How to Build a Business on Social Media in 2024
One of the business accelerators is social media which offers a colorful palette of content; educational, funny, advertisements, and more. What do all of them have in common? The expiration date - they’re supposed to be consumed quickly. How to work with this as a businessman? How to use Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to advertise your products on social media and be closer to your customers?
Social media platforms are getting more and more popular. And it would be a shame if you wouldn’t be part of this incredible world. Why? Because it’s full of potential customers = full of opportunities. And the number of users rises every day.
Another great advantage of this space is that the customers don’t come and go (as is common for shops). It’s actually quite the opposite, they come back many times a day. Plus, social media users feel more comfortable seeing an ad on a platform rather than anywhere else on the internet or offline.
There is no doubt you should create an account on at least one social media platform. For those who are already active on social media, this article will help you, too. It will assure you about whether you create content and interact with your audience as recommended.
What exactly will I talk about in this article? I’ll help you with deciding which of the social media platforms are suitable for you. I will tell you about how to create good quality content that will increase the number of sales. And I will also advise on the best ways to communicate with your customers. Paid ads will be discussed as well since they are quite important for any business.
As I mentioned in the very beginning, the clock is running, so let’s dive into it.
Table of contents:
General Rules for Social Media
Facebook, Good Old Friend
Instagram, Eye Pleasing Canvas
TikTok, on a Blink of an Eye
Marketing on Social Media in a Nutshell
General Rules for Social Media
- Make them feel something
Emotions sell.
Presenting your product’s parameters won’t help your sales to grow. Because customers often don’t understand its benefits. Therefore, it is much better to put the parameters into practice - show your customers why your 1TB disk is great. For example, tell them how many pictures, movies, or songs they can put there. From this, you can move on to emotional marketing.
Emotional marketing is about describing the issue your customers struggle with, reminding them of the negative feelings connected to the issue. And then showing them how they’ll feel after having your product in their hands (relief, positive feelings).
Coca-Cola mastered emotional marketing. Recall their food ads. They’re short and often about emotions (the brand tries to raise feelings of love, friendship, and closeness).
For example, in this one, they show perfectly how individuals feel before they sit at the table with their loved ones. A glass of Coca-Cola is a must with every meal. It is part of the happy moments spent with family, partners, or friends.
Coca-Cola lays bets on selling emotions. And it pays off.
- Right timing is everything
To make your potential customers feel something, you must be in the right place at the right time.
Think of the current global issues. And ask yourself: Can my product solve this issue in some kind of way?
Be attentive and make the best of the situation. And create the best post.
- Keep in touch with your audience
Sharing content without developing a discussion is like playing tennis without an opponent. You might have the best shot which would bring you a point but if no one returns it, the game is over.
In other words, if you don’t stay in touch with your audience, answer their questions, or react to their improvement recommendations, our profile won’t be interesting to users or the algorithm.
Time spent on answering your potential customers’ comments is invested time.
- Stop wasting money on the propagation of posts which don’t generate profit
If a sponsored post doesn’t get any impressions and doesn’t generate profit, stop putting more money into it.
Many people succumb to the sunk cost fallacy.
They don’t want to give up when they know how much money it costs them now. However, they don’t realize that it is not an investment anymore, but just a waste of money.
Don’t forget that the world of social media is constantly changing. Not each day, but every minute. And it’s vital for your business to only sponsor the posts that will make people buy your product, therefore, that will generate profit.
And what about the topical post which was very successful in the past and might be now, too? The rule is simple, recycle it. You get the most from it and it’s going to be a real investment.
- Good quality copywriting is a must
Emotions sell and the same applies to words.
Don’t underestimate its power. And make sure that your texts are divine! It’s ideal to hire a talented copywriter, who knows copywriting frameworks and who’s also very sensitive to the target audience’s needs.
If you want your copywriting to work, you must be on the same wave as your reader. And do your best to get really close to them.
- Consistent posting and the usage of hashtags
Being consistent at posting is essential for any successful social media profile.
Algorithm will love you for this and the target audience, too. Thanks to it, you’ll be ranked higher in the suggested content. Therefore, more people will see your posts. Your followers will trust you and organically, you’ll gain more and more fans. Thanks to consistency, your profile will be seen as credible by the platform.
Hashtags will help you with classifying your content. Thanks to categories, your posts will show to people who are interested in the topic of your content. Also, your posts will show them in the suggested content because they searched for similar content in the past.
- Content quality
Create content that is of good quality and that has added value. Your fans, and potential customers, have to have a reason to follow you.
If your posts don’t offer that little bit of extra, then people won’t perceive you as interesting. They unfollow you and won’t consider purchasing your product. All your efforts to maximize your sales will be ruined then.
Let’s focus on individual platforms now.
Before making the final decision about which platform your company will use, ask yourself: What is my aim on this platform?
Do you want to show the beauty of your product? Do you want to share reviews of your loyal customers? Or do you want to use it to educate your followers about issues in your field?
You’ve got many options for what to do on social media. Set one or two goals and focus on them properly.
Facebook, Good Old Friend
We all know Facebook very well. It is still the most widely used social media platform. People of all age groups use it.
Every company should have a Facebook profile nowadays. Even if they’re not active there, they should at least include information about the opening hours of their store, current address, etc.
Since organic reach on Facebook is poor, it’s recommended to invest in sponsored posts. At least at the beginning of your social media experience. Prices for sponsored posts are quite inexpensive on Facebook. So why not use them?
Another important thing you should focus on is building a strong fan base. Your fans will not only help you with sharing your content. They’ll also do it absolutely for free. If your content is of good quality, it’s a win-win for both sides.
How to build a strong fanbase? By being consistent and sharing good quality content is also attractive. I recommend adding photos or videos to posts to make them more attractive.
Another important thing is to communicate with your audience. React to their comments, answer their questions, or announce a giveaway.
How often to post to Facebook: Ideally 1-2 posts a day.
How long should a post be: The short ones work the best - they are easy to digest for viewers. The same applies to video content which works on Facebook similarly to Instagram.
Instagram, Eye Pleasing Canvas
Another widely used platform is Instagram. Which is popular with the younger groups of people (the majority of its users are aged 18-34).
Instagram is primarily about visual content. The most popular are so-called reels. Videos that are only a few seconds long. They aim to catch attention very quickly.
If a reel works as an ad, do not forget to include CAT as well.
Hashtags should be part of every post on Instagram. So don’t forget about them.
Very popular are also static posts and Stories.
Stories are available only for 24 hours. After this time, they expire. You can keep them alive thanks to Highlights. Highlights are often created according to topics (different kinds of products, etc.). I would recommend using Highlights as well. Your followers can find them under your bio.
Bio is another part you should pay attention to. It’s the part when you introduce your company and product. And tell your audience about your mission. Add a link to your website as well so people can easily find it.
When it comes to organic growth, that might go very slowly at the beginning of your Instagram journey. That’s why I’d suggest using sponsored content, to boost your reach.
Since Instagram is about visual content, companies with interesting and beautiful products will get the most out of it (designers, artists, luxury restaurants, etc.).
How often to post to Instagram: Ideally 1-2 reels a day + 1 static post or carousel.
How long should a post be: The best is, again, short posts. After some time, when you already have a strong fanbase, you can share longer messages with your audience. The most important thing here is to communicate using your specific tone, be authentic, and write or talk about something that will be beneficial for your audience.
TikTok, on a Blink of an Eye
TikTok caused an earthquake in the social media world. It is an incredibly fast-growing platform with 1 billion users which companies often neglect.
The video format is the most used on this app. Again, those are very short videos often with background music.
The goal of almost every TikToker is to go viral. No wonder, this platform is perfect for that. It’s nothing exceptional that people become overnight stars in this universe.
And even companies can achieve this. If you have an interesting product, which is easy to use and it’s possible to show how it works within seconds, grab your phone and make a TikTok video!
To edit the video, you can use a free app called CapCut, from which you can export it directly on TikTok.
I mentioned audio, which is very important, especially for the content on Instagram and TikTok. It’s good to go for the viral one. Your followers will enjoy watching your content more if they listen to audio that is currently popular. Of course, be careful here and use only viral audio that matches your content topic.
How often to post to TikTok: Ideally 1-3 posts a day.
How long should a post be: I would recommend posting videos of a max length of 30 seconds. Every time you finish your video, try to look at it as a viewer. And ask yourself (and also others), if the video contains all the important information. And if it is attractive enough to watch till the end.
Marketing on Social Media in a Nutshell
Every platform is different.
And even though it is important to be well-informed about current trends and to educate yourself about this exciting world, the best way to succeed is to stay consistent and keep an eye on your analytics.
Steven Bartlett believes that one can be successful on social media only if they are: active, consistent, and always ready to react to the results of analytics.
The truth is your analytics is the only place where you see what really works for your company. Therefore, analytics will help you to decide what content you should create in the future.
