With over 3.6 billion people on social media, there’s absolutely no denying it’s where you and your business need to be.
Efficiently use socials and you’ll build brand awareness, credibility and loyalty. As for small businesses, social media marketing can be low-cost, increase lead generation, and it needs nothing but time.
Wondering where to start?
We know the online world is overwhelming so we’ve put together six tips to help you get going. Remember, depending on your target market, social media platforms, and end goal, you’ll need to adapt these tips to fit your needs.
Research shows that internet users spend an average of 144 minutes on social media per day. Think about how much content they consume as a result.
In order for your brand to catch people’s attention and hold it, varying your content is a must. No matter which platforms you choose, there are a range of features on each to use to your advantage.
Simple content like posts and comments have come a long way. You can now engage your audience with live streams, videos, reels, music, filters and GIFs to make content as dynamic as possible.
Pro Tip: Videos are 80% more likely to be consumed than written content and, if they’re live, they’ll perform four times better than pre-recorded videos.
If you’d rather an alternative approach, think polls, quizzes and hashtag challenges.
Another way to draw your audience’s attention to your content—and to increase conversion rates—is with personalization.
Whether using this tactic with videos, conversations or recommendations, personalizing interactions with your audience or potential customers will make them feel understood and increase positive business outcomes. 86% of consumers say that personalized marketing directly impacts their purchase decisions.
Tailor your marketing messages based on the data you’ve collected about your audience. This might include
You should be able to use this data again at a later stage in your sales funnel.
Communication you can personalize:
Top tip: Use first names when you can! You’ll be able to get your marketing messages across quicker as people naturally respond to their names.
Personalized emails generate on average 46% higher open rates than standardized ones. The more you personalize your messages, the more likely they are to convert leads and engage your customers. But, your efforts need to start with social media.
Unique content will make you stand out in a saturated market. Your SEO will improve if your content is interactive, valuable, and useful for the reader—higher engagement leads to higher visibility.
The key to unique content is visual media. People can remember images with more than 90% accuracy and can process them 60,000 times faster than text. Once you’ve researched your audience and know their content preferences, start exploring the visual realm.
You can make data and statistics attractive by displaying them in infographics. If you don’t know how to create an infographic, there’s plenty of software out there to help you get started.
You’ll want to create an infographic as informative and compelling as possible. Make use of colors, icons, and data visualization. Adding images to your text can increase engagement by up to 650%. Don’t be afraid to get creative with it.
Meme-marketing is another great way to connect with your audience and attract new leads. You can make a meme by overlaying an image or video with humorous text. Memes provide value to your audience through entertainment. This media is easy to create, relatable, and highly shareable. Check out Adobe Spark’s free meme-maker.
Create content unique to your business and the insights you have. However you end up displaying your content, always make sure it’s relevant. Your business will gain value, credibility and authenticity for it.
To put it bluntly: you won’t get far without researching the type of people in your audience and your customer base. UX research can provide some fantastic audience insights beyond how your users are experiencing your site or product. The research process can unpick your demographics and suggest the content they need.
SaaS tools can help you manage work and stay on top of things. For example, project management documentation tools will keep you and your team informed, stay organized, and make collaboration easy as you embark on any research project.
Building your social strategy is a big project so don’t be afraid to use what’s out there for guidance.
Pro tip: Aligning projects like UX research with larger business strategies makes them 50% more likely to finish on time and up to 57% more successful.
Alignment leads to achievement.
Twitter has 340 million users in total, Instagram has 1 billion monthly users, and Facebook has 1.62 billion daily users. Are these platforms right for your business? Can you compete in all that noise?
Using social media platforms that are not in the ‘Big Three’ might be highly beneficial for your business. You can communicate with your target audience faster—on more niche platforms—where those who share your interests and values are all tightly collected in one place.
Comparatively, the number of users and amount of traffic will be lower but, your ROI and relevancy may be higher. Consider channels like:
Steer away from the most popular platforms, find a more relevant audience, and watch as your conversion rates increase.
If your audience engagement is rocketing through one channel, don’t stop there. Just because it’s working really well for you now, doesn’t mean it always will.
Whilst it’s true that there’s great overlap online with social media users having an average of eight accounts, being present on just one platform will limit what mediums you can use and the audience you engage with.
Different demographics engage to varying degrees and with different content types. For example, people between the ages of 55 and 64 are more than twice as likely to engage with a brand’s content.
Make sure you post the right content on the right channel, and play to the channel’s strengths.
At the end of the day, you’re looking to get your name out, drive traffic to your website, and stay in touch with your audience. So don’t be scared of emerging channels. The water may be worth dipping your toes in.
In 2021, it’s almost fair to say that if you’re not on social, you don’t exist. To grow your business well, target your audience through multiple social media platforms with your exciting, relevant and unique content. Deliver it wisely and you’re on to a winning strategy.
If you're a freelancer, take a look at our social media contract template.
It’s time to fully embrace social media—your way.
A verbal contract (formally called an oral contract) refers to an agreement between two parties that's made —you guessed it— verbally.
Formal contracts, like those between an employee and an employer, are typically written down. However, some professional transactions take place based on verbally agreed terms.
Freelancers are a good example of this. Often, freelancers will take on projects having agreed on the terms and payment via the phone, or an email. Unfortunately, sometimes clients don't pull through on their agreements, and hardworking freelancers can find themselves out of pocket and wondering whether a legal battle is worth all the hassle.
The main differences between written and oral contracts are that the former is signed and documented, whereas the latter is solely attributed to verbal communication.
Verbal contracts are a bit of a gray area for most people unfamiliar with contract law —which is most of us, right?— due to the fact that there's no physical evidence to support the claims made by the implemented parties.
For any contract (written or verbal) to be binding, there are four major elements which need to be in place. The crucial elements of a contract are as follows:
Therefore, an oral agreement has legal validity if all of these elements are present. However, verbal contracts can be difficult to enforce in a court of law. In the next section, we take a look at how oral agreements hold up in court.
Most business professionals are wary of entering into contracts orally because they can difficult to enforce in the face of the law.
If an oral contract is brought in front of a court of law, there is increased risk of one party (or both!) lying about the initial terms of the agreement. This is problematic for the court, as there's no unbiased way to conclude the case; often, this will result in the case being disregarded. Moreover, it can be difficult to outline contract defects if it's not in writing.
That being said, there are plenty of situations where enforceable contracts do not need to be written or spoken, they're simply implied. For instance, when you buy milk from a store, you give something in exchange for something else and enter into an implied contract, in this case - money is exchanged for goods.
There are some types of contracts which must be in writing.
The Statute of Frauds is a legal statute which states that certain kinds of contracts must be executed in writing and signed by the parties involved. The Statute of Frauds has been adopted in almost all U.S states, and requires a written contract for the following purposes:
Typically, a court of law won't enforce an oral agreement in any of these circumstances under the statute. Instead, a written document is required to make the contract enforceable.
Contract law is generally doesn't favor contracts agreed upon verbally. A verbal agreement is difficult to prove, and can be used by those intent on committing fraud. For that reason, it's always best to put any agreements in writing and ensure all parties have fully understood and consented to signing.
Verbal agreements can be proven with actions in the absence of physical documentation. Any oral promise to provide the sale of goods or perform a service that you agreed to counts as a valid contract. So, when facing a court of law, what evidence can you provide to enforce a verbal agreement?
Unfortunately, without solid proof, it may be difficult to convince a court of the legality of an oral contract. Without witnesses to testify to the oral agreement taking place or other forms of evidence, oral contracts won't stand up in court. Instead, it becomes a matter of "he-said-she-said" - which legal professionals definitely don't have time for!
If you were to enter into a verbal contract, it's recommended to follow up with an email or a letter confirming the offer, the terms of the agreement , and payment conditions. The more you can document the elements of a contract, the better your chances of legally enforcing a oral contract.
Another option is to make a recording of the conversation where the agreement is verbalized. This can be used to support your claims in the absence of a written agreement. However, it's always best to gain the permission of the other involved parties before hitting record.
Fundamentally, most verbal agreements are legally valid as long as they meet all the requirements for a contract. However, if you were to go to court over one party not fulfilling the terms of the contract, proving that the interaction took place can be extremely taxing.
So, ultimately, the question is: written or verbal agreements?
Any good lawyer, contract law firm, or legal professional would advise you to make sure you formalize any professional agreement with a written agreement. Written contracts provide a secure testament to the conditions that were agreed and signed by the two parties involved. If it comes to it, a physical contract is much easier to eviden in legal circumstances.
Freelancers, in particular, should be aware of the extra security that digital contracts may provide. Many people choose to stick to executing contracts verbally because they're not sure how to write a contract, or they think writing out the contract terms is too complicated or requires expensive legal advice. However, this is no longer the case.
Today, we have a world of resources available at our fingertips. The internet is a treasure trove of invaluable information, platforms, and software that simplifies our lives. Creating, signing, and sending contracts has never been easier. What's more, you don't have to rely on a hiring a lawyer to explain all that legal jargon anymore.
There are plenty of tools available online for freelancers to use for guidance when drafting digital contracts. Tools like Bonsai provide a range of customizable, vetted contract templates for all kinds of freelance professionals. No matter what industry you're operating in, Bonsai has a professional template to offer.
A written contract makes the agreement much easier to prove the terms of the agreement in case something were to go awry. The two parties involved can rest assured that they're legal rights are protected, and the terms of the contract are sufficiently documented. Plus, it provides both parties with peace of mind to focus on the tasks at hand.
Bonsai's product suite for freelancers allows users to make contracts from scratch, or using professional templates, and sign them using an online signature maker.
With Bonsai, you can streamline and automate all of the boring back-office tasks that come with being a freelancer. From creating proposals that clients can't say no to, to sealing the deal with a professional contract - Bonsai will revolutionize the way you do business as a freelancer.
Why not secure your business today and sign up for a free trial?