Are you about to start a side hustle? Maybe you just started a side hustle or perhaps you have started, but you haven’t been able to get a strong customer base?

Social media can do wonders for promoting your side hustle endeavors. Knowing how to market yourself can make or break your business long term. Having visibility is important for building a customer base. In addition, having a social media platform is free. You can eventually pay for advertisements, but the initial setup and the organic posts can cost you nothing but time and research. This can be a great way to advertise if you are wanting to save up for a website domain but still want to promote your side hustle. Social media can be a great way to get your side hustle to the next level. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Find your voice.

Each social media platform has an identity, and your voice should be tailored to those platforms in order to not only appeal the most to your audience but also resonate with them on a personal level. People are drawn to authenticity. Keeping this consistent across your brand will bring customers to you and set a level of credibility. Your brand will become recognizable by constructing a strong voice. 

Think of popular brands out there that have a strong voice. You can often guess that the advertisement is for that company before they get to it in the advertisement. This level of strength in your voice is great for brand recognition and can be achieved via social media.

Consider social media as a customer service tool.

If your customers have questions replying to them directly on the platform can be a great way to answer them. These messages can be through private and public channels. For example, you could directly tweet back to a customer on Twitter or you could privately direct message them on the platform. Depending on the situation, in some instances may be better to respond publicly instead of privately.

A lot of platforms allow you to pin posts so you can have FAQs pinned at the top. This helps save money on buying customer service programs. If you have the bandwidth to respond to your customers via social media, they feel as if they are heard without having to manage a phone line. Platforms such as Facebook show a predicted response time on business pages. This gives the customer an estimate of when they will likely hear a response. Keeping this line of communication open is important for building trust.

Use social media for a free advertisement about your business or side hustle, rather than just as another means of self-promotion within your side hustle.

This is when it can be great to create a separate account from your personal one. Sometimes it can be best to keep them separate depending on the content and volume of response. A way to connect yourself to your side hustle on social media, you can share your affiliation with the account in the bio. 

Be creative.

Don’t be afraid to express your personality and business side through your posts. For example, you could blog about the work you do or answer reader questions in a Q & A format, rather than simply posting “look what I did.” Consumers like interesting content. It is good to experiment with your audience to see what works and what doesn’t. Social media platforms also evolve over time. Something that might have worked really well a few years ago might not have the reach today.

Use each platform to your advantage.

Every social media channel is different. Knowing these differences is important when creating content to promote your side hustle. Content that will work well on Facebook won’t necessarily translate to TikTok. Trends are different across social media platforms. If you make a post regarding one trend on another platform, it won’t make much sense to those viewing it. It is important to do research on each platform. This will take time but can be worth it in the end to best engage customers. 

Keep it short.

You’re not going to have time in your day to write long, thoughtful posts every day, be concise and direct with your posts. People also don’t tend to read very lengthy pieces. Think of them as a promotion for your side hustle that people are reading for free on their own time. This is the same for videos as well. Most social media channels have limits on how long a post or video can be. It is important to know these constraints before creating. Every word and second counts. It is imperative to allocate these wisely and concisely.

Let your customers or followers do the work for you.

You don’t have to be an expert writer, but you can create blog posts that let your readers answer your questions or help you promote your business. If a customer posts something positive about your business, you can share it on your page. This is a great way to engage with your customers while adding more content. They will also feel appreciated for your engagement. Additionally, if others see that you will share that promotion, they might feel led to share as well. 

Think about what kind of content people are searching for on social media sites regarding your business.

What is trending is always changing. Participating in trends that can be relevant to your content helps connect with your current customers and could help reach future ones. Develop some ideas of how to use these searches on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Plan ahead.

Coordinating your future content can help keep consistent branding across channels. By creating a calendar with content for the next three months, you can ensure that you have posts planned that align with your goals. Additionally, you can see if there are gaps and coordinate how to fill them. While planning is important, it is smart to not plan too far ahead. Trends change and you don’t want to post something that is out of touch or very clearly delayed. By being agile in your social media planning, you can be flexible to react while also having a set base of content to go off of. 

Overall, social media is very important to promote your side hustle. Branding and digital marketing are key ways to engage with your customers and gain new ones. Implementing and executing a solid social media strategy will help long-term brand consistency. However, this is not the only tool for starting and continuing your side hustle. If you are wanting more information and tips to get started, check out the article “So, You Want to Start a Successful Side Hustle?“.