Entrepreneurs and small business owners: want to grow with the help of social media but don’t know where to start? After nearly a decade working on social media campaigns, I’ve seen what actually works—and what doesn’t. Here are five tried-and-true tips to help you build momentum on social media without burning out.
Consistency Beats Everything Else
If there’s one rule to follow, it’s this: be consistent with publishing content. Even when engagement is low or when growth feels slow. Your audience can’t find you if you’re not posting. Momentum builds over time, not overnight—so keep going and don’t let early silence discourage you. If you need to slow down or take a break, you can even communicate that to your audience. For example, you can put out a friendly Instagram story letting your audience know that you will be taking a break from a bit.
Experiment Until You Find Your Voice
Best practices matter—but there’s no magic formula for going viral. Too many external factors are in play to guarantee your content will trend. From experience, the best advice I can give you is to embrace a test-and-learn mindset early. The only way to discover what works for you is to try your best, learn what resonates with your audience, and iterate. Do you have an idea you believe in? Try it. That experiment could become your breakthrough—or even spark the next big trend.
Create Content with a Long Shelf Life
It’s no surprise that time and energy are limited, especially when you are running a business. With that said, try to make your content work harder for you. The trick to doing this is to produce content that you can repurpose later. For example, if you’re filming holiday content, try to avoid references that lock it to a specific year. That way, with a small tweak, it stays relevant. Evergreen content not only saves time—it helps prevent burnout. Work smart, not hard.
Tell People Exactly What to Do
Do you want followers? Say it. Want comments, likes, or shares? Ask for them. After years of A/B testing different calls to action for social media campaigns, one thing is clear: direct calls to action perform better. Don’t assume people know how to engage with your content—guide them. The people who want to support you will appreciate the clarity. For example, if I want people to share my content with others, I will end my social media post with, “Share this with someone who might find this helpful.”
Boost Strategically
Putting money behind your content can accelerate growth because it increases your content and channel’s visibility to people. If you are in a position where you have the financial flexibility to boost your content, start small and think of paid social as a learning investment. You don’t need a big budget to start, just spend what you’re comfortable with and scale as you gain confidence. For example, you can start with just $20.00 to $100.00 to test how your content resonates with your desired target audience.
You don’t need a massive team or endless resources to build a large social presence. I’ve watched startups and billion-dollar brands grow meaningful followership with nothing more than consistency and a clear vision. Anyway, if you’re just getting started, good luck. You’ve got this!
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