Thankfully, not all marketing for our small businesses takes an extensive amount of time, energy, and ad spend. With digital marketing and social media marketing, there are a number of quick wins you can get that you can complete in small little gaps and windows of time that present themselves between your larger projects.
You know the times we’re talking about. Sometimes you are waiting on a client, waiting on hold with customers service, or any other little task that has you idling, unable to start something serious, like a long-form blog post. Those gaps in our days where we reach for our mobile devices so that we can while away the time.
Instead of mindlessly scrolling through your Facebook page, you can use this time to work towards your business goals. You have access to so many more marketing channels, many of which are free and present quick wins. Even doing a little social listening on multiple platforms relevant to your industry can help you keep your pulse on what's happening in your industry.
We’re not trying to guilt you about taking time for yourself. If you need a break, take it.
But if sometimes you feel like you are only taking the break because you are worried about starting a massive project or social media campaign you can’t finish…well, we have some quick actions you can take that will leave you feeling more productive and positive about your business’ growth.
Make a list of which social channels most of your target audience traffic comes from
Take a quick peek inside your Google Analytics (or your favorite social media marketing tools) to see a list of which social media channels most of your traffic comes from. You might be surprised to learn that your target audiences respond more to some social media platforms than others. For example, more prefer Instagram to Facebook.
Then, dig in a little deeper to the valuable insights you can get from your social media analytics. What types of posts on what social channels are working best for your business? Look for insights that you can use and give you a peek at your target audience. Maybe one post, in particular, generates most of your clicks. Can you approach that topic in another way or supplement it in some way to generate leads or use that topic on other social media channels?
Visit, read, and comment on one of your favorite blogs
Re-read a blog post you love and really take time to read through the article. Think about why it resonates with you. Conduct some active social media listening to see what's working or not for you. What’s their style, how’s the writing, can you tell if they're using an outside social media team, how does it reinforce their brand image, was the post part of social media advertising, etc? Then, try to join in the conversation by commenting.
Try not to just say something like “love this.” Try to practice healthy audience engagement practices. Give some good feedback and try to join in the discussion. You never know when your favorite blogger or site might notice your comment and reply back. It could be the beginning of a wonderful relationship that could lead to reblogging, user-generated content, brand recognition, or guest articles or who knows…
Use the time to brainstorm new marketing content
Pick a social media platform of choice…maybe Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other. Try to come up with as many random content strategy ideas as you can. Not your usual business photo or video content posts, but try and write down as many off-the-wall ideas as you can. Don’t self-edit…you can do that later when you're comparing your ideas to your content marketing strategy.
You have formal digital strategy time set aside already (we hope). But sometimes you need to just come up with oddball ideas that aren’t so by the numbers to compete on most social media platforms. Sometimes, these off-the-wall social media campaigns and posts can resonate more with your target market and give you new views.
Take some time to manage specific social media networks, like your Twitter account
Go over to your Twitter account and click on the notifications link. From here you can check out your recent activity and see what’s been happening with your social network account. If somebody new followed you, click through to their profile and get a feel for who they are so you can decide if you want to follow them back.
If you noticed anyone sharing one of your posts or mentioning your product in a nice way, reply to their comment to give them thanks. Small social efforts, like adding in a personalized message help your target customers feel like it’s not just a bot replying. Also, be sure to see if any social media influencers are following, liking, or commenting on your posts. Be sure your social media manager reaches out to any influencers if discovered.
Spend 15 minutes updating your LinkedIn profile
Many people will set up their LinkedIn profile and then neglect it until it’s time to hunt for a new job. Ideally, we should go over and update it regularly with what we’re working on and accomplishing and make it part of your social media marketing plan.
LinkedIn regularly comes up when people run a Google search of your name. So, you need to ensure that it’s up-to-date with the latest happenings in your world and a central focus in your social media marketing strategy. It can often be a potential customer’s first impression of you. Wouldn’t you rather they know you are constantly working, improving, growing, and accomplishing things? Also, be sure to check out LinkedIn groups related to your industry or profession.
Some information you can add to your LinkedIn profile that will help you build your brand reputation:
- Any new product or service you are offering
- Any new articles or guest posts for other blogs
- Any changes to services or offerings
Find new people to follow on Instagram
Searching for other people who work in the same industry as you do gives you insight into how they’re using Instagram. It can also help you get new ideas, learn new things, and potentially widen your network and grow your own strategy. Be sure to check out any unique hashtags related to your industry they’re using you might have missed. This can help you as you push out your own content and drive traffic to your social media content.
Sometimes when you start following new accounts, you even get a bonus to follow back for your efforts! Again, be sure to be on the lookout for social media influencers and social media professionals who are following, liking, or interacting with any hashtags related to your industry.
Use social media management tools to audit your numbers and set new goals for each month
Your number of viewers doesn’t tell you everything you need to know but does give you a good idea of the progress you're making towards your social media marketing goals. It will also show you where you might want to spend more time or how you might want to adjust your own strategy to match consumer behavior. Are more of your posts being read when you post on a Tuesday for example? That might be something worth exploring.
If you take the time to do this regularly, you’ll eventually notice patterns that you can use to optimize your social strategy. When you are just starting out, focusing on the numbers and running a competitive analysis can be a bit of a downer, but eventually, you’ll appreciate the realistic view they give you about your social media presence and how well your content marketing strategy is doing to drive traffic to your site.
Follow new boards on Pinterest
Ideally, you should try to search out new boards to follow once a week. Finding new boards is a great way to grow your Pinterest account and check if your brand identity matches the community.
Besides, searching Pinterest boards is half the fun of the service. You can search for specific images or boards and use what you find to grow your network and find ideas for compelling content of your own to add. Pinning and re-pinning is an excellent driver of website traffic. But it’s also fun.
Analyze your top posts on your Facebook Business page
Facebook is the king social media platform these days, and so most are probably already giving it some amount of time and attention in your social media strategy. However, many may have set up a Facebook Business page and then neglected it or simply don’t know how to use it to its fullest potential.
As you are reviewing your traffic, ask yourself these questions about your Facebook marketing strategy:
- What were your top 5 posts for the week?
- What time of day were they posted?
- What day of the week were they posted?
- What was the topic or message of these posts?
- Did you add a video content, photo, or ask a question?
Like the previous audit recommendation, you’ll eventually notice patterns of user behaviors. It's your choice how you want to handle this information in your content strategy. Maybe you want to lean into these days or times of increased engagement or work to build up traffic in off-peak times. Or you might need to look into Facebook advertising to further promote what you're doing.
Pause, and reflect on all you’ve accomplished
Sometimes, in our struggle to do as much as we can for our fledgling business, we forget to reflect on just how far we’ve come. You’ve launched websites, products, and more and you should occasionally stop to admire that fact. Looking at all you’ve done is a great reminder of why you are doing what you're doing and keeping your motivation high will certainly help your business.
You might also remember some things you’ve neglected or find new social channels to pursue now that you’ve established a marketing strategy on the main social media websites. Make a new to-do list and update your social media marketing campaign if the inspiration strikes. If not, enjoy some time remembering what you’ve done. You are awesome!
You can accomplish a lot for your business in little 15 minute pockets of time. But sometimes, you might need to keep that time for yourself for family duties, time to unwind, or any other number of reasons. That’s OK too. Again, we’re not here to beat you up for not using every waking moment to improve your business. Burnout is real and affects so many small business owners.
If you are worried about never having enough time or energy to accomplish all you want in your digital marketing strategy, contact us and our team of social media marketers and digital media marketing experts will be happy to help you out. We can point you in the right direction, help build your social media presence, or take control of your social media campaign altogether.
Contact us today and let’s get started pushing your business forward in 2022!
