Is Social Media your Notice Board?
What is the number one secret to promote your business effectively on social media?
Here it is… STOP BROADCASTING!!!
And furthermore, it is not a noticeboard.
Not sure what I mean? Allow me to explain. Think of a notice board. Its purpose is to inform the public about what is happening in the community, including events, sales ads, open job positions, etc. Anyone interested in what’s on the board can simply look for the contact information on the specific notice. There is no two-way communication involved. There are simply the notices, the people interested in what they see, and the people who aren’t. The notice board is no more than a silent broadcast to the general public.
We are going to discuss how to use your social media accounts, examine some poor practices that some businesses use to advertise on social media, why these practices don’t work, and what you should be doing instead for an effective social media advertising strategy.
PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE, SELL SELL SELL
A show of hand to all those who have ever fallen victim to this mentality of getting new clients through social media. These are the businesses that populate their followers’ feed with 20 ads a day, 7 days a week; talk to everyone and anyone online about their offers, and may even randomly slide into comments on other posts to increase their chances of being seen. Their followers cannot escape their posts because they make sure they are plastering their ads on all the social media platforms, regardless of whether their ideal client resides there are not. Because come on. You never know, right?
Why it Doesn’t Work
If you were thinking, “the more people that see my ad, and the more often they see it, the better the chance for my business to increase its sales”, then I’m sorry; it doesn’t work that way. People don’t go on social media to see your business ads being pushed in their faces all day, every day. That kind of behaviour is more likely forcing your audience to unfollow or block your posts if they consider it an annoyance. Not a situation you want for yourself.
Find The Sweet Spot
Find the sweet spot between posting too much and not posting enough. Develop a schedule of how often you will post your ads and what platforms you will advertise. Research which platforms your ideal client is most active on, and best practices for posting. This could ideally be two to three times a week, with one to two posts per day, depending on the platform. You should also choose only one or two platforms on which to do your advertising. Don’t try to cover them all. Tailor your ads to fit the vibe of each platform and ensure the content is relatable to the audience you are targeting.
The Faceless, Emotionless Approach
Many real-life businesses don’t actively interact with their customers. They get the customers to come to them through TV commercials, radio ads and flyers. In other words, the broadcasting approach. Any interactions that happen, happen in-store with the staff. Some people try to take a similar approach when running their business through social media. They hide their faces behind a logo and focus solely on promoting their products or services. They keep things professional and impersonal, sharing little to nothing about themselves or the human side of their business. They are also matter-of-fact and robotic when answering customer queries.
Engage with your audience
With millions of people selling the same or similar products and services online, people will no longer buy from you just because you have the product. It is now very important that they know your personality, your company’s story, and relatable people who can vouch for your brand.
Be approachable in your business. People want to believe that they know you and can trust your brand before deciding to put their money in your hands. Share interesting stories about yourself, your brand, your team and your values. Reply to any comments your followers make on your post—even if it’s just to say ‘thank you, ‘you’re welcome’ or ‘have a great day (Using emojis can be very effective as well). The more you can invite your potential customers to engage and interact with your company, the more they will get to know, like trust and eventually buy from you.
Call-To- Action
Provide a clear call to action, and multiple means of contact. An ad without a CTA is indeed just a noticeboard, and you’re giving your customers the easy option to not do anything. The point of an ad is to make the people viewing it take some action. It doesn’t necessarily mean asking them to buy something. You can entice them to find out more, play a game, get a free coupon if they drop a comment, anything to make them go further than just reading the initial ad.
You also want to make it as easy as possible for other interested customers to reach you. Make contacting your company easy. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, website links, text messaging apps. The more options you provide, the more likely your potential customers will be to reach out to your business.
Socializing is the Name of the Game
We must always remember that social media is a place to make genuine connections with others before it is a business platform. Learn to integrate your brand’s personality into your overall advertising strategy and practice having human conversations with your audience.
Do this by showing up for your audience consistently and authentically, addressing their innermost concerns, and providing them with a viable means to contact you, should they want to talk about how you can help them solve their problems. If you can do this perfectly, social media will work for your business exactly the way you want it to.
Want to find out more about how I can help you socialize more with your audience?
Click here for a free consultation https://tinyurl.com/bxvm8u2r.