How Can Entrepreneurs Use Social Media to Grow their Businesses?

From maximizing the best of Pinterest for traffic to cultivating relationships long term, here are 13 answers to the question, “Can you share your most effective strategies or considerations for how entrepreneurs can use social media to grow their businesses?”

• Leverage Pinterest to Increase Web Traffic
• Collaborate With Influencers
• Opt for Pull Marketing (not Push Marketing)
• Be a Normal and Relatable Human by Building in Public
• Establish Thought Leadership
• Create a Sense of Community
• Go Broad, Then Hone in
• Focus on Growth Strategies 
• Start With What Works Before Running Experiments
• Set Your Own Trends
• Use UGC to Build Credibility, Brand Awareness, and Engagement
• Take an Omnichannel Approach
• Build Long-Term Relationships

Leverage Pinterest to Increase Web Traffic

As organic rankings become more challenging to achieve, and AI-powered content rises, entrepreneurs must find alternative ways to drive organic traffic to their websites. Pinterest provides an excellent solution to this problem, as it allows one to build a steady stream of organic traffic to their business website. 

By creating visually appealing pins with keyword-rich descriptions and organizing them into boards, one can leverage this platform to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and advertise affordably compared to other social media platforms. 

With its unique visual and search-based approach, Pinterest is a valuable tool for entrepreneurs looking to drive traffic to their websites and grow their businesses.

Angie Makljenovic, Blogger and Content Creator, She Can Blog

Collaborate With Influencers

Entrepreneurs can leverage the power of social media to grow their businesses by utilizing various strategies that can help them reach and engage with their target audience. One effective strategy that entrepreneurs can consider is influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals who have a large social media following to promote a product or service. By collaborating with influencers who share a similar target audience, entrepreneurs can tap into their established audience and increase their reach and credibility.

To get started with influencer marketing, entrepreneurs should identify relevant influencers in their industry and reach out to them with a proposal. They can offer influencers a commission or free products for promoting their business to their followers.

Ashley Paretto, Editor, The Business Gazette

Opt for Pull Marketing (not Push Marketing)

Pull marketing is an effective way for entrepreneurs to use social media to grow their businesses. Pull marketing is the process of getting customers to find and engage with your product or service through organic methods. 

This type of marketing involves creating content that is interesting, informative, and entertaining to draw people in, such as informative blog posts, engaging videos, or attractive visuals. This type of content encourages customers to engage with your product or service, which leads to more conversions and sales. 

By creating consistent, high-quality content and promoting it on social media, entrepreneurs can get their brand in front of potential customers and build a strong customer base.

Jaya Iyer, Marketing Assistant, Teranga Digital Marketing

Be a Normal and Relatable Human by Building in Public

One very simple tip is just to be yourself. Ditch the corporate facade and be a relatable human being. The foundation of social media is content, and being an entrepreneur gives you an endless supply of that.

You are living a life filled with struggles and successes that few people experience, which works wonders for storytelling.

So, what does this mean?

It means building in public and showing potential customers how you are working towards providing them with the best solution.

Your social media shouldn’t be filled with curated and the best highlights of this journey. It should be filled with the raw, unedited content of being an entrepreneur.

Leave the “professional” content to your company’s profiles, but build your own personal brand on social media.

Brendan Aw, Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Establish Thought Leadership

Social media is great for businesses to grow their influence and brand awareness through thought leadership. Businesses can focus on sharing the latest research in their industry with their target audience to keep them informed and engaged. Thought leadership establishes your brand as a go-to source for reliable research and information and enhances brand awareness.

Liam Liu, Co-founder and CMO, ParcelPanel

Create a Sense of Community

Social media has revolutionized the way we connect with one another and has become an essential tool to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. Social media’s power lies in its ability to create a sense of community among like-minded individuals, as it allows people to connect with others who share their interests. When people feel like they are part of a community, they are more likely to be loyal to it.

Entrepreneurs can use social media to create a sense of community around their brand by sharing interesting and engaging content, participating in relevant conversations, and hosting events. By doing this, they can create a loyal following that will be more likely to buy from them in the future.

Leverage social media to create a strong brand identity and foster a sense of belonging among your followers; this will ultimately lead to increased sales and business growth.

Ricci Masero, Marketing Manager, Intellek

Go Broad, Then Hone in

There is no cookie-cutter social media strategy that covers every company or, indeed, industry. To define your strategy, you need to understand your target audience and your brand’s personality. 

Initially, your strategy should include the five main types of posts: video, images, text, stories, and reels. Schedule all of them in your social media calendar to understand what resonates best with your target audience. Experiment, analyze, and hone your broad strategy into a tight and effective social media game plan.

Boris Markovich, Co-founder, Ayrshare

Focus on Growth Strategies 

Entrepreneurs need to develop an effective social media strategy to use social media for their business growth. This should include short-term strategies focused on sales and long-term strategies oriented toward brand building. 

Promoting exclusive offers or discounts through your platforms can encourage people to follow you and share with their friends. Similarly, if we consider gaining followers organically, investing generously into the content by creating high-quality videos, images, or graphics will go a long way in improving the visibility of your page, which leads us to SEO optimization across all channels.

It’s also hugely important that entrepreneurs are consistently present on multiple different outlets to test out various execution strategies, such as crafting monthly email campaigns or experimenting with hashtags on Twitter. Additionally, identify key influencers in the industry who can help amplify reach and engagement beyond organic efforts.

Stewart Dunlop, Founder and Chief Strategist, LinkBuilder.io

Start With What Works Before Running Experiments

At the start of my journey of growing my platform to 51.4k followers, I made the “mistake” of coming up with new posts completely from scratch. 

While these were (I don’t have these live anymore) entertaining, they did not quite have the aspects that make posts go viral on Instagram. 

Instead, when I started looking at what types of social media posts went viral, using the “blueprint” of these posts and putting my own creative spin on them, I really started growing the social media profile of my business.

Mats Claes, Owner and Head Marketing, Top Keuken Tips

Set Your Own Trends

As an entrepreneur, I’ve discovered that social media is an absolute game-changer for growing a business! Let me share one of my secret weapons: Instagram Reels. But instead of jumping on the dance video bandwagon, I put a fun and educational spin on my content.

You see, I love teaching and giving my audience a behind-the-scenes look at my journey. So, I create these witty Reels where I share valuable business lessons while also sprinkling in some of my day-to-day adventures. It’s like mixing business with pleasure, and who doesn’t love that combination?

This approach has not only helped me build trust and credibility with my audience, but also added a dash of fun to the mix. It’s not just about following trends; it’s about creating content that resonates with your audience and showcases your unique expertise.

Laurie Burrows, Business Mentor

Use UGC to Build Credibility, Brand Awareness, and Engagement

Entrepreneurs can use social media to establish a strong online presence, engage with their target audience, and promote their products or services. 

One specific strategy to consider is to leverage user-generated content (UGC), such as customer reviews or testimonials, to showcase social proof and build credibility. UGC can be a powerful tool for building trust with potential customers, as it provides real-life examples of how your products or services have helped others. 

Encouraging customers to share their experiences and feedback on social media, and featuring this content on your own profiles or website, can help to increase brand awareness and drive more traffic to your business.

Harish Thyagarajan, Founder, Blogging Nuggetz

Take an Omnichannel Approach

As a whole, social media offers a platform for entrepreneurs to share who they are, what their company does, and why people should care. It’s important that entrepreneurs consider how certain social media platforms can be utilized and what aligns with their business.

B2B start-ups will see success in developing a LinkedIn presence to recruit top talent for their organization and to target key decision-makers for a demo.

In contrast, B2C start-ups may favor Instagram or Facebook to connect with online communities directly and advertise their products.

Overall, entrepreneurs should take an omnichannel approach to their communications strategy, and with social media, there are plenty of opportunities to connect with specific audiences.

Companies that invest both time and ad spend in social will see an increase in brand awareness and conversions in the long run.

Grant Smith, Global Employer Branding Specialist, TD Synnex

Build Long-Term Relationships

Entrepreneurs can use social media to grow their business by building long-term relationships with customers, as it is key to nurturing your connections with those who will buy your products or services, and also encouraging referrals. 

You want to show your customers that you care about them, and through an engaging online experience in which fans like and share your content, you will rise in social algorithms and be in the minds of potential customers, while strengthening your existing ones.

The average internet user has about 8.4 social media accounts and uses different platforms for different purposes. Being able to understand this and utilizing each platform for your needs will help you build strong relationships in the long run, as opposed to being left in the dust of your competitors.

Aaron Winston, Strategy Director, Express Legal Funding

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