Getting social media to work for you can seem intimidating for many small businesses. But the truth is social media apps can serve as a powerful platform to increase customers’ awareness of and engagement with your business.

As part of InKnowvation Small Business Fridays, digital media expert Hannah Swift delivered an information-packed breakout session on websites and social media marketing. During her talk, Hannah demonstrated why it’s important for small businesses to build a social media presence and shared great tips on how to get started.

Here are five of our favorite social media tips for small business owners.

1) Start with the basics. Not sure what to share in the beginning? Start with basic business details: your hours of operation, your products and services, upcoming sales, or price reductions.

You can also post about the origins of your business and share links to content related to the problem your business solves. None of this content requires a lot of preparation on your part, and it all helps customers to get to know your business.

2) Create a calendar of key days. Check out some calendar sites and make notes of specific days in the upcoming months that could pair well with your content. Major holidays are key, but also think about other interesting days.

For instance, someone selling high-end pens could be sure to promote their business on National Handwriting Day. Be creative!

3) Write some standard replies to your posts. This can be a huge time-saver when customers start reaching out for information. Make note of the questions and/or requests you get most often and craft some replies in a document.

Then just cut and paste the response as needed. Some social media platforms offer suggested responses to common questions which can also save you time.

4) Social media engagement. Ask people to engage and encourage followers to comment on your posts and share your profile. People love to help and support the products and businesses that have made an impact on them.

Asking for their help can remind them of someone else in their life that needs what your business delivers. And requesting comments can lead to some powerful—and free—business insights.

Remember, more engagement equals more support, which can lead to more business. 

5) Monitor, measure, and tweak! Pay attention to which posts get the most traction, and which get the least. Think about tracking comments, likes, and shares to identify posts that get the most engagement.

Then try variations to see if you can improve your results.

It doesn’t have to be a challenge to put social media to work for your business. Just remember to be yourself, stay on-brand with your posts, and share and engage authentically with your followers and other businesses.

Be sure to check out Hannah’s value-packed presentation with other tips and tricks to help you create a business-building social media presence.