off concentrating your social media efforts on Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram. We purposely left out social profiles like Facebook and Linkedin because these are suited to millennials and business owners.

Your audience is diverse when it comes to certain things, but they have some things in common. Like the way they talk, terminologies they use, and events they hold sacred. Your brand’s voice must resonate with your audience because the first step to acquiring a customer is to get their attention and once you’re relatable, it’s easier for them to listen.

Planning is critical. Random or sporadic posting is not a feature of a successful social media strategy. Of course, it's okay to post sometimes when you have something very interesting or time-bound to share. But such random posts should be an addition to a daily schedule. Consistency will increase the anticipation for your content, your brand interest and overall organic growth.

Well, it’s a no-brainer that you should occasionally check on our competition, especially those that share a similar customer base to yours. This can help you know what tactics will successfully reel in your target audience.

Bear in mind when researching your competitors you need to analyze the businesses that are like yours, struggling as well as the big players that are doing stuff right. This way you learn from their mistakes and see what works without having to reinvent the wheel. No that’s smart social media practise :) … And it certainly will help your small business in 2020.

Of course, one of your end goals is to gain customers. Yet, that doesn’t mean that every post needs a sales pitch in the caption or even a link to your online store. That kind of pushy self-promotion gets old quick. While promotion is appropriate in some cases, the majority of your posts should be more human than anything. Show personality, encourage people to engage with you, allow people to get to know the amazing people behind what you offer. That genuine emotional connection will actually drive sales harder than 24/7 advertising will.

 Vision is one of the most powerful senses and it’s not hard to see why. Using sight, we collect information, adopt opinions, develop feelings, and decide on the appropriate action to take in response to what we’ve seen. By using high-quality imagery and videos, you can leverage the power of sight for a better result. You can provide information about your business, products or services. You can encourage a positive opinion of your brand. You can cause people to form a strong emotional bond with you, your story or your mission. You can move people to action! 

People appreciate brands that are accessible and appreciative of their supporters.

 Be that kind of brand by engaging at every opportunity with your followers. Show personal interest by asking them to share their opinions, likes, dislikes, preferences, and so forth. Like and respond to comments. Make use of more interactive features such as Facebook and Instagram Live. Invite enthusiastic promoters to submit content and then share it with your audience. There are plenty of ways that you can engage, so make sure that you block off time to do just that. Your followers will thank you for it. 

If you’re just getting started with social media marketing, remember: you don’t need to be a guru in every area of social media to accomplish your marketing objectives. Start small and most importantly, take on a mindset of learning. Spend some time each day on social media, focused on familiarizing with the ins and outs of the platforms and trying new things. You’ll find that you accomplish more than if you rush through, trying to force outcomes. Use these 10 tips and you’ll be able to develop a solid social presence that will attract more of the right people to your small business.

You can’t just blindly start posting content on social media without some sort of rhyme or reason. Before you do anything else, you need to identify your marketing goals.

While lead generation, brand awareness, and customer engagement are all good reasons to use social media, it doesn’t mean these should be yours.

You may be using social media to provide better customer service or directly drive sales.

Whatever your reasons, make sure they are clearly defined. Think of it as you would of any other marketing strategy for your company.

You wouldn’t run an ad on the radio or a print advertisement without establishing a goal first, so you need to treat your social media strategy the same way.

Once you decide the purpose of your social media campaigns, it will be much easier for you to come up with content to post. As we’ll discuss soon, it can be tough to think of ideas for new posts.

But if you can establish what you want to accomplish with your content, you’ll know what to post to achieve those goals.

This is your opportunity to stand out from your competitors. If your competition is only posting once a week or just a handful of times per month, it will be easier for you to make a lasting impression on your followers by posting daily.

Each time you post new content, you remind your followers that your brand exists.

When they need or want whatever you’re offering, they’ll think of your company as opposed to another small business in the area.

One of the reasons why small businesses aren’t posting content daily is because they simply don’t know what to post. If you fall into this category, refer back to your marketing goals.

For example, if your goal is to promote new products for sale on your ecommerce site, then post a promotional offer for those products.

Repurpose previously published content. I briefly mentioned this earlier when we discussed why you should create a YouTube channel.

Let’s say you have an instructional guide or tutorial on how to use a product that you published to your YouTube page. You can post that same video or snippets of that video to your other distribution channels.

Share new content from your website. Post links to your most recently published posts.

In addition to posting content daily, it’s also important for you to respond to your customers. I’m referring to direct messages as well as comments.

48% of consumers say that when a company is responsive on social media, it will prompt them to make a purchase.