Businesses are still trying to successfully navigate the world of social media, with many experts out there having varying opinions of how businesses can best utilise the way in which many of us communicate and exchange information.
For me, I try not to get too swept up in the technical aspects of social media marketing and I usually start with the below themes when getting ready to post to my audience;
Helpful content
With your expertise as well as the products and services you sell, how could your knowledge help the lives of your audience? Think about your industry or niche subject. There are plenty of opportunities to create content that shows people how to maximise certain aspects of their lives, complimentary items in the market, how to guides, and much more.
A great place to start is with my blog ‘Share the Knowledge by Educating Your Customers‘. If you’re a keen reader, also check out Australian marketing legend Tim Reid’s book ‘The Boomerang Effect‘ who coined the term ‘Helpful Marketing’. A highly recommended read!
Awareness
Social media is perfect for raising awareness that you simply exist! This is not about a hard sell or even actively trying to get people to read/watch what you have to say. Awareness can come in a number of different ways and can be as simple as the regularity of posting content on your channels. Photos, updates, videos, publicly answering customer enquiries (taking out that person’s name of course), FAQ posts and much more. Regular and varied content will remind people that you are active and wanting their business.
Case study: Berry Mountain Cycles (listen to owner Paul on episode 5 of the podcast here) use social media to build awareness in their area and connect with like minded people. By being genuine and showing people what they are all about, the business has been able to build trust and loyalty which has then transitioned into sales and retention. They have taken a warmer approach of awareness rather than the traditional hard sale.
Story
We’ve covered this quite a bit in blogs ‘Telling Your Story – 4 Ideas To Get Started‘ and ‘Why Your Story Counts – Start a Blog for Your Business‘. Nutshell – Stories attract attention and help increase the chances of audience interaction and sharing.
Easy purchasing
Posting about what you are selling is not a bad thing. After all, you ARE a business! By using some of the above suggestions in your posts, you will be able to use them in context of your product/service which will increase the potential of the audience turning into customers.
Making sure that your social media pages as well as websites have direct links to your online purchasing sites (or easy directions to reach you) will increase the chases of that conversion. We’re all busy so the easier we can make it for others to become customers along with giving them reasons to, the better!
Each online platform will have its unique approach and you need to understand the benefits/features that each one provides for the user. Having a better understanding of each one will help you tailor your online content to maximise each audience.
What successes and frustrations have you had with social media? Do you find that some approaches work better than others? Any success stories? Share them in the comments below!