Four best practices for building a social media strategy for your small business

Having an online presence for your business is absolutely essential. We’ve all used social media as a way to vet businesses and ultimately determine where we are going to spend our money. Whether you like, love, or hate social media, it’s here to stay. 

But let’s be honest: Social media can feel daunting and even intimidating. There are so many questions: Do you really need to be on every platform to run your business successfully? Does that include TikTok? How often should you be posting? What should you be posting?

My goal is to answer those questions and help you create a social media strategy that will leave you feeling confident. After all, social media doesn’t have to be stressful—it can be fun! 

Here are some best practices for building a solid social media strategy:

1. Understand who your target audience is

The first step of creating a social media strategy is identifying your target audience. If you don’t know who your audience is, you won’t know who you’re creating content for. Ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach with my content? Who is my business serving? 

Once you identify an audience, it’s time to determine what kind of content they actually want to see. Does your audience get excited about inspirational, educational, or entertaining content? Maybe it’s a combination of all three or something entirely different.

You can do this by surveying your community directly or track what your online audience currently engages the most with on your social channels.
 

2. Provide value above all else

What are some of your favorite Instagram accounts, and why do you follow and engage with them? Chances are you feel a sense of connection and community with these accounts—you get something out of consuming their content. That something can be: a good laugh, an answer to a question, or an interesting fact you never knew. This right here is crucial to social media strategy. 

This brings us to the great 80/20 rule, or “give-give-ask”. 80% of your content should be valuable content where you are giving your audience that free something. 20% of your content should be your “ask”. This is your opportunity to promote whether that is asking your audience to buy a product or asking your audience to join your mailing list. 

Remember most people come to social media to hang out—not to buy things. When value-based content is at the root of your social media strategy, you build a community around your brand that is excited about supporting you and your business.

3. Prioritize consistency with a realistic schedule

I always encourage entrepreneurs to be realistic about social media and create a schedule they can easily follow. When considering where to post, or how often to post, ask yourself: What is a realistic goal that I can accomplish consistently?

If you can post valuable content on Linkedin three times a week, and re-post that same content to Facebook three times a week, great! Go for that. Consistency is more important than posting everywhere, all the time. Choose how often you’re going to post, and where you’re going to post, and stick with it. Doing a few things well is better than doing everything poorly.
 

4. Don’t neglect your bio

Your bio matters! Use your bio to clearly state exactly what your business does, and for whom. If you have a location-based business, be sure to put the location in your bio. 

This is also a great opportunity to “wear your identity on your sleeves.” If you are a Black-owned, women-owned, queer-owned business, say that! People are interested in learning more about businesses outside of what they sell. They want to see where the brand’s values lie. Haven’t edited your bio in a while? Now’s your chance!

Social media can be intimidating, not to mention it’s constantly changing. But, it can be your brand’s storefront. Its first impression to your ideal customer. Start slow, don’t be afraid to try everything, and stay present and consistent. You got this! 

And, if you don’t get it, that's fine too—work 1:1 with an IFundWomen Startup Coach to customize your social media strategy. Sign up for IFundWomen’s private coaching to schedule your first Getting savvy with social media session.