Follow These 5 Social Media Marketing Tips for Beginners

It may be hard to believe, but your small business has a few things in common with mega corporations. For example, it doesn't matter how small your company is, even if you're a one-man-band, your brand must connect with its target audience on a personal level. If you listen to what your target audience is asking for, you can improve your service, offer the products they want, turn customers into raving fans, and keep your pulse on the industry. Social media offers genuine interaction with your audience, and in the process, opens the door to much of this insight. 

With great power comes great responsibility. It’s important to note the risks of improper social media usage. Avoid major mistakes that alienate potential customers, but don't let the fear of messing up keep you from posting all together. The following marketing tips for beginners should help. 

Social Media Marketing Tips for Beginners

Do you want to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, or a combination of those for your brand's success? All of these platforms are different and have unique best practices, but these guidelines apply to them all:

Set Goals

There’s more to social media marketing than many realize. Social media could be a huge waste of time and resources if you don't have the right digital strategy in place before getting started. Before you post for the first time, determine the goals, KPIs, and channel strategy that will serve as a benchmark for success.

Be Genuine and Engaging

Your potential audience probably doesn't go on social media to buy things. If they feel your posts are all ads, they'll unfollow you quickly. To avoid losing followers, while gaining audience insight, post information that is genuine and engaging. This will allow you to create and nurture relationships with people who will be long-time followers, and long-time customers!

Be Unique in the Content You Post

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Now, tell your audience that! Leveraging what makes you special, and better, is a cornerstone of a successful social media marketing strategy. Show off your uniqueness in your posts. You can also showcase your company’s competitive advantage by posting links to blog posts and articles that highlight your brand's accomplishments, news, and other differentiators.

Don't Think of All Social Media as Organic

While organic social media offers brand awareness and engagement opportunities, social media has become a pay-to-play arena for business, and you need a paid social strategy to supplement your organic social media. 

We strongly encourage you to bring in a digital marketing expert to help you provide proper structure for your digital marketing efforts. They can help you discover where your audience is and how to reach them, while staying within your budget. You want to make every dollar count! 

Use Data to Your Advantage

One of the great things about social media is that there isn't much guess work involved. No matter which social media channel you're using, from Twitter to Facebook and beyond, there are analytics at your disposal that will tell you what posts are performing well. 

You want to track and report on this social activity and engagement, then make adjustments where necessary to get the most out of every post. For instance, you may learn that posting in the evening gets better engagement from your followers. There is a wealth of information out there waiting for you!

The Old State Offers Social Media Marketing

One of the best social media marketing tips for beginners we could possibly give you is to let you know that you don't have to do this alone! The Old State is a full-service digital marketing agency, and that means we offer social media services to brands just like yours. In fact, social media campaign strategy, organic social media management, and social media marketing is our specialty. Contact us today, and we'll provide you with a free proposal that shows you everything our team of digital marketing experts could do for you!