Last updated on February 21st, 2022 at 03:06 pm
The essential small business online and social media checklist
These days, every business needs a website, or social media presence, whether you are a carpenter or small farm. It is how customers from thousands of miles away can find out about your existence. As a small business, It is more important than ever to get websites, social media profiles running as soon as the business is established. Here we have compiled a list of essential social media and online sites which every business should have presence:
With 1.2 billion active users each month, Facebook should be the first social media site to establish presence before anything else. Some business opt for a Facebook site instead of a traditional website, since it is able to host pictures, catalog, communication. Business pages are free to setup, as many Facebook researchers suggest, it will be harder than ever to reach the audience organically. Instead Facebook is moving towards a paid approach in sponsored ad to reach a wider audience.
Another popular social giant, Twitter boasts 255 million active monthly users. 500 million tweets are sent per day. Businesses use twitter to share company news, new products, ideas and tips. Many companies also use Twitter as a customer service tools to engage customers, to develop a company ‘voice’ and personal side. For example, Zappo uses a separate account Zappo_service to provide real time support. Others use Twitters to find ‘influencers’ of their industry to build potential partnerships.Twitter for business is essential and can provide you the real time marketing that you need.
Once a neat little app that lets you turn regular photos into filtered beautiful photos, Instagram has become a social media darling with 200 millions active users, with 70% users logged in at least once a day. It allows companies to show a different side of business, capturing fun snapshots, product prototypes, employee photos. Your customers / fan base will be able to get an inside look to the company’s operation and the people. The company American Apparel uses Instagram to show fun photos of its clothing and also get inputs from its fans on new prototypes. The Social Media Examiner offers a helpful article on how to get started with Instagram for business.
Pinterest is a graphic driven social networking tool where users can pin images to different boards. As a business, you can gather products and ideas to show your authority and knowledge in your industry. If you are a yoga clothing company, your boards may comprise of yoga accessories, or boards of different yoga tutorials from leading yoga teachers. The great thing about Pinterest is that the items can come from different sources, not just your own. The company Pantone, the authority of color, has boards on Pinterest with different color palettes and color inspirations. Having the Pinterest share tool on your website will also drive traffic to your website when your images are being pinned.
Yelp has become the leader in local business marketing. The user-driven community site has helped many small businesses to gain new markets and clients by genuine reviews by existing clients. Creating new listing on Yelp is free, it also offers Yelp deals, as well as advertising options. Encourage your customers to leave you authentic reviews on the site, it will help to get your Yelp profile up and running.
YouTube is used in all types of businesses, whether you are a manufacturer of running shoes or business coach. A YouTube channel can help engage your clients in a way that is different from all the other types of social network. You are providing valuable ‘face time’ with your customers, talking and educating about your products or services. The magazine Triathlete YouTube page is full of interviews, training videos, as an extension of the magazine to keep the readers engaged online and offline.
Google+ is not just another social network, but it is tightly knitted into Google’s extensive network of tools and most importantly its search engine. Posts that you make in Google+ can rank in your search results, so creating a business profile in Google+, networking with industry influencers and customers will help your Google overall ranking. Sephora has over 2 million followers on Google+ and they fill the page with striking photos of new products, engage followers in discussion, and using different #hashtags to help followers find their products. Marketingland offers an in depth guide to Google+ for business.
LinkedIn is mainly a business-oriental social networking site. Users are connected by their business relationships. LinkedIn business page is created to share company products, news, events and various updates. You can like and share content to engage audience, and what’s more the company page can be optimized to rank among search engine results.
About Garuda Promo & Branding Solutions
Led by a team of skilled professionals with years of experience in promotional items and advertising specialties, Garuda features a sourcing platform which includes more than 3,500 vendor partners. We offer manufacturing capabilities that cover any custom products imaginable. We serve companies large and small, with a mission to market our clients’ businesses with fun, out-of-the-box promotional products. Our experience enables us to imprint many promotional products right here in Los Angeles! Our policy of being on time, reliable and solving crises will help take your company to the next level. For Los Angeles area, call today (323) 379-4887. Our Claremont office number is (909) 547-4282. or contact us online.
