Many social media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and even Snapchat have created a whole new creative industry called social media entertainment (or SME). SME sits between entertainment and interactivity. As well as between communication and content.  Because of SME there has been a huge impact on media consumption and production.

Many businesses have turned to social media marketing techniques to get the word out about their business. Social media marketing is not just for big businesses, but for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to get a business growing.

Here are 5 tips to market your own brand and products online with social media.

1. Create your brand identity: Creating your brand is very important.  This is who you are and what your business stands for, and this is reflected into your goods and services you are providing through your business.  Your brand identity should stay consistent across all your platforms as well as your products.  This is shown in your brand logo, your item names, your digital and physical print as well as content posted to your social media accounts.

2. Find Your Target Audience: When you create a product, a design, or post a picture who are you talking to? Who are you creating designs for? Do you specialize in wedding invitations and decor- is your main audience the brides and maybe their mother.  Is there a certain age you think your designs attract? Once you identify your target audience, now you need to gain a following!

Depending on your platform of choice that can be done a number of ways – you can find similar accounts, groups, or pages on Facebook or Instagram and follow people.  For example, the photographer community on Instagram loves to follow each other back, by doing hashtag research you can find other accounts that use similar hashtags and follow those accounts.  You can also do paid promotions for posts to help gain followers, but if you are going about this as a brand new business – following for a follow will seem simple, but is a good way to start.

Once you have followers, engage with them!  Social media marketing is very different in the way advertisements have been in the past because it is very inclusive.  Customers want to know they are being heard and are talking to someone on the other side of the screen. To engage: make posts, ask questions, follow them, comment on their content.  ENGAGEMENT IS KEY– it also helps you build your brand and gain trust from your customers.

3. Content: The content you post goes back to your brand identity.  Work on good quality content. Your content can also differ depending on where you are posting it too.  Marketing yourself on Instagram may include a lot of behind the scenes pictures or videos while you are designing. The medium on Facebook can be different. Your facebook page could include articles.  Since Facebook is more link friendly you can post links to your own website or YouTube pages.  Cultivate your social media channels to only be certain types of content, make a list and categorize what you are sharing.

4.  Schedule and Make the Post!: Okay, you’ve created your brand -awesome! You figured out your target audience – even better! Your content is finished and ready to be shared!

This can be the scary part.  Posting, and letting it all go live.  Creating designs may be your outlet, but making a listing on etsy and selling it could be a little scary – marketing yourself online is scary too, but you just have to go for it!

Create a posting schedule.  Businesses that stick to a posting schedule can be very beneficial.  There are apps and other websites that can help you create a posting schedule  The app “preview” is a good app for Instagram it lets you upload all your images (so you can see what your account aesthetic will look like) and you can set schedules, write the captions and set a reminder for you to post.

Each social media marketing outlet also has better times to post.  Now, there are many statistics and studies out there that have been done on this topic.  Here is an example from Hootsuite.  It is important to note that depending on your audience these could be different.  So experimenting with your audience is good.  Take a week and post at different times of the day and see how well your engagements do.

Retail companies find that posting Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 12 p.m.around the lunch hour to Instagram can be the most beneficial to gain the most traction.

5. Watch your Company Grow!: The most important step is to be patient.  One small business may grow almost “overnight” when yours may not.  Everyone’s business is different and blooms differently.  Do your part, work hard, create a good marketing plan and schedule you are comfortable with and stick to it.  If paid advertisements are your thing, then go for it. OR START SMALL. Get the word on your own personal accounts, tell your family and friends, it just takes one friend to tell another friend to tell another and you have three instant followers!

Shannon, et al. “The Best Time to Post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.” 

Hootsuite Social Media Management, 25 Feb. 2020, blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook-twitter-instagram/.