4 Social Media Tips To Grow Your Business

No one really needs to convince me how great social media is for connecting you to your customers – and keeping you connected – but the point was reinforced perhaps better than ever this week when I was chatting with Jay York, our senior social media strategist.

Jay was telling me about Datz, a restaurant near his home in Tampa, that has impressed him with its excellent use of social media as a marketing tool.

Talk about connecting! Datz has more than 12,000 followers on Twitter. It has nearly 8,000 on Instagram. It has 1,280 mostly positive reviews on Yelp. And, perhaps most impressive of all, more than 40,000 people “like” Datz on Facebook.

Those are remarkable numbers for any business. But especially when you consider that Datz is a local restaurant and not a recognizable brand name like McDonald’s!

So why am I telling you this? Because this social media success story prompted me to have Jay share tips on how small businesses can make the most out of their social media to keep customers and potential customers thinking about them.

Here’s what Jay had to say:

• Interact with customers. Engage your customers inside your business as well as outside it. Some of the most successful restaurant owners have mastered this, Jay says. They take the time to chat with and get to know their customers when they are dining at the restaurant, and they also interact with them on social media. Here’s where it’s worth remembering the “social” part of social media. These sites are all about having a conversation and people expect you to be involved in that conversation – or else they’ll be discouraged from interacting with you in the future.

• Use undivided attention opportunities to promote your social media. There are a few ways to do this, Jay says. In-store signage that encourages you to follow the business on social media is the most obvious. Restaurants, for example, might drive visiting customers to their social media sites by giving 10 percent off an entrée if they follow them right at that moment on Twitter. Professional speakers can use the same strategy when they’re in front of a large audience by posting their Twitter handle on the screen behind them. The point is to take advantage of the attention of hundreds or thousands of people – all with mobile devices – who can start following you immediately.

• Invest in social media advertising. For as little as $500 a month, social media advertising can be used to promote a business and generate a significant increase in the number of people who “like” it, Jay says. The more you are out there, the better. Think of brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s that are extraordinarily well-known, yet continue to advertise. They know potential customers won’t necessarily rush right out and make a purchase after seeing a commercial. Their goal, though, is for their products to be what people think of when they are ready for that purchase.

• Consider the multiplier effect. When you secure a base of followers on social media, those followers then make it even easier to acquire additional followers. The rate of new follower acquisition grows. It’s a case of followers beget followers beget followers. The more followers you get exponentially grows the potential for even more as their network is now connected to you.

Finally, Jay notes that businesses often talk about the lifetime value of a customer. With the proper use of social media, you can increase that value because you are consistently in their minds – whether they are about to make a purchase or not.

I know this applies to my field, too. I realize that not everyone is ready to launch a PR campaign. But if I stay in front of them, reminding them about what I have to offer, then when the time comes they’ll think of me.

Keep in mind that while social media can be one of the greatest things going for you, it can also be one of the most damaging if you don’t handle it correctly.

On social media you want to look and act your best at all times, conveying a professional image that gives people the assurance you’re someone they want to do business with.

Let’s get #trending!

Marsha

P.S. If you need professional social media management, strategy and design to positively represent your brand and get results, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or Click Here to get your Free Media Analysis.

 

Catch The Video-Marketing Wave (Without Wiping Out)

If you happened to watch the Grammys this week, you probably noticed that among the many singer celebrities were Justin Bieber and Tori Kelly, two musical stars with something in common.

Both originally attracted attention – and ultimately fat record contracts – because of videos posted on YouTube.

OK, maybe you didn’t give all that much thought to these two, but I did because my team and I have been talking quite a bit lately about the power of video marketing, and the changing technology landscape that is making video more and more prevalent.

And it’s not just recording stars such as Bieber and Kelly who have ridden the video wave to celebrity, says Brittany Vaill, a social media strategist here at EMSI. Makeup artists, comedians and a host of others have made themselves popular and successful through online videos.

Perhaps you can, too.

Regardless of your area of expertise – whether you’re an entrepreneur, author, or a financial professional – you should think about taking advantage of video as a great marketing tool.

I know I am. Sometime in the next few weeks I plan to start making short video versions of the PR Insider – essentially a video synopsis that serves as an introduction to this print version.

First, let’s get one thing clear. Video marketing is nothing new. My team reminded me about the Buggles hit, “Video Killed The Radio Star,” which was popular more than three decades ago!

But Jay York, our senior social media strategist, tells me that what’s happened in the last few years – and continues to happen at seemingly breakneck speed – is that changing technology makes it easier and cheaper for nearly anyone to create a quality video. And social media gives that video a place to land.

“The better the hardware gets, the better the software can be,” Jay says. “Without the technology, it wouldn’t be happening.”

For example, GoPro is a small, inexpensive camera that allows the most amateurish among us to create quality video. It was a game changer and the game just keeps changing.

Heck, most of us carry video cameras with us all the time in our cell phones. We pull them out to record celebrity sightings, road-rage incidents or a 10-year-old smashing a Little League home run. Then we share these Spielbergian masterpieces with the world.

As a writer for the New Yorker put it: “Life is footage.”

Marketing can be footage, too, but you need to do it the right way. I asked Jay and Brittany to share a few tips on how to get the most out of video marketing and they had this to say:

• Find the right platform. YouTube, of course, is the go-to site for hosting your video. Google Hangouts is the place to be for live video events. Also, it’s worth noting that videos you want to share on Facebook get an extra boost if you upload them directly to Facebook. Other platforms to consider are Instagram and Snapchat.

• Promote it. You can’t just hope people stumble upon your video. You need to do everything you can to increase the amount of traffic. After all, if no one shows up for your Google Hangout session, then there ain’t no one hanging with you! One way to increase viewership, when you put a video on YouTube use SEO-optimized titles and descriptions to increase the odds of it ranking high in keyword searches. Of course, you would also share links to your video on all your social media sites.

• As you plan your video, don’t sit in a corner and try to figure this out by yourself. Gather ideas from your team or others you work with. They know your mission and message, and may be able to offer intriguing insights on how to align the video with those.

Finally, make sure your finished product represents the positive image you want to convey. If you’re worried you’re headed in a less-than-stellar direction, reach out to marketing professionals who can provide the proper guidance and get you back on track.

The last thing you want to do is create an unprofessional video that leaves viewers with the impression you don’t know what you’re doing. Instead, you want to capture some of that Bieber-like magic!

Cut! Print it!

Marsha

P.S. Once you’re ready to promote that captivating video, we can get you in front of the right media whose audiences would benefit from your message! Give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or get your Free Media Analysis here!