FACE It: Why Your Business Needs a Super-Charged Social Media Presence
When you wanted to find out about a business in the 80s and early 90s, you looked them up in the phone book.
By the mid-90s when the internet started becoming more prevalent, you might have started trying that.
In the mid-2000s, Google revolutionized marketing with search and one-click ads and became a go-to standard giant because of it.
And, in this day in age, if you don't also have a solid, meaningful presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., you're dead to the world. Or at least to many of your best-paying potential customers. You see, it's not enough anymore to have just a website.
Do you know what the heart of marketing really is? Telling your story in the way you tell it best. Social media is one of the best, most dynamic ways to tell that story and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Why is it important for people to "like" me?
The short answer: Facebook likes and Twitter follows turn into revenue.
Social media is the fastest, least expensive version of marketing out there today with a very easy entry point, unlike buying a billboard or air time on TV or radio. And people use it more than those things. For many people, they can't go a day - make that a few minutes - without checking their Facebook accounts on their phones. Despite the clutter we all face every day, people make time for social media. If you're not an active participant, you're not on their radars.
Why do I need to hire someone to manage social media for me?
For starters, managing social media beyond an occasional "hey, this is on sale today" is much more involved than you might think. It involves tried-and-true strategy (along with a little experimenting) to find out what people want to talk about, not just what they want to know. It is in this talking people do through social media that your business becomes more reputable and more top-of-mind. It's crucial to go beyond "we're offering X" to "you want X because here is how it's going to make your life better in some way, and look at this picture of X because once you look at it, you are less likely to forget it."
Seeing where trends are, researching what - and what days and times - to post, finding sharable content from other sources all over the internet…that's more effort than you probably want to put into it or have time for, but can you afford NOT to have it? If your Facebook page isn't updated very often and doesn't get much engagement (comments, shares, and likes), it's not going to show up in as many users' feeds. So when you post sporadically without much planning or regularity, you're not getting as much exposure as you might think. The more people engage with your posts, the more your posts will show up for them and for others. But even when you don't get hundreds of comments or shares on each post, it doesn't mean no one's listening. Monitoring the exposure of each individual post is equally critical to judging how effective the post was. (And who has time for that? Oh, yes…I do.)
Besides that, irregular posting makes your business look like it's not current. It doesn't make you look like you have so much business that you just don't have time to post; it makes you look like you don't have anything new or interesting worth telling anyone about. Social media involves taking the time to build true relationships with folks. Yes…true relationships these days happen online, not just in person, and one usually leads to the other.
Do I really need a blog for my business?
Another form of social media that is becoming more and more vital to growing a business is blogging. Having a regularly updated blog with relevant and interesting content helps to further establish you as an expert in your industry. People like to find out about the person behind the business, and they want to feel they know you and can trust you. When they feel they know you at least a little bit and can trust what you're telling them, that aids in cementing their loyalty to buying from your business.
Blogging also keeps people coming back to your website again and again. Instead of having a static site that barely ever changes (which I don't recommend either), suddenly you have a dynamic site that is constantly being refreshed with new content that people are waiting to check out.
Ugh, I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. So where do I even begin?
I offer my Social Media Takeover package for $300 a month, which includes Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest updates twice a week. This means I will post AS YOU on all those avenues. No one will ever know the difference. I do the research and the strategy for you and then create engaging updates that customers want to talk about, find out more about, and ultimately buy something because of them. You get regular and increased exposure without the fuss.
If you don't feel you're a great writer or simply don't have the time to keep up with the demands of maintaining a blog, I also offer what I've coined "ghostposting." This means blogging AS YOU, in your voice and with your personality infused. You give me an idea, or I'll come up with one. Then just give me a few brief notes or bullet points about what you want your customers to know about, and I weave a well-crafted blog post with your name on it. Boom: instant credibility for your business.
My husband is an IT professional and barely even knows what a Facebook "like" is, and he still calls a hashtag a number sign, so I'm sure there are more like him out there. If that's you, and you're not sure why social media matters or how it will increase your profits, schedule a free 30-minute call with me. I'll give you my free marketing evaluation of what you're currently doing and help narrow down the social media mystery for you. Because - trust me - just because you and my husband aren't savvy in social media certainly doesn't mean most of your potential customers aren't.
