Marketer’s main goal with social media is to boost engagement. But their biggest hurdle is creating content which actually drives that engagement. With 5.17 billion social media users globally, the average person in 2024 uses 6.7 different networks each month. So, if you run a business, you’ve probably looked into social media marketing—and for good reason. But as a marketer, you can’t just invest money and hope strategies would work. More so, if you’re on a tight budget and want to enhance your marketing game without spending a penny. In this guide, we’ll break down for you how to promote your business on social media for free. We’ll take you through strategies that are quick, flexible, smart – and most importantly, free of cost.
Contents
How to?
One of the initial steps involves establishing profiles on platforms that align with your business needs, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Yet, simply having these profiles isn’t enough. You need to ensure they’re visible. Promote your social media profiles on your website, in email communications, and even in your physical store. For limited budget entrepreneurs asking how to promote your business on social media for free, cross promotion poses effective. The more exposure your profiles receive, the greater the likelihood of attracting visitors and engagement. Consider cross-promoting your profiles across various channels. For instance, you might utilize your Instagram to promote your Facebook business page, and vice versa.
Keep an eye on trends
If you’re looking to boost your online presence, understanding how to promote your business on social media for free can be a game-changer for your marketing efforts. However, we’re not suggesting you jump on every single viral meme bandwagon. Instead, it’s wise to keep an eye on social media trends to understand what people are interested in when they log onto their social accounts. This insight helps you create relevant content that resonates with your audience. Boosting your social media presence involves capitalizing on trends and popular hashtags relevant to your business, audience and chosen platform.
If you’re managing social media for a fitness center, you could tap into “#WorkoutWednesday,” “#FitnessFriday,” or “#FitFam” to engage with your audience and attract potential gym-goers. Trends not only engage your current followers but also attract potential customers searching for new businesses using those hashtags or topics. Your industry likely has its own trends to tap into. A quick Google search or a scan through your social media platform can help identify trends and popular posts that align well with your business.
While 61% of organizations using social selling see revenue growth, 56% of sales professionals use social media to find new prospects. Social media marketing has undergone significant changes, by incorporating social commerce. This enables direct product sales through social channels. Nearly every social platform now offers some form of social selling, including Facebook, Instagram Shops, and Pinterest Buyable Pins. While social media is integral to online reputation management, it’s also important for aggravating sales.
What makes it so effective is its ability to eliminate many of the hurdles associated with online selling. Your potential customers are already active on social media, eliminating the need for them to visit your website and navigate to product pages. By meeting them where they already spend time, you significantly increase your chances of making a sale.
Commit in building a community
How to promote your business on social media for free if you ask, community building stands impactful. Focus on attracting engaged, dedicated clients rather than chasing after sheer numbers of followers. These individuals are more inclined to engage with and support your content. Cultivating a community around your brand enables members to engage with each other, fostering promotion of your content. It’s also worthwhile to reach out to influential figures on social media and enlist their support through reviews or mentions.
Sure, posting creative content is important, but the true success in social media marketing for small businesses hinges on active community management. This involves fostering a sense of community with your customers through online interactions, such as responding to comments, addressing inquiries, and engaging with customers across social media platforms.
View it as an expansion of your customer service efforts. Your interaction with your audience should match, if not exceed, their engagement with you. By doing so, you can establish a network of customers who feel a strong connection to your brand and are more likely to become loyal, repeat patrons.
How to promote your business on social media for free? Take a typical promotional tactic, such as offering discounts or hosting giveaways, and adapt it for your social media platforms. Instead of solely providing discounts via email, your website, or in-store, design campaigns exclusively for your social media channels. With these tailored promotions, you not only incentivize potential customers to buy from your business, but you also streamline the process of tracking their source, simplifying the evaluation of your campaigns’ effectiveness. Besides discounts or promotions, you can host social media giveaways to stimulate engagement and interaction among users, generating more buzz around your social media accounts.
Where to?
Selecting your platforms doesn’t need to be a black-and-white decision. You have the flexibility to utilize various social channels to connect with diverse audiences or to achieve different business objectives.
How to promote your business on social media for free? Enter Facebook. Regardless of your thoughts toward this social media titan, Facebook remains the most utilized social media platform worldwide. In 2024, Facebook boasted 3.07 billion monthly active users, marking a 3% year-over-year growth from the previous year when it had 2.96 billion monthly active users in 2023. What you can do is – create a compelling business page with complete information, post engaging content regularly, join relevant Facebook groups, collaborate with other businesses or influencers for cross-promotion and optimize your page for search visibility. We suggest Facebook because:
- There’s a wide demographic range, encompassing people of all ages and interests.
- It serves multiple purposes. You can establish a Facebook page, conduct advertising campaigns across Meta platforms, analyze audience data, and set up an online store, all on a single platform.
- It functions as a comprehensive hub. Facebook offers a complete customer service experience, guiding users from their initial interaction to the ultimate purchase.
While Facebook serves as a broad platform for various interests, Instagram allows for more niche targeting. If your business operates in fields like fashion, food, or film, chances are your key demographic is active on Instagram. To promote your business for free on Instagram, optimize your profile, post high-quality content regularly, use relevant hashtags, engage with your audience, utilize Instagram Stories and IGTV, collaborate with influencers, and encourage user-generated content. It’s important to recognize that the user base on this platform tends to be younger, with a majority falling between the ages of 18 and 34. We suggest Instagram because:
- It provides integrated shopping features. Instagram simplifies the process for users to purchase items showcased in your posts, Reels, and Stories.
- With its emphasis on visuals, the platform is particularly well-suited for enterprises within the fashion, beauty, travel, and culinary sectors.
Another platform with generalist appeal is Twitter. To decipher how to promote your business on social media for free, optimize your profile, tweet engaging content regularly, use relevant hashtags, interact with other Twitter users, join Twitter chats, share multimedia content, and offer exclusive promotions if possible. We suggest Twitter because:
- Twitter thrives on conversation, whether it’s with your customers or fellow businesses.
- Twitter is the go-to platform for real-time updates, making it a favorite among news organizations and journalists.
- Utilizing hashtags is an effective method to ensure your content reaches individuals interested in the topic.
YouTube
YouTube stands as the leading global platform for sharing videos socially. Beyond its vast audience, YouTube also serves as an efficient avenue for promoting products and services. We suggest Youtube for businesses on a tight budget because:
- You have the potential to increase traffic to your website. Embedding a link to your website in your YouTube videos can effectively steer traffic your way.
- Enhancing your SEO is within reach. YouTube videos frequently pop up in Google searches, giving your website’s SEO a solid boost.
- You can expand your brand’s reach and recognition. With its vast audience and active user base, YouTube is the perfect stage to showcase captivating videos and raise awareness for your brand.
Takeaway
While we wrap up our guide on how to promote your business on social media for free, keep in mind to not over-promote. It’s common for businesses to make the mistake of treating social media like traditional advertising platforms. So, instead of constantly pushing blatant advertisements in every post, focus on creating content that resonates with your audience and adds value.
The good news is, Brandshark can help you elevate your social media presence, whether you’re working with a high-budget or not. Our comprehensive video production services cater to all needs, from those with a detailed content plan to those starting from scratch. As a leading video production company, we specialize in crafting captivating corporate videos that elevate your brand’s narrative. From concept to execution, unleash the power of corporate video production with BrandShark, and watch your brand grow.