Master Social Media Management for Local Businesses

If you made it to this blog, you are probably asking yourself “What is social media management and why should I care?” Well, let’s start by adding that social media management isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. 

You see, a strong social media presence can help your business stand out, engage with customers, and gradually grow your online presence, your brand image, and most importantly, your sales. 

Let’s dive into the nitty gritty about social media management, and how it’s something you shouldn’t be skimping on.

What is Social Media Management?

So, what exactly is social media management? It’s more than just posting updates on Facebook or Instagram. It’s all about the way you’re handling your online presence across various platforms. 

This includes: 

• Creating content
• Scheduling posts
• Keeping an eye on mentions
• Analyzing how well your posts are doing

Whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn, social media management helps you maintain a consistent brand voice and connect with your audience in a more meaningful way.

The Importance of Social Media Management for Local Businesses

Building Brand Awareness

That’s right, social media is your ticket to increasing your visibility. By posting regularly and engaging with your audience, you can reach more people and make your name more recognizable among a sea of competition. From roofers to dog groomers, everyone is doing it—and so should you.

One great example is this one from Gateway Meat Market, a deep-discount supplier of meats, veggies, and other kitchen staples. They post about their specials almost hourly on Facebook to build hype and a sense of urgency. In the post shown below, they even take a jab at how their jumbo hot dogs are half the price of a regular grocer:

Engaging with Customers

Social media is like a direct line to your customers. You can answer questions, respond to feedback, and have genuine human conversations.

Going back to Gateway Meat Market, we really like how they respond quickly to customer inquiries and preferences, for example, in this post, a user mentions how much they appreciate Gateway letting them know the product is gluten-free:

They even went the extra mile to reply with a photo listing all the ingredients:

Why is this small gesture so important? You see, for someone who might be gluten intolerant, not having a full understanding of an ingredient list can make them weary of buying something that could pose a risk. You would be surprised how many products out there say “gluten-free” or “gluten-friendly” and still come with a warning label saying that the product could still contain traces of gluten, nuts, or other allergens.

This small gesture from the business shows that they understand their gluten-intolerant customer’s needs, and makes them (and others who have similar allergies) feel more trust in doing business with them.

Driving Traffic to Your Website

Want more visitors to your website? Social media management can help with that! By sharing links to your site, you can drive more traffic there and boost your chances of converting these visitors into paying customers. 

For example, you can post about new arrivals and exclusive online deals, making it easy for followers to click through your posts and shop.

Staying Competitive

Keeping up with industry trends and what your competitors are doing is a really big deal. Social media management helps you stay in the know and showcase what makes your business different from the rest. 

A local Italian restaurant, for example, could highlight its customer reviews on social media, and mention special menu items like regional wines or cheeses folks can’t get anywhere else, helping them stand out in a busy market.

Gathering Customer Insights

Monitoring social media trends and audience behavior gives you a valuable look into what your target audience actually pays attention to. Analytics tools can, for example, show you what content your audience loves, helping you tailor your strategies. 

For instance, a local spa might find that posts about mental wellness tips get lots of engagement, so they can create more of that content and tie it into their relaxing massage packages or aroma therapy products.

Also see: How to Use Social Media for Small Businesses

Key Components of Social Media Management

Content Creation

Creating engaging and relevant content is at the heart of social media management. This means crafting posts that are genuinely interesting and aligned with your brand’s voice—which is often easier said than done.

One great way to get the creative juices flowing is to take a look at some of your competitors’ social media posts for inspiration and gauge what they are doing well, and where things are falling flat. 

Check your analytics to see if you have certain types of posts that stand out from the rest. This can help you tailor your posts to better appeal to the interests of your audience. 

Lastly, enlist the help of AI—we’re serious! While we can sense your hesitation, it’s important to understand that AI tools like the ones found in Broadly’s social media manager have become more user-friendly and even smarter over time. 

This means they are much more capable of suggesting topics, designing CTAs, creating images, and writing attention-grabbing social media posts for a wide range of platforms.

Here’s an example of what this functionality looks like on the Broadly platform:

Content Scheduling

Planning and scheduling your posts ensures your content goes out at the best times. This saves you countless hours throughout your week and helps keep your posting consistent. A local gym, for example, could schedule workout tips and motivational quotes to go live early in the morning when their audience is planning their day.

Social Media Monitoring

Keeping an eye on mentions, comments, and messages helps you stay responsive. This is key to maintaining a positive online reputation. A pet grooming business might quickly respond to customer inquiries about their services, showing they’re attentive and caring.

Also see: Our Guide to Facebook Business Manager

Engagement Strategies

Encouraging interactions through contests, polls, and Q&A sessions can increase user engagement. For example, you might be interested in running a monthly giveaway contest, encouraging followers to like, share, and comment for a chance to win.

Going back to our Gateway Meat Market example, notice how this account wanted to share their store hours, but instead of just creating a post mentioning that, they took things up a notch and included a daily special on grape jelly, and asked users if they ever tried it on meatballs. It is safe to say they got a lot of responses and tips from users on how to best enjoy grape jelly. 

Analytics and Reporting

Measuring the performance of your social media efforts helps you refine your strategies. In this case, tools that track metrics like engagement rates, follower growth, and conversion rates are invaluable to determine what’s working, and what’s not. 

Tools for Effective Social Media Management

Social Media Management Platforms

There are plenty of tools out there to streamline your social media efforts—but not all are created equal. Platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Broadly’s Social Media Manager let you manage multiple accounts and locations, schedule posts, and respond to comments from one dashboard. And as we mentioned earlier, Broadly’s tool even uses AI to help create, schedule, and post content, making your life a lot easier!

Content Creation Tools

Graphic design and video editing software like Canva and Adobe Spark are great for creating eye-catching content. They’re user-friendly and offer lots of templates and design elements to make your posts pop.

Analytics Tools

Tools like Google Analytics and social media platform insights provide detailed performance metrics. They help you understand your audience’s behavior and measure the success of your campaigns.

The best part? Platforms like Broadly pull in all these insights so you can view all this important data all in one spot. 

How to Get Started with Social Media Management

Setting Clear Goals

Before you jump in, determine what you want to achieve. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or boosting sales, having clear goals will guide your strategy and make sure you are not juggling conflicting interests.

Creating a Content Calendar

Are you writing and posting content on the same day? This could be doing more harm than good. Planning your posts in advance ensures consistency and saves you time during the day-to-day.

Don’t get us wrong, a spontaneous post is ok here and there, but you should not make it a habit because as you grow, you won’t have the time to sustain it. A content calendar helps you keep track of what to post and when, so you never miss an important date or event.

Engaging with Your Audience

Rather than spending your time writing and posting, invest your few precious hours each day regularly interacting with your followers. A good place to start is by responding to comments, joining conversations, and showing appreciation for your customers’ support.

Gateway Meat Market, for example, is big on liking posts to help other users see relevant and useful content and feedback, as well as to show appreciation:

Monitoring Performance

Nothing is perfect, and trends in behavior change quickly. That’s why it is a good idea to use analytics to track your progress and tweak your strategy as needed. Regularly reviewing your performance metrics helps you understand what’s working and where you can improve.

Broadly makes Social Media Management a Snap

Effective social media management is the key for local businesses looking to grow their online presence and engage with their audience. With the right tools and strategies, you can build a strong social media presence that drives engagement and supports your business goals. 

Ready to take your social media game to new heights? Sign up for a free demo of Broadly’s social media management tools and see how we can help increase your online presence and customer engagement!