Marketing your small business on social media

Marketing, particularly social media marketing, can often be overlooked by small businesses as they assume it’s too much effort.

Whilst it might require some time and energy, the business benefits of social media definitely make it a worthwhile job.

To make sure you can find the best way to use social media to your advantage for your small business, keep on reading.

Alternatively, if you’ve only recently set up your business and are looking for an overall marketing strategy that will get you noticed, be sure to read our guide on marketing a new trade business.

The importance of marketing small businesses on social media

Big or small, there are all sorts of reasons why you should be using social media as part of your business marketing plan. Of course, bigger businesses might have a dedicated team but that doesn’t mean marketing your small business on social media isn’t just as important.

Whether you’re already online but could be doing more or prefer to keep things traditional, social media is a tool you should be using.

Here are just a few reasons why you should consider a social media strategy to help give your trade business a boost:

1. Build customer relationships

In the day-to-day life of a tradesperson, you’re going to be interacting a lot with customers on the job. However, social media marketing allows you to build potential customer relationships even when you’re not there in person.

It’s also great for demonstrating immediate social proof around your work to potential customers.

Social media allows real-time communication whether that be answering questions, responding to feedback, or receiving customer reviews.

2. Reach new clients

Posting on social media can also help you reach a whole new customer base. Whether you post on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok, people will naturally discover your content.

Word-of-mouth marketing also comes into play here as potential clients might see an interaction between you and someone they know on social media. As any tradesperson will know, word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to get new clients as they already trust you – plus, it’s free advertising!

3. Increased brand awareness and leads

The most important thing you want from any marketing activity is for your business to grow and your leads to increase. Well, marketing your small business on social media is sure to do that.

If a potential customer likes what they see online, they’re going to delve further. They’ll want to familiarise themselves with your business and services.

Maybe they don’t need a job doing right now? Chances are, if they enjoyed your content then your business will stick in their mind. When the time comes, they’ll get in touch.

Paid vs organic: Types of social media marketing for businesses

Now that we’ve covered some of the benefits of social media marketing for businesses, it’s onto the different types of social media marketing for businesses – paid and organic.

Both approaches can be helpful for newer and more established businesses in building brand awareness and growing your customer base. But what are the differences and is there one which might be more appropriate for you right now?

Organic social media marketing for businesses

Organic social media marketing is likely to play the largest role in the social strategy for your trade business. This is because it can be relatively quick, easy, and cheap to sort depending on what content you’re producing.

To see results from organic social media marketing for your small business, this does require investment. However, if done properly, then it can be extremely effective.

Whatever content you’re planning on producing, it’s all about being engaging and posting regularly. Whether that’s images of your work throughout the process, a video of your day in the life, or industry insights, it all follows the same principles.

Paid social media marketing for businesses

Otherwise known as advertising, paid social media involves paying for your content to be shared on social platforms. This might be through ‘boosting’ any organic content or displaying ads somewhere on the page.

Ultimately, paid social media marketing is a great option if you’ve got some spare cash and want some guaranteed views on your campaigns. If you’re curious about what you should be spending, our guide on setting a marketing budget will come in handy.

What are the best social media platforms for marketing your trade business?

Platforms worth considering using as part of your social media marketing include:

• Twitter (now known as X)
• TikTok
• Facebook
• Instagram

Each platform has its own benefits in terms of social media, the audience you’ll reach, and the type of content you can post on each. Not sure what this means? Below we go through each platform and how you can use it for social media marketing.

Twitter (now known as X)

When it comes to Twitter, or its recent rebrand as X, your marketing will need to be quick and snappy in order to grab attention. Having a brand voice is crucial. On Twitter (X), one of the best ways to have people view your content is by following and engaging with trending topics.

However, it’s still important to make sure that whatever you post is relevant to you as a tradesperson. It’s also one of the best platforms for being able to interact with people in your community whether that be customers or other tradespeople.

You can also view analytics to do with how each of your tweets is doing such as engagement, impressions, and link clicks.

Tiktok

TikTok is ideal for quick snippets into your work and what you do. Whilst it’s best to keep things professional, this is also a platform where you’re able to be more relatable with the content.

In short, it doesn’t have to look super professional or shot with the best quality camera. Content that you make for TikTok is likely to be specific to the platform unlike those which can be shared across multiple like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Facebook

Facebook is a platform where you can showcase all sorts of your trade knowledge from visual and video posts to purely written statuses. Basically, whatever you think your audience will enjoy.

First and foremost, you’ll need to create a business page including all the relevant information your customers need to know.

Then to really see what type of content is performing best and check your audience demographic, you’ve got the Meta Business Suite at your disposal.

Instagram

Meanwhile, Instagram is all about the visuals and using imagery to show off your trade business and services. We’ve actually already got a dedicated guide on how to grow your business on Instagram that can give you an idea of why it’s a great marketing platform.

Take your trade business to the next level with a Checkatrade membership

Now you know all about how to market your business on social media, it’s time to put it into action. Once you’ve started doing that, you can start figuring out what else to do in order to take your trade business to next level.

As current members will already know, being an approved Checkatrade member comes with all sorts of benefits. We’ve got all sorts of partnerships including training and accreditation. That means you can upskill as well as handy business management tools to help you keep on top of everything.

Perhaps more importantly, being a Checkatrade member can help you win more business as homeowners know they can trust you. So, it’s something you’ll definitely want to mention and highlight on your social media profiles. And if you’re not already a member, what’s stopping you?