SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social Media Marketing for Houston Businesses
The right post on the right platform brings calls. The same post on the wrong one brings likes and nothing else. We build social media that fits your buyers, supports your website and shows up in your lead reports.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253
THE SHORT ANSWER
What does social media do for a business?
Social media does 3 jobs for a business. It keeps you in front of people who already know you, so they think of you when they are ready to buy or are asked for a referral. It proves you are a real, active company, which matters to customers and to Google. And it gives your expertise a place to be seen by people who have not found your website yet.
What it does not do is replace your website. Beth Guide says it plainly in her classes: your website is the property you own, and your social profiles are equal representations of your business that should all point back to it. Google looks at your Facebook, LinkedIn and other profiles as part of the same story. You have to build one cohesive narrative, not a pile of disconnected accounts.
Every business also needs its own business page, separate from the owner’s personal profile, so it has its own identity on each platform. That sounds basic. We still find businesses running everything from a personal account every month.
WHAT IS INCLUDED
Our social media marketing services
PLATFORM FIT
Which social media platform should my business use?
Beth tells a story from her own feed that settles this question for most people. She shared a post on social media recommendations for businesses and nonprofits. On Facebook it was shared 77 times and never produced a single call. On LinkedIn, the same post brings 2 or 3 calls for quotes every time she puts it up. For a B2B agency, LinkedIn is the right place 9 times out of 10.
Flip the business and the answer flips. A stylist, a balloon artist or a restaurant posting fun, visual content belongs on Facebook and Instagram, where that content gets shared. Put the same posts on LinkedIn and they fall flat, because they are not framed for that audience.
So the first step is matching platforms to buyers. We cover the tradeoffs in the best social media for business, and the post Beth mentions lives on our site as social media recommendations. For B2B, her clinic episode on making LinkedIn work for your business is a good place to start.
ONE PIECE, MANY PLACES
How do you keep up with social media without burning out?
Beth’s process is a cycle: write the page, put it on the website, make the graphic, put it out on social, then repeat. Over time she added video, podcasts and presentations to the same loop, but the idea never changed. Every piece of content should drive traffic back to a property your business owns.
That is how a small team keeps up. One blog post becomes a LinkedIn article, 2 or 3 Facebook posts, an Instagram carousel, a short video and a Google Business Profile update. One podcast episode becomes a week of clips. Our content marketing team builds the source pieces, and our video marketing service cuts them for each platform.
If you are just getting started, read 7 tips for social media beginners before you post anything, and common social media mistakes before you spend anything.
THE CASE FOR VERTICAL WEB ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media that answers to your lead report
SOCIAL AND SEARCH
Does social media help SEO?
Not directly, and anyone who says otherwise is overselling. Google has said likes, shares and follower counts are not ranking factors, and most links in social posts are nofollow.
The indirect benefits are real, though. Social profiles often rank on page one for your business name, which crowds out anything you would rather customers not see first. Google crawls the big platforms constantly, so sharing a new page can get it discovered faster. Beth uses X for exactly that. And active profiles lead to the mentions, interviews and links that do move rankings. We dig into X specifically in Twitter SEO: does X still help your Google rankings.
Some platforms are now more about data than posting. Foursquare’s consumer app is no longer where most customers browse, but its business data still feeds other apps. Keeping that listing accurate belongs in citation management, and you can see it and the other properties we maintain on the complete directory list.
MEASURE IT
How do you know if social media is paying off?
Start with tracking. The Facebook pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag and Google Analytics 4 events should all be installed before you post a single ad. That lets you see which posts send visitors who call or fill out a form, and lets you retarget people who visited your site but did not act.
Then judge each platform by leads, not likes. If a platform has not produced traffic, calls or sales after 90 days of steady effort, move the time somewhere else. We explain how to put a dollar figure on the work in the ROI of social media.
Campaigns have their own rules and pace. If you are running for office, our political social media service is built for that clock.
WORKING TOGETHER
What do you need from me to run my social media?
Less than most owners expect, but not nothing. The posts that perform best are the ones only your business can make, so we ask for raw material, not finished content.
- Photos and short clips from your shop, office or job sites. A phone is fine. Real beats polished.
- A monthly 20 minute call where we ask what customers have been asking about, what jobs went well and what is coming up.
- Access to your business pages as an admin, never your personal password.
- A quick approval of the calendar before it goes out, if you want one.
From that we write the posts, cut the video, schedule everything and answer routine comments. Anything sensitive, such as a complaint or a pricing question, comes to you first with a suggested reply. You stay in control of the voice, and you do not have to spend your evenings thinking up something to post.
Organic or paid
Organic or paid social: which social media marketing strategy is right for your brand?
Most businesses need both, in different amounts. Organic social is what you post on your own pages for free: updates, videos, tips and proof of your work. Paid social is advertising, where you pay the platform to show an ad to a target audience you choose. A social media post reaches people who already follow you. A social media ad reaches people who do not, yet.
Organic social builds trust and brand awareness over time. It shows customers you are active, gives referral partners something to share and supports your SEO with consistent profiles that point back to your website. Paid social buys reach quickly. It works best for a specific campaign with a clear offer, such as a seasonal service, an event or a new location, sent to a landing page built for that one job.
Your strategy should start with the business goal, not the platform. If you need calls this month, paid social or paid search will get there faster. If you want to be the name people think of when they are ready, steady organic content is the long game. Our PPC management team manages more than $1M in annual paid search in-house, and ties paid campaigns to the same lead reports as your social.
What the work includes
What does a social media management agency or social media consultant do?
A social media consultant builds the plan: which platforms, which content, how often and how results are measured. A social media management agency builds the plan and runs it: content creation, video production, posting, replies, ads and reporting. Some clients want one, some want the other, and some start with a consultation and take the work in-house once their team knows what to do.
Good social media management is mostly judgment. A social media expert knows which posts are worth making and which are noise. Beth Guide is blunt about the noise: she does not see business value in good morning posts or a photo of the coffee cup. If something goes out in the name of your business, it should be something a customer can use, such as an answer, a tip, a before and after, or proof of a finished project.
Here is what our management work covers for a typical client:
- Strategy and calendar: platforms matched to your market, with posts planned ahead so you can review them.
- Content creation and production: graphics, short video and captions built from your website, podcast, classes and real work.
- Community management: replies to comments, messages and reviews on social.
- Performance reporting: traffic, leads and sales from social, not just follower counts.
Budget
How much does social media marketing cost for a Houston business?
It depends on the scope: how many platforms, how much content, whether video production is involved, and whether you are paying for ads on top of management. A business that needs two platforms and a steady posting schedule is a very different project from a brand running weekly video and paid campaigns across four platforms.
Keep the costs in two buckets. Management covers the people who plan, create and post. Ad spend is the money paid to the platform for reach. Ask any firm to show those separately, and ask how they will tie both to results you can see in your analytics. We give you a written scope and price after a consultation, and we will tell you which platforms you can skip.
Social media works best alongside search engine optimization and content marketing, because the same content can drive search traffic and social engagement. Our content marketing team builds the source pieces, and our digital marketing hub shows how the channels fit together.
Rules of thumb
What is the 3-3-3 rule for social media marketing, and does it work?
There is no single official 3-3-3 rule. Marketers use the phrase for several formulas, such as catching attention in the first 3 seconds, repeating 3 key messages, or giving 3 helpful posts for every promotional one. The useful idea behind all of them is the same: focus on a few messages and repeat them consistently.
That idea holds up. Most businesses post too many different things and too few of the right ones. Pick the 3 things you want customers to remember, such as what you do, where you do it and why you are the right choice, and build most of your content around them. Then make the first few seconds of every video and the first line of every post earn the rest.
Rules of thumb are a starting point. Your own data is the real guide. Watch which posts bring clicks to your website and which bring calls, then do more of those. For platform choices, see the best social media for business.
QUESTIONS
Social media marketing questions
Ours includes profile setup and cleanup, a content plan built from your website and expertise, posting and scheduling, short video cut from your classes, podcasts or job sites, community replies, review prompts, tracking pixels and monthly reporting tied to traffic and leads.
It depends on who buys from you. B2B firms and professional services usually get the most from LinkedIn. Home services, restaurants, retail and personal services tend to do better on Facebook and Instagram. Younger audiences are on TikTok and YouTube. We pick 2 or 3 and do them well.
Indirectly. Likes and shares are not ranking factors, but active profiles often rank for your brand name, help Google find new pages faster and lead to the mentions and links that do affect rankings. They also confirm to Google that you are a real business.
Its consumer app is no longer where most customers browse, but Foursquare’s business listing data still feeds other apps and services. Keeping that listing accurate is part of citation management rather than a social posting plan.
Consistency matters more than volume. For most small businesses, 2 to 4 good posts a week on each main platform beats daily filler. One strong piece of content can be cut into several posts across platforms.
Install the platform pixels and Google Analytics 4 tracking, then watch referral traffic, form fills, calls and sales from social. Engagement is useful feedback, but leads and revenue are the real measure.
There is no single official version. Marketers use it for formulas like catching attention in 3 seconds or repeating 3 key messages. The useful lesson is to focus on a few messages and repeat them consistently.
It depends on the platforms, the amount of content, video production and any ad spend. We give a written scope and price after a consultation, with management and ad spend shown separately.
A consultant builds the plan: platforms, content, schedule and how results are measured. A management agency also runs the plan, from content creation and posting to ads and reporting.
A post goes to people who follow your page, for free. An ad is paid placement shown to a target audience you choose, usually tied to a specific campaign and offer.
Is your social media bringing in business?
Request a free website audit. We will check your profiles, your tracking and how social traffic behaves on your site, then tell you where to focus.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253 | info@verticalweb.com