So you have a small business and you’re wondering how can you grow your business using social media platforms to keeps current customers updates on your business but to also reach brand new customers as well. Social media is ever changing and evolving every time we turn around. I remember when College Club was the new hot platform for college students to connect and Black Planet was where all the people that looked like me hung out and met other cool people around the world. MySpace however was the biggest thing before Facebook and it was where everyone wanted to be, it even gave us all a first hand try to write code to add music, colorful graphics, and more to our personal profile pages.

When Facebook first hit the scene it was all about college students connecting but over time it took over social media and Black Planet and MySpace died off. Facebook was able to dominate for years before Instagram, Twitter, and the new popular and ever growing TikTok. When creating your small business, it’s important to start creating a plan for social media marketing and growing your business on social media. Creating a website may be required for some businesses immediately and how you choose to approach this depends on how much you plan to spend in the early stages of building your brand. You can however start building your brand on social media and then move to a website later. If you’re looking for ways to build your small business on social media here’s six tips to help you get started.

Tip One: Create a Logo

One of the first things small business owners need to do as a part of their social media plan is to create a logo for their brand, use the internet to find a logo designer online. A quick search for branding logo design can help you find designers online. If funds are tight, I suggest looking at Fiverr. The have designs as low as $10 for logo creation, you can even search for local or professional designers.

Fiverr has a broad range of services, not just logo designs but it also includes graphic design, music and audio, gaming, coach classes, resume writing, and so much more. Once you have created a logo for your small business you have a way to customers to recognize it constantly regardless of when and where they see it. Now you’re ready to move to the next step.

Tip Two: Create Social Media Profiles for Your Business

It’s very important for small business owners to understand the importance of creating separate social media spaces for their business and their personal lives. The earlier you create the space in your business the easier it will be understand why you need it to grow. Adding your business posts to your personal space at first will flock customers to your personal pages but it may end up being difficult to get those customers to move from your personal page when you do create business pages for your small business.

Look at it this way, if you post all your business content on your personal page, people don’t have to even visit your business page to know what’s going on because it’s on your personal page, and even when you stop there is a chance they would not even notice because they still see all your personal content, which keeps them engaged with you but not your small business. You can however create content for your business and use your logo on your personal page asking people to check out your new business and follow that page.

Tip Three: Create Profiles for Every Platform

When creating a new profile for your business be sure to create a profile for every platform available and for every new one that hits the market. There are so many big brands that lost out on owning their brand’s social media handles by now grabbing them as soon as social media platforms hit the market and users rushed to grab those handles early. None of us can predict the future, so make sure to grab all the handles as soon as you launch your business and when new platforms launch even if you do not plan to use them often because you never know how your business will grow. You do not want scammers using handles made using your business name to scam future customers. While it may not be something you think about early in starting your business it’s important to consider every way to protect your business and your brand name.

Tip Four: Share, Share, & Share Some More

Content creation is as difficult as you make it, don’t stress when starting out and creating the content on your business page. The likes, comments, and views may be low at the beginning but as your business grow, things will get better over time. Plus, you never know when a piece of content will go viral. Choosing not to share on your page though will prevent it from growing the way you want. Plus, to stay in the algorithm on social media platforms you need to stay active on all the platforms you created a profile on.

Content isn’t the only thing you should be sharing constantly, you should also be sharing your social media profiles every chance you get. Create a free email signature on Wisestamp to include in all your personal and business emails that include details about your business especially those social media handles. Those shares can lead to clicks, likes, views, and most importantly new followers. Sharing your business posts on your personal accounts is also a great way to build followers. DeRonte Craig, owner of digital marketing agency Nine27.co wrote an article – This New Instagram Feature Is A Social Media Growth Hack, which includes great tips on how to create content that benefit both your private and your business social media accounts on Instagram.

Tip Five: Use Hashtags

When creating content for social media platforms be sure to include hashtags that will get more eyes on your posts. It’s important to research and learn about the popular hashtags around the type of business you own and make sure you use them often with your posts. You can even create your own hashtag for your business and include it on all your business and personal posts. Ask customers who purchase your products or use your services that post about your business to also use the hashtag to help it grow and gain traction. The number of hashtags you use per post is up to you but always be sure to use at least two per post.

Tip Six: Seek Help from Professionals

Whether it’s when you first start your business or when its grown and you require additional assistance, hiring a professional to help you grow is natural. Digital marketing firms can help you in various ways with growing your business and creating campaigns to help promote your brand. Top digital marketing agencies will cost more money so it’s probably better for small business owners to find a local agency or even an agency that’s also considered a small business as well. A social media marketing agency can help you with Digital Marketing, Social Media Advertising, Google Paid Search, Instagram and Facebook Ads, and more. Hiring a professional can help your business grow on social media and gain customers and sales over time. When choosing an agency take time to do your research and find the right one that will work for you and your business.

Regardless of what kind of business you are starting it’s important to ensure you have a social media presence and to make sure you actively promote your small business as often as you can. Don’t focus on how much like and comments you are getting but watch your growth and keep looking at creative ways to use social media platforms to share about your business and brand.