1.Show off your work.
I touched on this in Part I, but some more specific examples are needed. If you don’t have a dedicated marketing team or ad agency, your communication with customers is going to be limited. And that’s okay! What doesn’t take much creativity is posting “behind-the-scenes” photos at your business. People love to see what companies are like from an insider’s perspective. This is, in part, because advertisements intentionally cover up what the company is like. They’re a disguise. Any time you can interact with customers without it feeling (to them) like an ad, you should.
2. Get involved.
This is the hard part of using social media. People don’t want to follow just anybody, they want to follow people and businesses they’re interested in, or with whom they share interests. If you want to find your customers and get their attention, you’ll have to snoop around the web just like your customers do. Look for accounts you find interesting and follow some of the people who follow them.
Search hashtags, browsing the currently popular and the all-time favorites for ones that are either related to your business or popular among your customers. Find 500-1000 accounts you or your customers like, follow them, and look for common themes, hashtags, and interests. Bear in mind that the web of connections online is nearly infinite, and this will take some time. Pace yourself as you add new accounts.
3. Be cool.
This is tough advice to give anyone, because it means something different to everyone. What I want you to take away is that most companies are trying way too hard to make social media work for them. In the same way that playing the same TV ad over and over won’t drive sales any more than showing it once, repeating yourself ad nauseum, using terms you don’t understand, and jumping on every #trend won’t help your online presence.
Many people use hashtags to search for photos, so include a few with your photos if they apply, but don’t forget a caption! Hashtags alone often aren’t terribly informative. As for frequency: once a day is a good goal, and any more than 3 posts a day is going to be too much, weakening the attention given to any particular photo.
At bizmktg.com, we know social media marketing, and we help companies get the most out of every profile. Call or e-mail the marketing machines to learn more: (800) 808-0249 or info@bizmktg.com.
