Grow your business with social media marketing

Choosing the right platforms and message

As a small business owner, we understand it can be difficult to market your business to a large audience. That’s where paid social media marketing might be able to help.

For this guide, we collaborated with Nikhil Sethi, CEO of social media marketing agency Adaptly, to share some tips on how to use social media to help build

your brand and customer base.

Percent of U.S. adults who use at least one social media site1

2005 2011 2016

Social media is on the rise

1 “Social Media Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center, 2017.

This information is designed for informational purposes only. It is not legal, tax, financial, or any other sort of advice; nor is it a substitute for such advice. The information on this site may not apply to your specific situation. We have tried to make sure the information is accurate, but it could be outdated or even inaccurate, in parts. It is the reader’s responsibility to comply with any applicable local, state, or federal regulations, and to make their own decisions about how to operate their business. Nationwide, its affiliates, and their employees make no warranties about the information, no guarantee of results, and assume no liability in connection with the information provided.

Products underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies. Not all Nationwide affiliated companies are mutual companies, and not all Nationwide members are insured by a mutual company. Not all products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and insurance coverage is governed by actual policy language. Subject to underwriting guidelines, review, and approval. Products and discounts not available to all persons in all states. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds. Home Office: One Nationwide Plaza, Columbus, OH. Nationwide the Nationwide N and Eagle, and other marks displayed on this page are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, unless otherwise disclosed. © 2018 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

CMO-0824AO (01/18)

50%

5%

69%

Finding the most relevant platformThese four platform options each offer a distinct point of view:

INSTAGRAM:best for instantly resonating with

consumers

TWITTER:helps users discover what’s happening in

their area or surrounding a certain subject

PINTEREST:more of a planning tool for big events, such as vacations or weddings

SNAPCHAT:best for a full-screen

mobile storytelling user experience

Crafting your messageYou will want to research your audience’s social media habits to better understand their interests

and needs. We recommend asking yourself two questions when crafting your message:

1. How are you measuring your performance?

Figure out a way to gauge the performance of your social media ads. This is also known as your key performance indicator, or KPI.

(You might have more than one.)

2. What is your goal? Whether you’re encouraging people to

visit your online store, website or take some other action, your ads and calls to action

should be focused on achieving your goals.

If you choose the right objective, you will know what to measure. Also, be precise with your budget because some platforms use auctions to control ad buying.

Once you know which platform(s) you want to use, follow these steps for building out a paid social media campaign:

The following tools and resources can help you learn more about how paid social media marketing works and find ways to better engage with your audience:

How businesses use social media marketing is constantly changing. Here are some major trends we expect to see in 2018:

• Facebook’s ad bidding and budgeting tutorial

• Facebook Insights and Google Analytics provide deeper analytics on how people are interacting with your content

• Hootsuite helps you schedule posts on multiple platforms

• Twitter Promote Mode promotes your account with the sole purpose of gaining more followers

Choose your campaign objective

and your KPI

Based on your budget, decide how much

you’ll pay for a certain action or activity, such as a click or impression

Execute the campaign

Choose the types of ads you want to create; for instance, Instagram allows photos, videos

and more

Track your conversions, or how many visitors are performing your

desired action

Developing a social media advertising campaign

Helpful tools

Keeping an eye on future trends

1 2 3

4 5

Guidelines for building quality postsNumber of platforms: It’s best for a small business to operate on a maximum of two platforms.

Imagery: Visuals are the most effective way to gain visitors, so focus on making at least 80 percent of your creative image-based.

Videos: Video is becoming increasingly more common. Videos produced in a quality like those made on mobile devices perform better. (Also, make a point to test different versions to see which one’s most successful.)

KPI: Know what you’re testing and be consistent.

Timing: Schedule your posts for times when most people are available to read it, such as when they’re waking up, during lunch breaks, as they head home from work and at bedtime.

E-commerce, where users can buy

products straight from an ad click

A shift to video from images in ads

Augmented reality (AR), allowing customers to try

out different products before purchasing

through their smartphone

Read our case study on Kenny Sipes and his business, The Roosevelt Coffeehouse.

For more information on how social media marketing can help your

business, visit adaptly.com.

Visit the Business Solutions Center for more valuable articles, tools and

resources.

View case study

A social media marketing success story