The era of digitalization has taken the world by storm and its power now lies in almost every hand, all you need is a Smartphone and a sim with active internet and you are good to go.

This not only changed the lives of people but also the media, which has been the source of connection between people across.

One very integral part of it is “Marketing and Promotion.”

Earlier, the notion was to invest more in print and broadcasting media.

Now, trends have taken a U-Turn. Every other brand, established or a startup is now taking up the cyberspace and trying to create their impression over social media.

Branding or what we call “Brand image” and majorly positioning is defined these days through their social media presence and ranking.

So, should a small scale business invest in social media?

Of course, they should!

As mentioned earlier, social media needs just an active internet connection and a Smartphone, it wasn’t completely how social media works.

A thorough strategy and planning are required like in any other vertical of business do, but only when you are using it for business purposes.

What comes as a challenge is that social media trends and analytics are way more dynamic and volatile than traditional print and broadcast media.

iral content and relevant information are splurged in the space in every minute, on a generous side, sometimes every second.

Let’s delve into how small business can save on resources and be able to position themselves in the market full of well-established brands of the same field:

• Facebook Advertising

Facebook has come a long way, from being a platform to connect to long lost and close friends to a place where you can actually start to build and promote your brand. Facebook as a medium of social media promotion is inexpensive and efficient for small businesses especially because at a very small amount a paid campaign or a certain post can be promoted.

Creating a Facebook Ad is very easy. Just like creating a personal social media posts, you need:

• Catchy headline
• Crisp description
• Relevant image with your business logo on it

Finally, a link to your website or wherever you wish the potential person who came across your ad to land on.

• Google: Your friendly neighborhood search engine to the rescue!

Google can help your business in two ways:

1. Google My Business
2. Google Adword

Google My Business is a portal where you can list your business. Without running paid ads with a specific target audience and keywords which increase your probable chances and brings you to the top of the search engine results; a listed venture on My Business will be reflected automatically without even investing any money. 

Other perks of enlisting are that your website, google direction, reviews, etc will be shown in one compact window, giving your customers a better UX. 

But, this is more organic, so let's move to Google AdWords

Google Adwords works is ‘next level’ to Facebook Ad. The number of eyes Google provides to a business is basically the whole world.

Through Google Adwords, you can optimize those searches and push your business up in the search engine.

• Content Marketing

The almighty Content, the undefeated king, is also pivotal when comes to business.

Content is something that constructs a brand image which includes the USPs, highlights, vision, mission, and everything which a business has to offer.

Currently, as per the 18% of marketers claim that Content is the strongest marketing strategy to be used in business in 2016. 

The few elements which constituents Content Marketing are:

• SEO optimization - please remove it from here & make it sub heading to explain it.
• Promotional and Consistent Content Creation
• Comprehensive material for Readers
• Upbeat Topics
• Quality content

The purpose and value assigned to Content for the reason being that it creates long term worth for the business.

Any paid campaign comes with a shelf life but a good content over your website and other social media platforms go a long way, making content the true blue king!

The type of content involved in content marketing are:

• Blogs
• Video content
• Podcasts
• Online Courses
• Social media content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Though initially, it is a lot of hard work and not much return, Content marketing is a consistent and persistent effort from your end and demands the above-mentioned elements to be used in the right manner to bear the fruits of this strategy.

• Social Media: The organic way

The very accessible and used by almost everybody.

We all have our favorite social media platforms, some prefer Facebook, some Instagram and some are comrades on Twitter.

With so many portals to connect, we all have made our “safe and liked” places.

But every platform is an opportunity if you see from a small business’s point of view.

A good and strong social media is where one is using organic growth through relevant and trending content and bend it towards the benefit of your brand.

It is game being the “First” to pick the thing which is going viral and create content which uses that viral piece as per your need.

Social media also gives you the option of using paid means to promote yourself, but just like Content marketing, social media is a part of works in your favor in the long term only if you use organic medium but the unique way.

A good strategy is a mix of all the above elements but a mixture that is constantly is kept under vigilance to compare, execute and evolve as per the need of the hour.

There is no set pattern but a series of ‘hit and trails’ which eventually gives you enough sense of the market and the business you are pursuing.

By Doors Studio

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