Want to use social media for your small business, but struggling to gain traction? Wondering how to jumpstart your efforts, but not sure where to begin? It can be confusing. In fact, only 53% of small businesses say they actively use social media. The rest? They claim they don't have the bandwidth, resources, time, money or energy. And we get it. As a small business, running the day to day can leave you feeling stretched thin. Add to that the overwhelm of marketing your business and you have the makings of a meltdown. But here's the upside. Using social media for your small business isn't rocket science. In fact, it's pretty simple once you know a few insider secrets. We had the opportunity to sit down with Peg Fitzpatrick to get her top tips for how small businesses can make social media work. Peg is the co-author of Art of Social Media and works daily with Guy Kawasaki. Between her booming business and Guy's, she manages a whopping 13 million followers. Holy wow, right? Peg knows her stuff and she came ready to share her top tips. If you’re ready to make social media work for your small business, check out our infographic.

1. HOW TO USE
SOCIAL MEDIA
FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Build a Credible Reputation
Want to be seen as an authority in your industry? Social
media can help you establish a name and reputation for
your small business.
Share relevant content
Engage in conversation
Leverage marketing collateral
Attract Potential Clients
To stand out, you must combine strategy with creativity.
Use sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram,
Google Plus and Live Streaming Video (Periscope,
Meerkat, Facebook Live) to:
Tell your story - what brought you to where you
are?
Share your differentiators - what sets you apart?
Encourage interaction - ask questions through text
and visuals.
Solve problems - what are the top problems of your
audience and how can you provide the solution?
Repurpose Top Content
Use blog posts, past newsletters and other marketing
collateral to repurpose across social media. This will
raise awareness and consequently, send interested
readers over to your website.
Ideas to Repurpose Your Content:
Spotlight an Event on Social Media
Provide a Video Tip Series
Create a Podcast
Live Stream on Periscope, Meerkat or Facebook
Live Video
Make a Pinterest Board with FAQs
Connect With Like-Minded
Business Professionals
In the online world, relationships are everything and that
includes your peers.
Join LinkedIn Groups, Google Plus Communities and
Blog Tribes to connect with others talking about and
sharing similar content to your own.
Make Your Time and Money
Count
Create a solid social media strategy to streamline your
efforts and simplify your daily to-do’s.
Stop wasting time and money on one-off tactics and get
clear on why you’re using social media. Once you know
your why, it’s much easier to understand the how.
Diversify Your Marketing
Efforts
Don’t box yourself into a corner with social media.
Spread your wings. Try something new and determine
what works best for your business.
Mix social media with online advertising and PR efforts to
expand your business business beyond traditional
limitations.
Drive Traffic to Your
Website/Blog
Do keyword research and understand what terms and
phrases your market is researching. Use those keywords
to carefully craft content based on the intent of your
audience.
The higher quality your content, the more conversational
your business, the greater the chance for capturing
potential client attention.
Use the Right Tools
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