Beginner’s Guide to Growing on Social Media
When it comes to social media, everyone wants a piece of the action. A presence on social media offers valuable communication with consumers, and heaps of credibility to a business’s image. However, growing a business on social media isn’t a walk in the park. It takes careful planning, creative content creation, and lots of nurturing.
As a social media manager myself, I’m going to share the most important steps, tools, and tips I’ve learned through my many ups and downs. I know it can be intimidating, (I’m talking to you social media interns). However, with the help of this guide, you’ll not only be ready to start growing your channels, but excited to do so!
1. Start with a Plan
To begin, it’s important to understand exactly where the business wants to be online. It’s tempting to get on every platform, but this may be biting off more than you can chew. It’s more beneficial to identify which will best help accomplish specific business goals.
But, which platforms are best for your brand? Start by asking these simple questions:
Purpose - Why does the brand exist?
Audience - Who is the brand trying to reach?
Goals - What is the brand trying to accomplish?
Digging into analytics from your website will help determine who your audience is. Always be sure to conduct further research on where to best reach your unique audience.
As a starting point, I’ve laid out six popular platforms and their strengths based on a 2021 Statistics report from Statusbrew :
Facebook
2.74 billion monthly active users
Known for being the most used social media platform
77% of people ages 34-49 are on Facebook
Accounts for 80.4% of U.S. social referral share to e-commerce sites
A useful feature is “Facebook Groups” for reaching niche audiences
Instagram
1.22 billion monthly active users
Known for being a highly visual platform
67% of people ages 18-29 are on Instagram
Accounts for 10.7% of social referral share to e-commerce sites
Useful features include shoppable posts, interactive stories, and reels
Engagement with brands is 10x higher than Facebook, 54x higher than Pinterest, and 84x higher than Twitter
Twitter
396 million monthly active users
Known for being quick paced and allowing for real-time customer interactions
67% of people ages 18-49, and 47% ages 30-49 are on Twitter
85% of businesses use Twitter to provide customer service
77% of users feel more positive about a brand when their tweet is replied to
Useful features include the trending page, and “Tweet replies”
LinkedIn
260 million monthly active users
Known for the purpose of professional networking
60% of people ages 25-34 are on LinkedIn
92% of B2B marketers prefer LinkedIn to other social networks
Makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs
Useful features include a trending page and insights on users who “spy” on your profile
YouTube
2.29 billion monthly active users
Known for publishing video, the most engaging form of content
Used by majority of people from every age demographic
Over 90% of users say they have learned about a new brand or product on YouTube
68% of users have watched a video to help make a purchase decision
Useful features include the trending tab, notification bell, and video playlists
TikTok
689 million monthly active users
Known for highly engaging short-form content, and its use of music
62% of users in the U.S are aged between 10 and 29
Users spend an average of 52 minutes on the app
Businesses should explore this app if they have a product or service that is interesting to show off in short-form video content
As an example, imagine a social media planner for a credit union is trying to decide which platforms are best. The credit union's goals on social media are to foster its community, communicate with members, and display milestones. The credit union hopes to reach both members and potential members through social media.
After defining the purpose, goals, and intended audience, the social media planner decides to create accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Both platforms provide access to an older demographic who have joined, or may be interested in joining the credit union. Twitter will allow for quick communication with members, while Facebook is a space for documenting milestones and engaging with niche audiences. Both platforms are highly interactive and perfect for a community-focused business such as a credit union. Once specific platforms have been identified, it’s time to start developing a content calendar.
2. Content
The most time consuming aspect of running social media channels is figuring out what to communicate to an audience.
Choose one consistent color palette that matches the brand to utilize when creating images. This will add a level of professionalism to an account. Next, decide how many days a week to post. A 2021 report by Statista recommends a few general starting points:
Instagram: 5-7/week
Facebook: 3-5/week
Twitter: 1-3/day
LinkedIn: 3-5/ week
Based on your goals you will create a posting schedule. Continuing with the previous credit union example, the schedule may look something like this:
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Tweet | 1 FB Post | 3 Tweets | 1 FB Post | 3 Tweets | 1 FB Post | 1 FB Post |
| 2 Tweets | 2 Tweets | 2 Tweets | 1 Tweet |
For content curation, my favorite easy-to-use graphic design platform is Canva. This design tool provides countless professional looking layouts, simple and clean elements, and a massive selection of stock photos. They offer many elements for free, so you can test out the tool before making any purchase.
Additionally, Egg to Apples utilizes Hootsuite. This tool allows me to create and schedule posts ahead of time, and track analytics for all of our social media channels.
Content is specific to each organization and their goals. It’s crucial that the content you share is relevant and engaging to the specific target audience. Here’s a few tips I’ve picked up along the way to ensure content is engaging:
Stop the consumer from scrolling by using:
A pleasing and consistent color palette
Striking imagery
Bold typography
Capture attention with a hook:
“X ways to…”
“How-to guide for…”
“X mistakes…”
“Don’t miss out!…”
Social media is all about being short, sweet, and satisfying:
Using bulleted and numbered lists
Including formulas, acronyms, diagrams
Removing repeated words, words that don’t add value, and true but useless information
Add value & retain attention by:
Making content practical
Making content relatable and humorous
Giving real examples
Sharing stories
Drive action by:
Asking for one thing
Using simple language
Mentioning the benefit for them
3. Gaining Followers
Generally, there are two ways to grow: organically and with paid promotions.
To grow organically, it’s important to understand that this is not always an easy task for small accounts. It can be tedious and at times disappointing. However, there are a few important things to do throughout this entire process in order to consistently gain followers.
Use your competitor’s followers
One of the easiest ways to gain followers is with the follow-for-follow method, which entails following accounts in the hopes they will follow back. I recommend utilizing follower lists from your competitors and relevant accounts within your industry. This way, you can find people who are interested in content similar to yours. Specifically, I have found this is a very beneficial strategy on Instagram.
Interact with consumers
Social media is all about making meaningful connections with consumers. So, talk to them! Start conversations about your industry, ask questions about their experiences, opinions, and be genuine in your desire to create a positive impact on them. People notice when brands take the time to be present on their accounts.
Hashtags are your friend
It’s important to use hashtags that get attention and get it from the right audience. Although countless hashtag tools are available, I’ve learned that my favorite method is to utilize the platforms themselves. When you type “#” and begin testing keywords in the search bar, platforms will autofill popular and relevant hashtags. (As a side note, accounts that list 50+ hashtags under each post may come off as inauthentic and spammy. I would stick to including 3-10 of the best tags per post.)
Stay on the grind with engagement
An account won’t grow overnight. This requires time spent nurturing each channel’s engagement. You will have to check your feed regularly, like and comment on others’ posts, ask questions, keep up with the times, and add to the conversation. Just posting content won’t be enough to create a community around your brand.
Beyond growing organically, businesses have the option to boost posts with paid promotions. This can be an effective way to build brand awareness for a small account. Simply input a budget for one post over a specific period of time. Then, the platform will estimate the amount of impressions the post may receive.
If your goal is to grow quickly, promoting posts regularly is a good option. Ultimately, your social media marketing budget depends on your goals, cash flow, target audience, and product or service. I recommend spending around 10–25 percent of your digital marketing budget on social media marketing. Then, it will be crucial to track traffic and engagement earned by the promotions. These valuable insights will help determine if the money is being well spent and adjustments can be made accordingly.
4. Identify KPIs and Track Progress
Tracking all of the data is key to growing an account. It’s crucial to understand what interactions the accounts are receiving and what strategies are helping or hurting growth. Key performance indicators (KPIs), will help tell a story with data over time. I recommend tracking:
Reach
Impressions
Engagements
Followers
Website Traffic
For each KPI, set a monthly goal. At the end of each month, conduct an audit recording each KPI and reassess the strategy moving forward based on weak and strong points.
5. Be Genuine and Authentic
My final tip for any business on social media is to be genuine and authentic! Building up a brand through social media is all about connecting with an audience in a new and personal way. On social media, people won’t be impressed with a Tweet written like an ad. The best advice I can give is to talk like a person, and to be honest- always.
And with that, you’re ready to get started! If you have any questions or want to have a conversation, comment below or reach out on social media.
Instagram: @Egg2Apples
Twitter: @EggtoApples
Facebook: @EggtoApples
