Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses: Taking Your Company to the Next Level – Marie Forleo [SSM041]

Managing social media for a small business is a unique and sometimes overwhelming challenge for so many entrepreneurs and marketers.

On one hand, you have a business to run. On the other, you want that business to grow and flourish.

And although you know that social media has the power to be an important part of your overall marketing strategy, there’s tons of completely valid reasons why it never quite happens. Time, resources, energy, knowledge… the list goes on!

Marie Forleo has been helping small businesses with their online marketing strategies with incredilbe success for more than 15 years. We had the pleasure of chatting with her in episode #41 of The Science of Social Media.

Marie shares specific ways that you can use social media to build an audience, connect with your customers, and eventually, grow your business. Whether you’re just starting out on social media or you’ve been using social media for years, you’ll learn the best-practices that thousands of businesses have used to succeed online.

A huge thank you to Marie for packing this episode full of inspiration and actionable takeaways for entrepreneurs and marketers looking for solid social media strategies to grow their small business.

How to listen: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | RSS

This episode is available on:

• iTunes
• Google Play
• Stitcher
• Sound Cloud

In this episode, here’s what you’ll learn:

Marie Forleo shares her expert insights into the strategies and tactics that she uses to help business achieve real growth online. You’ll also learn tons of other great things like:

• How Marie got started way before social media was a “thing”
• How to not let social media become overwhelming for your business
• Social media campaigns vs. ongoing strategies and how to approach each
• The importance of providing value, building trust, and being patience
• Quality over quantity and how small businesses can achieve that balance

Actionable Advice for Small Businesses to Looking to Rock Your Social Media Strategy

In Marie’s words…

1. Less is more. Quality over quantity.

Allow yourself the freedom to focus on one or two platforms and do it from a place of joyful creation – have fun with social media!

2. Is this a brand social media strategy or campaign

What you can do is think about if your real goal is more brand social or a single campaign. For example, how many times are you going to post to social media each week? Is this really good for your small business? Will it help you reach your goals? Or, do you need to create a social media campaign for a specific end purpose?

3. Continuously set boundaries and bumpers

Try and set boundaries and bumpers for yourself when it comes to how often you engage on social media. When it comes to social on your phone, if you don’t want to be addicted (and you’d like to help yourself be productive) try not to put social media icons on your homescreen. Make yourself swipe at least 3-5 screens to get to your apps, which will help you stop the addictive habit.

A Great Moment

“My core philosophy, when it comes to business, is: always create value, build up that trust over time, and have patience.”

– Marie Forleo

Awesome People and Stuff Mentioned in the Show

• MarieTV
• B-School: Make Money, Change the World

Favorite Quotes

• I used to walk around with a yellow Legal Pad and have people sign up for my email list manually… because that’s what you did when you didn’t have another option!
• In growing my business it was non-stop hustle. It was about always looking for ways to share knowledge and support people.
• Social media is an important part of the mix for 90-95% of modern business owners. And what I want to do is to help people not allow social media to overwhelm them.
• As long as you’re creative – meaning the posts that you share, the copy that you write, the images that you create – is in the sense of generosity and true service, then you as a small business can pull it off.
• I suggest that marketers and small businesses choose one, maybe two, social media platforms to really dominate.
• When you’re thinking about creating content for social media, really think about your strengths that you can leverage.
• Social media is such a gift and there’s all of these beautiful things that come along with it, but we cannot be bling to the downside. We cannot be ignorant to the “comparison cycles”.
• I’m a big fan of less is more. I would rather have a small business crush it with their email marketing and one social media channel rather than trying to be super-human and do it all (and constantly feel like you’re failing.)

How to Say Hello to Marie (and us)

Marie is always sharing incredible marketing and social media tips for small businesses across all of her platforms. If you’d like to follow along and learn from the best, you can find Marie on Twitter here, YouTube here, or on her own website at marieforleo.com.

Thanks for listening! We’d love to connect with you at @buffer on Twitter or with the hashtag #bufferpodcast.

Enjoy the show? It’d mean the world to us if you’d be up for giving us a rating and review on iTunes!

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About the Show

The Science of Social Media is a podcast for marketers and social media managers looking for inspiration, ideas, and results for their social media strategies. Each week, we interview one of the very best in social media marketing from brands in every industry. You will learn the latest tactics on social media, the best tools to use, the smartest workflows, and the best goal-setting advice. It is our hope that each episode you’ll find one or two gems to use with your social media marketing!

The Science of Social Media is proudly made by the Buffer team. Feel free to get in touch with us for any thoughts, ideas, or feedback.