It is imperative to know how to reach your audience effectively, especially since most communication with consumers happens online. We have been stuck inside our homes for months now, those who rely mainly on foot traffic for their business have been put at a disadvantage. You might even be wondering, 

“How is my business going to stay afloat when I don’t have a strong presence on the internet?”

The simple solution for any and all businesses is to start utilizing social media to interact with your audience. In fact, you don’t even need to have a killer website in order to increase your digital engagement and leads. Most people are glued to their phones whenever they have any time to spare, which means there is no better time for you to start getting your business onto your consumers’ screens than now.

We’re going to dive into exactly what all this means for you and your small business; what social platform could be right for you, and some additional action steps you can take to increase your engagement as soon as this week.

Understanding Your Audience

There are hundreds, if not thousands of different niches in the world of e-commerce and digital marketing. That means that one business’ audience will most likely not look like another’s – understanding that is the first step in figuring out your ideal social platform. 

According to Sprout Social, consumers are 84% more likely to purchase from a brand they follow on social media compared to other competitors they do not follow. In order to gain this advantage, your business should prioritize which platform to spend the most time on based on age and user demographics. 

For example, if you are trying to reach an audience consisting of primarily Gen Z, TikTok and Instagram would be the way to go; given that the majority of their users fall in the 13 to 24-year-old age group. Building your brand through these platforms would provide a much greater “bang-for-your-buck”. If you are targeting more of a broad audience and don’t have a set age group per se, creating a strong Facebook and Youtube presence is important. Respectively, 69% and 73% of US adults use these platforms on a regular basis.

Meaningful and Intentional Engagement

Every single relationship you make online has value. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 followers or 1 million followers, your goal should be to create an engaging community of like-minded people who absolutely love your brand almost as much as you do. So, what is the best way to do this, and what exactly is “Intentional Engagement?” I cannot stress this enough, it’s really as simple as actively being part of the conversation.

Regardless of platform, you should be spending a good portion of your time on social media, actively engaging in communication with other accounts and people related to your niche. During this process, you will build a plethora of relationships that will naturally allow other people to see your account. 

This is not going to warrant responses from every account that you DM or comment on, but it does get your business in front of eyes that normally would not see you in the first place.

A great example of Intentional Engagement is searching for hashtags relevant to your business and leaving thoughtful comments on several of said hashtagged posts. Repeat this process for about 10 hashtags; you will have spent half-an-hour sharing your brand with new accounts and the people that follow (and see the comments on) those accounts.

This process is not only an excellent way for you to build your audience, but it also provides an exceptional way for you to start building unique relationships with other businesses.

Starting From Scratch

So now that we have talked about finding your audience and engaging with them, what’s next? From personal and professional experience, we can’t stress enough how important it is to stay active and remain consistent with posting and engaging. 

Even if you have yet to start any social media channels, you can begin your journey today. Start curating meaningful and enticing content for your concurrent and new consumers alike. Everyone starts somewhere and we are happy to provide you with some essential tips to give you a leg up on your competition. 
If you still have more questions or would like additional assistance to help jumpstart your digital presence, contact us here at Nifty Fifty Solutions and one of our team members will reach out to you.

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