If you’re a small or medium business looking to scale, social media and influencer marketing are some of the most powerful and accessible tools for growth. And guess what? You don’t have to throw big bucks at ad campaigns to see results.
Growing your brand organically with the right strategy and partnerships can drive incredible results, even on a limited budget. These are my top five tips for businesses looking to leverage social media and influencer marketing without any ad spend.
First things first: get clear on your ideal customer. This means knowing their age, interests, and where they spend their time online. You might think you need to be on every social media platform – Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat – but that’s not actually the case, especially if you’re just starting out.
Posting where your audience is looking to consume content relevant to your business will increase engagement and give your brand a stronger presence, without exhausting your resources.
For example, if you’re a restaurant owner, TikTok and Instagram are a natural fit since they’re visual platforms, and potential customers love discovering new places to eat via drool-worthy images and videos. If your business is in the B2B sector, LinkedIn is likely your best “playground.”
Take the time to build out a customer avatar, your fictionalised perfect customer, to keep your content laser-focused on who you want to reach.
Influencer marketing doesn’t have to mean investing in partnerships with the biggest names on social media.
In fact, nano and micro-influencers (those with around 1,000–50,000 followers) often deliver better results, especially on smaller budgets.
These smaller influencers usually have highly engaged audiences who trust their recommendations, meaning it can be more impactful to work with a variety of nano and micro-influencers than spending your whole budget on one big influencer.
Make sure that the influencers you partner with align with your brand values and audience.
Ask yourself, “If I were a customer, would I trust this person’s recommendation?” Their followers should naturally be interested in what you offer, so that the partnership feels authentic and not transactional.
Gifted or contra collaborations are a great low-risk way to test how influencer marketing works for your business. Offer free products or services to local influencers, and if they love what you do, ask if they’d be willing to share their experience on their social media channels.
Social media thrives on authenticity, creativity, and storytelling, it shouldn’t be about selling in every post. A mix of content that educates, entertains, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at your business can help draw in new potential customers and build loyalty.
This is especially important on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where authentic content consistently outperforms sales posts. Ask yourself before you post “would I want to watch this?” and if the answer is “no”, don’t post it.
Try creating story-driven content like “a day in the life”, “behind the scenes of our latest shoot”, or “how it’s made”.
Creating unique content for every platform can be overwhelming, but repurposing strategically can save time and increase your reach. A behind-the-scenes video on Instagram could easily be adapted for a TikTok post, or a great TikTok recipe demonstration could find an additional audience on Facebook.
But be mindful that not all content translates well across every platform. The same video that performs well on TikTok might need tweaking to work on Instagram. Instead of posting every piece of content everywhere, aim to match the tone and preferences of each platform’s audience.
Use analytics to track which types of posts resonate best on each platform, and rinse and repeat what’s working.
Without a budget for ads, your organic reach becomes your ad spend, so analyse it weekly.
Many business owners make the mistake of only reviewing their social media performance once a month, but tracking weekly helps you to identify what’s working and what’s not quickly, so you can either pivot or double down before you miss the opportunity.
Look at which types of posts and influencer partnerships are getting the most engagement, follower growth, and website clicks, and invest more time in those. Small adjustments based on data can significantly improve your performance over time without any ad spend.
It’s completely possible to grow your business through social media and influencer marketing without paying for ads, but it requires planning, strategy, and consistency.
By understanding your audience, choosing the right influencers, posting engaging content, repurposing effectively, and tracking weekly, you can build a strong and loyal following organically.
Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.
Rita Agoulian is the founder and CEO of LickYourPhone Media.
