There is no doubt about the effectiveness of the social media in the promotion and growth of any kind of business. In fact, it has levelled the business playing ground for companies of all sizes, while also making transactions of goods and services, easier and faster to get to target customers.

However, as much successes as recorded in many businesses through the social media, so also are the failures, with many small businesses turning lackadaisical about their pages or leaving it to a total abandonment.
If your social media page is not making sales, then you are or have not properly utilize it as a business tool.
However, it is not too late to understand the rhetoric of social media for business.

Here are 7 ways to properly use social media to grow your business into a wholesome success.

1. Do not Mix Business With Pleasure: Many times, business owners make mistakes by tending to their social media page like a personal page. Some post unnecessary pictures, comment with it on gossip blogs and attend to all sort of social media drama with a business page! I must tell you that this is all shades of wrong. Business pages on social media must be distinct from personal pages. Funny pages can be followed on your personal page. You cannot and shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.
2. Social Media is Not Actually About You: Your social media pages is about your customers and the products/services you offer. Craft editorial calendars. Curate content specific to your business needs and purpose. Share what your clients want and not what you want to share with them. Engage with them. Respond to their comments across all your pages. Give them a sense of connection and belonging. Let them feel and know they are important to you. Be human. Stop responding like robots or bots. After all, social media is about connecting with people… so, connect! At the end of the day, you will get to know what your users want through likes and engagements. In fact, it sometimes open doors to potential investors, prospect, or collaborations– all of which leads to business growth.

3. Brand Your Business: Have you noticed how many brands have specific themes and colours on their timelines? Yes, they are elements of branding because branding is much more bigger than that. An example is what naijabrandchick and Wilson’s lemonade does on their page on instagram. You will see that they have a unique voice and even a hash tag to project their business.

In fact, Wilson’s lemonade has what it calls wear yellow Wednesday where it showcases people on yellow clothes. It is an online marketing strategy to project them more and keep them engaged with their followers and customers. A brand identity makes you easily recognizable and ready to associate with. This will help you build audience, which will in turn translate to effective business growth when utilized effectively.

4. Always Use Compelling Visuals: Social media is all about good use of multimedia, and so, as a business owner, one of the proper ways of using it to grow your business is to always use compelling visuals that capture attention, right from the onset. It’s just like the popular statement of “first impression.” According to Twitter’s internal data, people are three times more likely to engage with Tweets that have visual elements like a photo, video, GIF, memes, or infographics. However, if you are unable to take quality pictures, you can invest in a product photographer to take engaging and compelling images of your product. Another option is to use stock photos, and these are free, high-quality photos that you can get online and use legitimately in your social posts.

5. Use Adverts: This is because, sometimes, organic efforts do not usually translate or reach the target people. However, paid adverts are very effective for preparing the market for new products with an awareness campaign. It is also used for generating leads and increasing brand/product awareness. It can be used to drive people to your website, especially if you want to promote events, books, product demos, contents, etc. Adverts usually help to. Social media adverts can come in many ways. You can use the normal instagram ads targeted directly to potential audience, or even micro influences that work essentially for your industry. The most important in adverts is the ability to get the message directly in front of the prospective audience.

6. Your Feed Matters: Many times, business owners clamp their feeds with unnecessary posts, particularly on Instagram. Let your feed reflects your business interests and desires. Follow those who matter, and not some comedic pages. Your business feed should include industry leaders, niche businesses(those in the same business as yours), and business people making giant strides and passing knowledge to followers. Followiing them keeps you ahead of news and events in your business. It also allows you to see the techniques they employ to grow their business. In all, your feed gives you new knowledge. You do not have to follow all people that follow you, particularly when they are not adding value to you and your business.

7. Showcase and Flaunt: Many business owners make the mistake of always uploading products only. What happened to those who bought from you? Is it that they never wear or use the products. Tell them to tag you when they use them, so that you can flaunt it on your page. Do you have employees too? Showcase them at work. If you don’t have employees, what about your delivery men or the packages product though be sent? Show it all as this helps to build trust from customers, especially these days where scams are the bane on social media. Let them know that there is more to just your products.

All in all, the social media is more than just a tool. You need to connect and put a human face to your business to build credibility. And where there is credibility, business thrives and growth is inevitable. Don’t just be a spectator on social media pages. Properly use social media to grow your business.