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Make Ad Campaigns That Work
Advertising is a key element of social media success. However, crafting ad campaigns can seem overwhelming and uncertain, especially if it’s uncharted territory for your business. How do you know if your ads are effective? By creating an efficient advertising budget, targeting your audience and optimizing your ads, you can set yourself up for success.
Budgeting for Ads
How can you create an efficient budget for your social media ads? This answer can vary widely based on the size of your company or marketing department. While some companies spend thousands daily on paid social, others may only be able to budget a few dollars. Instead of giving hard and fast figures, it’s better to think in terms of minimums and percentages.
On average, companies spend about 11% of their marketing budget on social media, with a portion of that going to social media ads. If you’re a smaller company looking to dip your toes in the whirlpool of paid advertising, it may be best to start with something close to the minimums on each platform, and then increase ad spending once you’ve had time to assess results and determine the relative value of advertising. Meta (Instagram and Facebook) only requires $1 a day, and so does X. LinkedIn is a bit more expensive, requiring $10 a day.
ROAS: A Key Strategy Pillar
Understanding the minimums isn’t enough to craft your budget. You also need to understand the return on ad spend, or ROAS, that your ads will likely generate. This should help frame how you choose to allocate your social budget. Your spending will likely be heavily shaped by your audience and business goals, but ROAS demonstrates where your ads are performing most effectively. CPC, or cost-per-click, is an excellent metric for businesses looking to increase website traffic through social advertising.Sometimes, CPC on social media is categorized as CPLC, or cost per link click. If you’re not too worried about clicks, but you’re very interested in driving up brand awareness, CPM, or cost per mille, may be the metric for you. CPM measures the cost of garnering 1,000 impressions on a given ad. Impressions might not automatically lead to sales, but they will increase general awareness surrounding your brand.
Meta has an average CLPC of $0.90 and CPM of $7.75. LinkedIn is a pricer platform for advertising, with an average CPC of $5.58, and a CPM of $33.80. It’s important to consider not only how many people view or click on an ad, but the long-term impact your ads have on customer acquisition and retention. While LinkedIn is significantly pricer, it also boasts a ROAS of 2.3. This means for every dollar you spend, you can expect to make back 2.3X your money through new customers or purchases. In contrast, Facebook has a ROAS of 1.8. While general statistics are helpful when you’re just entering the social advertising space, profit from advertising can vary wildly, based on your particular business. The key to success with paid advertising is to identify where your audience is online, and focus your resources towards reaching them. Advertisement targeting can help with this step.
Ad targeting refers to choosing to display your ads to particular people on social platforms, rather than just randomly displaying the ads to any user. Ideally, ad targeting will allow you to effectively reach consumers interested in your product or company. While there are a variety of strategies when it comes to targeting, two main ones stand out. First, you can focus on targeting existing customers or contacts. Let’s say that a customer has previously bought one of your products. Utilizing your own CRM data and targeting tool, you could choose to show them an ad for the same product at a discounted rate. The second strategy involves finding new customers based on things like geography or interests. Here’s a breakdown of some common targeting techniques.
Demographic targeting
Demographic targeting refers to focusing on viewers based on factors such as geography, race or gender. This can be an effective targeting approach if your product or business appeals to a certain age group.
Interest/Behavioral targeting
Behavioral targeting allows you to cater your ads based on consumer action like browsing history or prior purchases. This approach helps you reach customers who are actively searching for the products or services you offer.
Predictive targeting
Predictive targeting leverages to AI to predict audiences’ future purchasing behavior. These predictions can be used to connect audiences with the best products for them.
Retargeting or remarketing
Retargeting focuses on identifying past customers and aiming to make them repeat customers.
Custom targeting
By using your own customer data, you can build a custom audience that mirrors your past customers.
Targeting increases your chances of driving conversions with your ads, and makes sure no ad spend is wasted. Try out targeting today!
Optimizing ads
Even if you’ve determined a strong advertising budget and effectively identified your target audience, there are still a few ways that you can optimize your ads. Here are two ways to make sure your ads are effectively connecting with your audience and driving sales or awareness.
A/B Testing
A/B testing refers to testing two different versions of a similar ad (version A and version B) to see which performs better with audiences. For example, the two versions of an ad may have the same images but different copy. Based on how audiences react to the different versions, this testing can inform your ad strategy moving forward.
Experiment with Ad Creative
Ad creative refers to the visual and textual elements of your ads. This includes things like your ad headline, image and call to action. Creative elements often vary based on platform. For example, the ad creative for a Facebook ad will likely be different from the creative for a Snapchat ad. Experimenting with creative can optimize your ads, especially if paired with A/B testing. Switching up your creative elements uncovers what elements of your ad connects with audiences effectively.
Trial & Error: The Pathway to Success
Success in social advertising is never guaranteed and rarely achieved overnight. Slowly tweaking and assessing your ads will drive audience engagement and eventually, business success!
How to Create an Effective Social Media Optimization (SMO) Strategy from Scratch
Social media is crowded, constantly changing, and filled with contradictory advice. Some businesses thrive, while others post consistently and see little to no growth. The key difference is Social Media Optimization (SMO)—a strategic approach that ensures your brand’s content is seen, engaged with, and acted upon.
This guide breaks down every aspect of building a successful SMO strategy from scratch while addressing the confusion that often comes with it. Each step includes detailed explanations, practical applications, and reliable sources to help you cut through the noise and make informed decisions.
Step 1: Define Clear Goals and Objectives
Without clear goals, social media efforts often feel like shouting into the void. Businesses post, hope for engagement, and then wonder why nothing is happening. The key is to start with well-defined objectives that guide every decision.
Why Most Businesses Fail at Goal-Setting
They chase vanity metrics (likes and follows) without aligning them to business impact.
They set unrealistic goals like “going viral” without a strategy.
They focus on short-term wins rather than sustainable engagement.
How to Set SMART Goals That Actually Work:
Specific: Instead of “Get more engagement,” say, “Increase LinkedIn engagement by 30 percent in six months.”
Measurable: Track KPIs like comments, shares, and clicks rather than vague impressions.
Achievable: Base targets on real data, not wishful thinking.
Relevant: Ensure the goal supports your broader business strategy.
Time-bound: Set deadlines to evaluate progress and make adjustments.
More on Setting Effective Social Media Goals
Step 2: Understand Your Target Audience (Because You’re Probably Targeting the Wrong People)
Many brands create content they think is interesting, but if it does not resonate with the right audience, it will never gain traction. The key is to research who your ideal audience is and what they actually care about.
Common Mistakes in Audience Research:
Assuming your audience is “everyone” instead of defining a niche.
Ignoring the psychographics (motivations, fears, values) in favor of just demographics.
Failing to update audience insights as trends change.
How to Identify the Right Audience:
Look at Analytics: Google Analytics, Facebook Audience Insights, and Instagram Insights provide real data on who engages with your content.
Monitor Competitors: See who interacts with their content and what resonates most.
Use Social Listening: Tools like Sprout Social or Brandwatch track brand mentions and trending topics in your industry.
Learn More About Audience Research
Step 3: Choose the Right Social Media Platforms (Instead of Trying to Be Everywhere and Burning Out)
Many businesses feel pressure to be on every platform, which leads to scattered efforts, inconsistent posting, and poor engagement. Instead, focus on the platforms where your audience is already active and tailor your approach accordingly.
Breakdown of Social Platforms and Their Best Uses:
Facebook – Great for community-building, storytelling, and ads.
Instagram – Ideal for visual branding, influencer collaborations, and younger demographics.
LinkedIn – The best place for B2B networking, thought leadership, and long-form content.
X (Twitter) – Useful for real-time discussions, industry trends, and customer service.
TikTok – Perfect for short-form, viral content aimed at younger audiences.
How to Choose the Best Platform for Your Business
Step 4: Optimize Your Social Media Profiles (Because First Impressions Matter More Than You Think)
A poorly optimized social media profile is like a messy storefront—people will scroll right past it. Every element of your profile should build trust and encourage engagement.
What an Optimized Profile Includes:
Professional Profile Picture and Cover Image: Avoid blurry logos or inconsistent branding.
Clear, Keyword-Optimized Bio: Your bio should explain what you do in a compelling way while using relevant search terms.
Up-to-Date Contact Information: Make it easy for potential customers to reach you.
Strong Call to Action (CTA): Tell visitors what to do next (e.g., “Download our free guide” or “Follow for daily tips”).
Step-by-Step Guide to Profile Optimization
Step 5: Develop a Content Strategy (Instead of Randomly Posting and Hoping for the Best)
A content strategy helps ensure that every post serves a purpose and contributes to your overall goals.
How to Structure Your Content Strategy:
Content Themes: Identify key topics relevant to your audience.
Content Types: Balance text posts, images, videos, infographics, and user-generated content.
Posting Schedule: Use a content calendar to maintain consistency.
Quality Over Quantity: Posting frequently with poor content hurts more than it helps.
Content Strategy Best Practices
Step 6: Engage With Your Audience (Because Social Media is Not a One-Way Street)
Many businesses treat social media as a broadcast tool instead of a conversation platform. Engagement builds relationships, increases trust, and encourages algorithm favorability.
How to Boost Engagement:
Respond Quickly: Replying to comments and messages in real time increases brand credibility.
Encourage Conversations: Ask questions, run polls, and seek feedback.
Acknowledge Followers: Feature user-generated content and highlight top followers.
How to Improve Social Media Engagement
Step 7: Implement Social Media Optimization (SMO) Techniques
SMO ensures that your content is not only high-quality but also discoverable and shareable.
Best Practices for SMO:
Use Keywords and Hashtags: They improve discoverability and help categorize content.
Optimize Posting Times: Analyze when your audience is most active.
Leverage Visuals: Videos and images consistently outperform plain text.
SMO Techniques That Actually Work
Step 8: Monitor Performance and Adjust Accordingly
Without tracking results, you are flying blind. Regularly reviewing analytics helps refine your strategy and improve results over time.
Key Metrics to Track:
Engagement Rate: Likes, shares, comments, and replies.
Reach and Impressions: How many people see your content.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of people clicking on your links.
Conversion Rate: How many users take action, such as signing up or purchasing.
How to Track Social Media Performance
Step 9: Stay Updated with Trends and Best Practices
Social media changes constantly, and strategies that work today might be irrelevant tomorrow.
How to Stay Ahead:
Follow industry leaders and blogs to keep up with trends.
Test new formats and algorithm changes before they become mainstream.
Experiment with different engagement tactics and monitor what works.
The Latest Social Media Trends
Conclusion: Turning Strategy into Success
Creating an effective SMO strategy from scratch may seem overwhelming, but with a clear plan, the right tools, and consistent effort, your brand can stand out in the crowded digital landscape. By defining your goals, knowing your audience, optimizing content, and continuously analyzing performance, you build a foundation for long-term success.
Social media isn’t just about posting—it’s about engaging, adapting, and delivering real value to your audience. The key is to remain flexible and willing to refine your strategy as trends evolve.
Now it’s time to take action. Start small, stay consistent, and keep learning. A well-planned strategy today leads to measurable growth tomorrow. What’s your next step?
Finding Your Social Media Toolkit
What does that home improvement project you’ve been putting off and social media management have in common? You’ll need good tools to do the job right. You can go old school, and schedule, track and analyze everything yourself, but chances are this approach will leave your social performance suboptimal. When you’re gearing up for a new project, picking the right tools is just as important as picking enough tools. Let’s go over a few tools you should consider using to make sure your social media renovation is done well.
Social Media Optimization
First, let’s consider a few common tools that are used to streamline content creation. From cross-platform publication to competitive campaign analysis, these tools can save you a few headaches and sharpen your posts.
Tool # 1 : Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management sites on the market. As of 2021, the company boasted over 200,000 paid subscriptions, and that number has likely grown in recent years. Hootsuite’s core offering is convenient and simplified content planning and post publishing. This scheduling feature allows users to post and track across platforms, all on one centralized website. Hootsuite also offers analytics, tracking data that business owners may struggle to find on their own. One great example of helpful data is industry insights. HootSuite allows user to compare their social performance to industry averages, showing how you’re performing compared to the competition
Is Hootsuite for you?
Hootsuite has two main strengths. First, it’s feature heavy while relatively affordable. HootSuite can help you do all aspects of social media management. The base plan is $99 a month, which is much cheaper than some competitors. Secondly, Hootsuite is well-known for user friendliness.While Hootsuite is relatively affordable, it may still be a little pricey for some small businesses, especially if social media is not a major focus. Another issue with Hootsuite is inconsistent customer support. The company doesn’t offer phone support, and customers often complain about long response times. If you’re relatively new to social media management, but ready to chase some great results and not afraid to invest a little to achieve them, Hootsuite is an excellent tool.
Tool # 2 : Buffer
If Hootsuite is a little bit out of your price range, Buffer could be a great option for you. Buffer offers many of the same general features as Hootsuite, such as scheduling and analytics. It’s also known for being even simpler to use than Hootsuite, and it even offers a free plan. The free plan is fairly limited, so if you’re looking to post frequently across multiple platforms, you’ll likely need to move towards a paid plan. Buffer’s simplicity is perhaps its most attractive feature. It has an intuitive user-friendly interface that anyone can hop into. While Buffer provides tremendous value and ease of use, it doesn’t have the same level of depth and complexity as Hootsuite, and it offers a bit less control. For example, the analytics reporting can’t give you the same competitor information. Buffer will be less helpful when it comes to refining and monitoring your social strategy.
Why Pick Buffer?
If you need robust, cross-team social media management, with in-depth reporting to help you refine your social strategy, Buffer might not be the tool for you. But if you’re a small business with a very limited marketing budget looking to dip your toes in the ocean of social media, Buffer is a great place to start.
Social Paid Advertising
Creating content on social media is only half of effective social media optimization. Paid social advertising is a strategy to effectively reach your audience. Let’s unpack some of the advantages and differences between paid social advertising and general digital advertising, by examining Meta Ads, a common social media advertising solution, and Google Ads, a popular digital advertising tool.
What are Google Ads and Meta Ads?
Google Ads is an advertising solution that is not tied to social media. Instead, it is tied to web users’ search activity and website activity. When people search for your product or similar products online or browse websites, Google will share your advertisements. Google Ads are a great example of search engine marketing, or SEM. In contrast, Meta Ads are used on social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram. Meta Ads are an example of SMM, or social media marketing. Let’s compare the different strengths of these services to discover what kind of marketing may be best for your business.
Reach
Both Google Ads and Meta Ads provide tremendous reach, as billions of people utilize Google and social media on a daily basis. There is a slight edge for general web activity over social media use. However, social media marketing may allow you to tap into niche audiences whose interests align with what your business offers.
Ad Formats
Google Ads provide a variety of ad options like Search and Video to reach customers across different websites. Meta Ads allow options like Instant Experience, which takes advantage of the immersive nature of social media.
Targeting Options
Google Ads primarily focuses on web activity and location to find the ideal audience for ads. Meta Ads allow you to target audiences based on interests, and can even utilize purchase history to find potential customers.
Cost
While cost for both types of advertising vary, Meta Ads tend to generate conversions at a cheaper rate. Meta Ads generally stay under one dollar per click, but Google Ads may be several dollars per click.
Why bother with paid advertising?
While both SEM and SMM can provide excellent value when it comes to reaching your audience, paid social ads are key for businesses looking to maximize social presence. Paid advertising allows you to expand your reach and target customers interested in your product or service Consider incorporating paid advertising in your next campaign!
The tools make the job
Whether you’re looking to streamline your posting process, understand your audience better or push your product to the top of the feed, tools will help accomplish your goals. Consider adding these tools for your next campaign!
What is Paid Social Advertising?
Whether you are a business owner, marketing nerd, research student or networking enthusiast, this breakdown of Paid Social Advertising is for you!
Paid Social Advertising is simply the more technical term for the prolific and ever present advertisements that interrupt your Instagram reels and Facebook feed. You might even have noticed and wondered why “Promoted” or “Sponsored” are labels on specific posts or publications. Simply put, they are the frontrunners for advertisements that are being pushed by the company, through a regulated platform for the best exposure and usually best results.
These are in contrast to the organic posts that businesses publish for their company. Organic posts refers to the regular and common posts, stories, and reels that can be shared from any type of account on social media. The various types of accounts on social media are: private personal, public personal, business, and creator. Each type of account has its own advantages but when it comes to business and creator, there are analytical and networking tools available to the user that are not available to personal accounts. These tools are the rudders and oars to keep your marketing schemes in the right current.
As a business owner or a marketing manager, you may at times feel like you have been treading water for too long by posting and sharing organically. Well, it is not cheating to take hold of the life raft that platforms and host networks throw out to help you and your business swim back to the boat.
You may be asking: Why Paid Advertising? What is the purpose?
Here is the answer: To get more eyes on your page and products!
“But how? What medium do I use?”
The answer? Targeted Ads! Targeted ads aimed to a direct and specific audience that you and your business are trying to reach!
You may be asking yourself, “But why do I need to pay to use a free social media platform to promote my business?”
The answer is five fold:
Wider Reach
More Visibility
Enhanced Brand Awareness
In Depth Marketing Insights
Targeted Advertising
Now let's dive into these five aspects of Paid Advertisements!
Wider Reach
Paid Social Advertising will help you and your company gain a larger audience through the algorithm and networking systems of larger platforms such as Meta, X, or LinkedIn. Regular, or organic posting, reaches your followers and friends immediately but does not come across the feed of those who do not already follow your business page.
More Visibility
Once you strike a deal with a specific platform, they now have stock and investment in your business - specifically that campaign. Not only will they reach a broader audience with that campaign but also promote and expose it more often to generate more revenue for your business. This in turn creates a relationship of promotions and product placement between your business and the platform.
Enhanced Brand Awareness
With a wider reach and more visibility comes enhanced brand awareness that utilizes networking and brand promotion. Your company, services, and products are now being shown worldwide at a rate and pace that is unmatched by any natural or organic start. Networking is happening naturally and brand awareness is now at an all time high.
In Depth Marketing Insights
Most, if not all - platforms and pages give reviews of Marketing Insights of your posts, stories, and website clicks. Instagram is a great example of how their mother brand, Meta, compiles data and information about the post placement and promotion and presents the information in an accurate and succinct way to the marketing manager.
Meet,
Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per action (CPA)
Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Return on investment (ROI)
These acronyms are going to be lighthouses that help you steer your company’s marketing ship back into safe (and profitable) waters!
Targeted Advertising
Paid Social Advertisements’ last leg of support is Targeted Advertising. Meta specifically, uses a combination of data collection, machine learning, and audience targeting options. This information is gathered by interaction, engagement, and analyzing information from your personal device and account.
SemRush reminds us how simple it is to set up our own target audience: “Many social media platforms let you target broad or specific audiences based on certain characteristics. For example, Facebook lets you target ads based on location, age, gender, interests, behavior, and language.”
The timeline is simple:
It usually looks something like this: Sarah is scrolling through TikTok and sees a backpack that she admires - she likes the video - that seller obtains her information. Later that day, Sarah, (still on TikTok) sees a video of New Balance’s spring and summer shoe collection. The longer she watches the video instead of scrolling right past, the more her information is shared with New Balance. By the next day Sarah’s social media feed is full of backpacks and New Balance kicks.
And once you’re in the system, there is no getting out…
With those five reasons and matters of importance in mind, here is a tip from Constant Contact to utilize as you seek to create your Paid Social Media Ads.
“For all of your paid social ads, remember to:
Define your objective
Define your target audience
Analyze organic (non-paid) posts to know what works best for you
Make your ads mobile responsive
Set, and keep a budget for social paid ads across platforms.”
Paid Social Media Advertisements are useful tools that are provided by networking and media platforms for the promotion of your business and products. The internal tools are usually set automatically but can be monitored or adjusted manually through the apps or websites. AI is a rising toolbox in itself that is being integrated into most Paid Social Media Advertising platforms. Yet, as much as this sector of advertising is broad and sometimes confusing, it still drives sales and promotions, giving you and your business Wider Reach, More Visibility, Enhanced Brand Awareness, In Depth Marketing Insights, and Targeted Advertising.
For more information, check out our sources:
What is SMO?
As social media continues to have an ever-increasing impact on company success, it can seem like businesses are trapped in a never-ending rat race for digital relevancy. Have you ever wondered what leads some companies to overnight internet fame? Why do some instagram accounts achieve millions of followers, while others continue to produce content in obscurity. From a business perspective, how do some online storefronts experience tremendous levels of website traffic, while others struggle to complete a single online order? While numerous factors are at play, an undeniably important one is SMO, or social media optimization.
What is SMO?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, social media optimization is “the use of various methods on social media to make a product or company become well known and popular, so that, for example, people are encouraged to visit a particular website” So at a basic level, SMO is the ways people or businesses look to boost their social presence. What are some practical examples of this? According to Hootsuite, there are five main areas of social media optimization. These areas all build social success, but they also feed off one another.
Engagement Optimization. Engagement refers to the level of interaction your followers or viewers have with your social profiles. Some examples of engagements include likes, shares or comments. In general, the more you can increase engagement, the more successful your social profiles will be.
Growth Optimization: Growth is usually measured by the number of followers that a social profile has. The main goal with growth optimization is driving the overall visibility of your profile. By including hashtags, relevant keywords and tagging other accounts, you can increase your chances of being found and followed by social users.
Conversion Optimization: For businesses, the ultimate goal of social media is to drive sales. To make this happen, focus on making the purchasing journey as seamless as possible. Now, with direct shopping links, companies can instantly take interested scrollers into committed customers.
Accessibility Optimization: The focus of accessibility optimization is to make sure that the visual and audio elements of your social profiles are as inviting as possible to potential followers. Remember, you may only get one chance to capture a social media scroller. Make sure to prioritize high-quality images and subtitles with all videos, this will maximize appeal and viewability.
Overall Performance Optimization: To assess the overall optimization of your social profiles, you need to review social performance against your social media strategy. What goals do you have for your social media, and are you meeting those goals? Analytics can be a helpful method for determining whether your social performance is up to par.
Origins of SMO
SMO has been around since nearly the beginning of social media. Since at least 2006, when early social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook were growing in popularity, the term has been used to describe ways that social media sites can be tweaked for maximum user friendliness. By that point, Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, was widely used to refer to making web pages more friendly to search results. Just as SEO is used to drive traffic through search engines, SMO is meant to drive traffic through social platforms. As social media has grown, so has social media optimization strategies and techniques. Consider the explosive growth of companies like Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Hubspot. Companies are continually realizing that often, the business that wins the social media race wins the overall success race.
SMO Vs. SEO
SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, has been a pillar of internet marketing for several decades.According to one source, SEO became a focused practice in the late 1990s. The focus of SEO is placing a company’s website as high as possible on web search results. This was originally accomplished through placing as many keywords as possible in a given webpage, and making sure that hyperlinks were present. In the early days of SEO, the focus was quantity over quality. As search engines have become more refined, there is still a heavy focus on keywords and links to other pages. However, quality has become much more relevant. Now, websites can actually lose SEO ranking for “spamming” keywords, and content needs to be perceived as credible and authoritative by the search engine’s quality ranking system.
In contrast to SEO, SMO is focused strictly on social platforms. While SEO tends to focus on direct conversions, SMO generally favors engagement and community growth. SMO can be a pathway to building long-term relationships with consumers by leveraging social media’s ability to generate connections between creator and viewer. SEO and SMO can also complement each other within a digital marketing strategy by focusing on different sources of traffic acquisition, SEO through web searches and SMO through social media.
How can SMO Drive Revenue?
SMO will also increase in importance as social media continues to grow. One trend that highlights the growth of social media in the life of the consumer is social media shopping. On Instagram alone, nearly 22% of Americans browse products for shopping, and over 200 million users tap on a shopping post or business profile every day. This trend is even more pronounced generationally, with nearly 40% of millennials regularly browsing on Instagram for consumer products. This data clearly demonstrates that prioritizing social media success through SMO can enhance a company’s overall revenue.
Next Steps for SMO
Now that you’ve seen how SMO can drive digital marketing growth, consider how you can utilize it for your business. Analyzing strengths, weaknesses and opportunities can maximize your use of social media. One great first step is to examine how your target audience uses social media. How can you modify your content to reach them more effectively, and what seems to be working now? What weaknesses do you see in your social platforms?
Once you have an idea of how you can improve your social media, creating a comprehensive strategy will help guide your campaigns. Knowing the why behind your posts will make creating content much easier. As you post campaign content, tools like analytics can help track the effectiveness of your strategy. Here at Lifeboat Optimization, we will continue to curate content to help you effectively take the next step for your business’s social media!