Digital Presence: Getting Started with Social Media

For small businesses in the Eastern Sierra, marketing can sometimes feel like a guessing game.

You know you should be posting on social media. You know you should be promoting your upcoming events, programs, products, or services. You may even be spending money on Facebook or Instagram advertising.

But how do you know what’s actually working?

And with limited time and resources, how do you make sure the effort you put into digital marketing actually reaches the people most likely to become customers?

The good news: effective digital marketing doesn’t have to mean posting every day, spending a lot of money on ads, or becoming a full-time social media manager.

It starts with getting a few fundamentals right.

Get the free, downloadable worksheet Five Steps to Your First Social Post here.

Start with the audience, not the algorithm

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses can make is thinking first about what Facebook or Instagram wants to see.

Instead, start with your customer.

Who are you trying to reach? Where do they live? What do they care about? What problem are you helping them solve?

For an Eastern Sierra business, your audience might be relatively local. You might be trying to reach customers in Bishop, Lone Pine, Mammoth Lakes, or another nearby community. Or you might be trying to reach visitors planning a trip to the region.

Your advertising and organic content should reflect that reality.

Rather than trying to reach everyone, think about the people who are most likely to take action.

Don’t assume you know which platform works best

It can be tempting to assume Facebook is the best place to spend your advertising dollars—or that Instagram is the answer because that’s where everyone seems to be.

But your own data can tell you much more than your gut.

Look at your social media and advertising metrics regularly. Which posts get the most engagement? Which ads generate clicks? Which ones lead to registrations, inquiries, purchases, or other meaningful actions?

The goal isn’t simply to get more likes.

It’s to understand which content and audiences are actually helping your business.

Start small, test, and pay attention to the results.

Give people a reason to stop scrolling

Whether you’re creating an organic post or an advertisement, you have only a moment to catch someone’s attention.

This is especially important with short-form video. A strong hook in the first few seconds can make the difference between someone continuing to watch and scrolling past.

Whenever possible, lead with the thing your audience actually cares about.

Real people often beat polished graphics

For small businesses, you don’t necessarily need expensive photography, elaborate graphics, or highly produced videos.Real faces and real voices can be incredibly effective.

Show the person behind the business. Give people a look at what you’re working on. Capture a moment at your event. Talk directly to the camera.Your audience isn’t just buying a product or service. They’re often choosing who they want to support.

Let them get to know you.

Give every post one job

One of the simplest ways to make digital marketing more effective is to stop asking every post to do everything.

Instead, give each piece of content one clear purpose.

Maybe you’re trying to:

• Get people to register for an event
• Introduce a new product
• Tell people about a service
• Drive traffic to your website
• Start a conversation
• Remind people about something they already saw

Whatever the goal, make the next step obvious.

One clear message and one clear call to action are usually more effective than trying to squeeze five messages into one post.

Don’t judge an ad too quickly

If you’re paying to promote something, give it enough time to collect useful information.

Rather than constantly changing an ad after a few hours, let it run long enough to see how people are responding. Then use the results to make your next decision.

You can test different images, messages, audiences, and calls to action—but change one thing at a time when possible so you can actually learn from the results.

And remember: an ad that gets lots of clicks isn’t necessarily your best ad if those clicks don’t lead to meaningful action.

Start with organic content before putting money behind it

You don’t always have to guess which content will perform well. One practical approach is to post something organically first and see how your audience responds.

If a post gets strong engagement, shares, comments, or other meaningful interaction, consider putting some advertising dollars behind it. This gives you a starting point based on actual audience behavior rather than simply guessing what might work.

You can also consider retargeting people who have already interacted with your content. Someone who has watched your video, visited your page, or engaged with your post is already familiar with your business—which can make them a warmer audience than someone who has never encountered you before.

The biggest opportunity: Make your content work harder

Perhaps the most important shift isn’t about Facebook versus Instagram, or choosing the perfect image.

It’s about realizing that one piece of content doesn’t have to be one post.

An event, product launch, workshop, announcement, or seasonal moment can become the starting point for an entire series of content.

That’s where the content cascade comes in.

Instead of creating something completely new every time you post, you can take one anchor idea and tell the story in multiple ways before, during, and after the event or announcement.

In other words:

You don’t need a new idea every day. You need to make one good idea go further.

Register for the final session of our live, online Digital Presence workshop series – September 29, 2-3 pm. 

Stay tuned for the next post in this guest blog series by BRC digital presence expert,, Krystina Maixner of Chalk Fox Studio, we’ll break down exactly how to do that.