Social media marketing for a small business, where to start
The short answer: decide what you want social media to bring in, pick the one platform your customers use, post three times a week with each post doing a job, put a few pounds a day behind the posts that work, and count enquiries rather than likes. That's social media marketing. Everything else is detail.
A lot of small businesses post now and then, get a handful of likes, and decide social media doesn't work for them. Usually it's not the platform that's wrong, it's that the posting had no aim. Here's how to give it one.
What's the difference between social media marketing and management?
The two get mixed up. Social media management is running the accounts: planning posts, making them, publishing them and replying. Social media marketing is the whole job: deciding who you're trying to reach and what you want them to do, then using the accounts, and sometimes adverts, to make that happen. Management is part of marketing. You can have busy accounts that bring in nothing, which is management without the marketing.
1. Decide what it's for
Pick one thing you want social media to do for the business this year. For most small firms it's one of these:
- More enquiries or bookings.
- More people through the door.
- More people hearing about you in the area before they need you.
Write it down. Every post, and every pound you spend, gets judged against it.
2. Pick one platform
Start where your customers already are, not where you feel you should be:
- Instagram for anything visual: salons, cafés, florists, makers, interiors.
- Facebook for local recommendations, community groups and anyone over forty.
- TikTok for reaching new people fast with short videos, even with no followers.
- LinkedIn if you sell to other businesses.
One platform done well beats three done badly. Add a second once the first is ticking over on its own.
3. Set the profile up properly
Before you post anything, make sure someone landing on your profile can tell in five seconds what you do, where you are and how to get in touch. That means a clear bio with the town in it, a link to your website or booking page, a recognisable profile picture, and your phone number or email on the page. Make sure your Google Business Profile matches too, because a lot of people will check there next.
4. Give every post a job
Three posts a week is enough. Give each one a job:
- Show the work. A before and after, a finished job, today's bake, this week's best seller.
- Show the people. You, the team, or a happy customer with their OK. People buy from people.
- Give a reason to act. A free slot this week, a seasonal offer, a new service, a reminder to book before the rush.
Short video wins on every platform right now, and a phone is good enough. Our guide to how often a small business should post has a weekly plan you can copy.
5. Put a little money behind what works
You don't need an advertising budget to start, but a small one goes a long way. Once a post has done well on its own, put £3 to £5 a day behind it for a week, aimed at people within ten miles. That's £20 to £35 to show your best post to a few thousand local people who don't follow you yet.
Keep it simple: boost the posts that already worked, aim them locally, and stop when the enquiries stop.
6. Count what matters
Likes feel nice and mean little. Each month, look at:
- Profile visits: people who were interested enough to look you up.
- Website clicks and messages: people who took a step.
- Enquiries and bookings: the only number that pays the bills. Ask new customers how they found you.
If the last one isn't moving after three months, change what you're posting, not the platform.
7. Know when to get help
Doing it yourself is the cheapest way to start, and it's the best way to learn what your customers respond to. Get help when the posting keeps slipping because the business is busy, which is a good problem to have. Our guide to what social media management costs sets out the options, from a one-off content shoot to a monthly package.
What we do
Our social media packages cover the plan, the content, the posting and a monthly report, from £350 a month. We run our own TikTok the same way, so we practise what we post.
Book a free audit below and we'll tell you what we'd do first, for free.