In order to be competitive in today’s landscape, small businesses must have a presence on social media and know how to be dangerous. Building a brand has changed from 20 years ago when you could just take an ad out in the local paper and hit 60% of the population. Now, if you want to interact with your customer base and spread your brand in your community, it is much more work and on top of that, the platforms are evolving and changing all the time. Just posting an update every couple of days and showing some of your products from time to time isn’t going to cut it. Here are the 5 guidelines I follow that have directly impacted my business, grown our customer base, and increased sales.
1. Consistency- It is not the customer’s job to think of your brand when they need your product/services, it is your job to remind them and stay top of mind. This means posting every day on the platform that the majority of your customer base is on (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, you name it). This way you are always in the “news feed” and staying relevant with your customers and customers-to-be. Once you pick that platform, make sure you post in the other social media sites as well at least 1-2 times per week. 2. Not posting S***- In one of my previous posts, I talk about having a social media calendar (read here) so when you post something, it is thought out and not just another picture of your store telling customers what you sell. Each post should be either engaging, informative, interactive, or all three! Take yourself out of the owner’s shoes and think from a customer’s point of view. What would you want to see/ learn from a local business? 3. You don’t always have to do the heavy lifting- Most social media platforms are built around a “pay to play” model. This means that in order to reach a large percentage of your customer base you have to put some dollars behind it. Unless you post something mind blowing that gets shared over and over again, it is very difficult to go “viral” without paying. So what’s the secret here? Find an already trending post out there that is relevant to your industry and just share it on your page. For example, with my business, Bellies to Babies, I often share posts that feature cute baby videos or funny pregnancy memes that may get 300 likes and hundreds of shares when I did basically no work to get that reach and now my brand is associated with that viral content. 4. There is still arbitrage when it comes to social media ads- Where print ads may cost thousands of dollars for no guaranteed results, ads on Facebook for example can cost a fraction of the price for results you can track and measure! 5. Retarget- By retargeting customers, you can stay front and center across multiple websites without having to capture any information on the front end. Installing this code onto your current website helps close the loop for customers who bounce from your website (learn more here :https://retargeter.com/what-is-retargeting-and-how-does-it-work). Comments are closed.
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Who is this guy?Hi! I am Dan Canfield, a born marketer that thrives on pushing the boundaries in my industries. I am currently a business owner, consultant, and employee, so I have a diverse perspective in the business world. This site is an outlet for me to share what I have learned and give you a piece of my mind. |