Part Two: Grow Your Small Business With Tools and Insight
#Build #Relationships
You can build relationships over time rather than asking for a sale upfront. More than 44% of internet users use social networks to research brands. Part of that discovery is getting to know who you are as a brand and what you stand for.
When people engage with your organic content or ads, it's a great idea to engage them. This process helps to build trust and form a loyal following. Then, as fans share and like your content, you rise in the social algorithms and gain new, free exposure.
In Hootsuite's Social Transformation survey, 69% of respondents said social media helped maintain customer relationships during the very different marketing era of COVID-19. And Twitter data shows that 70% of people say it's important for bands to help boost positivity.
#Mention #Followers in your #Posts and #Stories
Collecting user-generated content through contests and branded hashtags is an excellent way to source quality material for your social feed. UGC is also a powerful source of social proof. Sharing your followers' content on your social channels (and tagging them, of course) helps you establish relationships with some of your biggest fans. For example, if a fan tags you in an Instagram Story, you'll get a notification in your direct messages.
Be sure to reshare; it is an easy win-win. Use the social platforms' built-in interactive tools. There are many ways to spark specific interactions with your followers, from Twitter polls to interactive stickers in Instagram Stories.
Pay attention to #Trends.
We're not saying you should leap on every meme (idea) that goes viral. (Please do not leap on every meme that goes viral.) However, it is a good idea to pay attention to trends in social media, so you understand what people are looking for when they sign into their social channels. This information helps you create appropriate content that resonates over time.
State Farm Insurance has an ongoing Pinterest campaign that provides informative content tied to significant life changes like buying a car or having a child. Since these moments tend to impact insurance needs, it is an obvious fit that has helped the insurance giant connect with millennials and Gen X. Do you follow trends in your writing? Johnny Depp and Pamela Heard are trending as you read this and writing content can increase your blog views.
Top Five Reasons People Use #Social #Media Now With a Plan
To stay up to date with news and current events, find funny or entertaining content, fill up spare time, stay in touch with friends, & share photos or videos with others. Always keep your audience's current needs in mind. What worked last year might not work today.
Social listening is a valuable information gathering tool, helping you understand what your audience (and potential audience) might want to hear from your brand. That is one reason why two-thirds of respondents to the Hootsuite Social Media Trends survey said social listening increased in value in 2020. As a result, Hootsuite.com created a complete guide on using social listening for your business.
Sell Your #Products With #Social #Commerce
Social media marketing has evolved in recent years to include social commerce: the ability to sell your products directly from social channels. And business is booming, with a global market value of $97.2 billion in 2022. By June 2022, 18.3% of U.S. adults had purchased via Facebook, and 130 million people use Instagram Shopping. Yet, seven in 10 U.S. Adults Haven't Bought Anything Via Social Media. So, there's still time for you to sell.
You can now use social shopping tools to sell your products and services even without a website. Hootsuite.com and Hubspot.com are social media dashboards that break down all the details in individual posts explaining how to use Instagram Shopping, sell with Facebook Shops, and the best ways to use Instagram Live Shopping. Both dashboards post once to all your social media channels to save time and track your progress. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn.com, & YouTube.
#Mix up your #Formats
Make sure to switch up your social post formats. For example, if you usually post GIFs, try a JPG. If you typically post still images, try a video. And take advantage of all the formats within each social network, like Stories, Reels, or Live videos. This helps you learn which formats work best for different types of content (more on that below) and different social networks.
The conventional wisdom is that posts with images always fare better. But Hootsuite recently ran an experiment in which plain text Tweets outperformed those with a photo or GIF. Of course, this concept was not genuine a couple of years ago, and Hootsuite would never have made this discovery if every Tweet contained an image.
#Focus on #Quality over #Quantity
The sheer number of social media marketing options for small businesses might seem overwhelming, and you do not need to do it all. However, it is more important to create quality content on several crucial channels than to have a presence on every network. First, be sure that your social posts offer value. If all you do is pitch and sell, people are very little motivated to follow you. Remember, social marketing is about building relationships. Be human - Be honest - Post great content. This thinking is essential, and you cannot fake it.
Reach out to your audience in the places where they are already spending time online. Then, focus on using one or two social channels. Once you have mastered those, you can build from what you've learned and expand your efforts.
Use the #Right #Tools
The secret to using social media effectively is to take advantage of tools that automate or simplify much of the work. Engagement management - social media is not a broadcasting system; it's a way to engage with your customers and fans.
Analytics: Getting all your analytics data in one place can help you better picture your social efforts overall.
Graphics - If you are having trouble creating eye-catching images for your posts, turn to tools that will help get the job done.
Content curation: It can be a struggle to develop new content to share every day. Content curation can help. It is the art of sharing quality posts from others (with credit, of course).
Use #Scheduling and #Automation to Free Up More Time for #Engagement
We discussed creating a social content calendar way back at the beginning of this series. Once you have that calendar in place, you can create your social posts in advance and use scheduling tools like Hootsuite to post them automatically at the right time.
This process allows you to dedicate one block of time per day or even per week to creating your social content. It is much more effective than letting social posting take you away from other tasks throughout the day. Automation tools like chatbots can also help you cut down on the number of hours you spend working on social media marketing.
#Social #Media #Chatbots
Chatbots are programs built to engage with received messages automatically. Chatbots can be programmed to respond the same way, react differently to messages containing specific keywords and even use machine learning to adapt their responses to fit the situation.
And there are also business bots for satisfying customers. Facebook recently released a host of data proving the value of bots for business:
Did you know?
Two billion messages are delivered between people and businesses monthly.
56% of people would rather message than call customer service.
53% of people are more likely to shop with businesses they can message.
Data from Google Trends shows that search volume around "chatbots" grew 19x as individuals and businesses began to realize their value over the last five years.
#SIPOC #Diagram
#SIPOC is a tool that summarizes the inputs and outputs of one or more processes in table form. It is an acronym that stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers. Some organizations use the opposite acronym #COPIS, which puts the customer first and illustrates the value of the customer to the organization.
#SIPOC Definitions:
Supplier – The provider of inputs into a process.
Input – Materials, information, and other resources needed to complete a process.
Process – Structured steps used to convert inputs into outputs.
Outputs – Products or services resulting from the process.
Customer – Recipient of the outputs.
Every item used and the process involved must be included. It breaks it down into crucial components and finds a place for them within the #SIPOC table diagram.
Other tools like #SIPOC, DMADV (Define—Measure—Analyze—Design—Verify), Five Ways, and the list goes on from there, stay tuned we will discuss those next.
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Smalladvisor
Recent Comments
3
Good info. I'm doing some of this on my book promo site already! Well done!
Jeff
Thank you!
You're very welcome!