Many people think that social media advertising is for big businesses only. “Why would I need a social media page, I’m just a local barber”, they say. But the truth of the matter is that in today’s digital age, every business no matter how big or small needs a good and effective social media strategy. Studies have shown that 29% of people use social media to find products to buy. That’s why it’s important to attract and engage people through social media. If you want to know how to leverage the power of social networks to attract new clients, this blog post is for you.
Identify Your Target Audience
The first step in creating a killer social media marketing campaign is determining the target audience. Before you even sign up for a social media account, you must consider who it is that you will be talking to and adjust your posts to meet their needs. Since your business is focused on the local audience, feel free to add expressions or slang that’s typical to the area you live in. Or mention local sites and landmarks that you think your audience will love. Also, identifying your target audience is essential if you are thinking about paying for social media ads. Every social media channel provides the opportunity to direct your ads to a certain audience targeted by gender, age, location, etc. This is particularly important for local businesses that can select to promote their business in the designated area.
Use Social Networks to Answer Inquiries and Complaints
Many people use social media as a perfect tool to ask questions about goods and services or to submit a complaint. In these situations, people are counting on an immediate response. That’s why every local businessman should make sure to answer all questions and complaints that arrive through social media ASAP. In many cases, your social media page is your first contact with the potential buyer. If you don’t leave a good impression online, they will likely turn to another company.
Engage Friends and Followers
Social media is all about communication and making connections with people. And this communication can go both ways. That’s why, to run a successful social media marketing campaign, you have to make sure to engage your followers to the fullest. This means keeping an eye on what they do and sharing their thoughts and opinions about your brand on your own social media page.
On Facebook, you can achieve this by organising quizzes, with free samples or discount coupons as rewards. Or by sharing other people’s experiences about your brand.
On Twitter, you can retweet other people’s tweets about your business.
Or join the LinkedIn business group and engage in discussions. Since your goal is promoting a local business, make sure that the people you engage with and groups you are joining have an impact on the local population.
Plan a Social Content Calendar in Advance
It’s not always easy to find content that will fit perfectly into your social media profile. Sometimes it just seems like no matter how many materials there are on the net, there’s simply nothing worth sharing with your audience. To avoid this last-minute scraping through the web, create a social content calendar and stick to it. There are many online social media calendars like Buffer and CoSchedule that you can use to organise your schedule. They let you pick which content you want to post, when and on what social network. Some of them even offer a scheduling option that will allow you to schedule your social media posts weeks and even months in advance.
Share Photos and Visuals
People are visual beings, and a good image, infographic or any other type of visuals is more likely to capture the attention of your audience than a block of text. Use the visuals to grab attention and intrigue your audience. You can use Pictochart to create awesome infographics or use Canva for visualising your quotes and important updates.
Don’t Forget About Paid Advertising
Though it’s important to improve your organic reach as much as possible, that doesn’t mean you should totally forget about paid ads. Most social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram offer the possibility of paying for ads to expand your reach. For just a few dollars, you can transfer your message to a much wider audience. And the best part is, you can target people in your area specifically, if you want to opt for promoting your business locally.
Hope these tips will help you make the most out of your social media marketing campaign. If you are still uncertain about the best way to use the marketing power of your social media pages, make sure to sign up for a social media training course, where they will teach you everything you need to know about how to use social media to promote your local business.