Last week, we started this month’s blog series by sharing How To Create A Website That Converts. This week, we’re going to help you learn how to effectively promote your business on social media.
If you’re not showcasing your business on social media, well, you should be. You’ve got tons of new leads that are waiting to be found in the social media space. The reality is that more and more people are joining social media everyday. No matter who your target audience is, there is a really, really good chance that they’re on social media somewhere. Yes, even your 82 year old grandmother has a Facebook account that she checks regularly. Convinced that it’s time to take the plunge? Good.
Now, the first step is to determine which platforms you should have a presence on. Just because everyone seems to use Facebook, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Where you show up in the social media sphere depends largely where your target audience hangs out. Do a quick search on Google and you’ll find lots of information that will help you determine where you’ll find your audience.
Once you find your platform, it’s important to use it strategically so you can actually generate new leads from it. Yes, that can happen. That does happen. In fact, it happens every single day. Want your piece of the pie? Implement these 10 critical action steps and you’ll be on the road to finding great success in the social media sphere:
10 Things You Must Do On Social Media Now
- Plan, plan, and plan some more.
- Utilize an editorial calendar. Doing so will prevent you from scrambling every morning to figure out what to post to your pages.
- Tap into the power of programs like Hootsuite, Buffer and Meet Edgar so you can schedule your posts in advance and in some cases, recycle content that performs really well. We encourage all of our members to create and schedule content during the slow season so they can stay 100% focused during the busy season without losing any social media traction.
- Create content that’s seasonal and/or newsworthy whenever you can.
- Post interactive content.
- Quizzes and polls engage followers more than almost any other type of content.
- Ask your followers questions. Everyone has an opinion, and most people want the opportunity to share it.
- Host a live Q&A or a competition. Try Facebook Live, Periscope, Meerkat or SnapChat.
- Download jokes and cartoons from a Political Humor. Once you jump on this site, conduct a keyword search using the word “tax” and you’ll find tons of social media content that you can share with your network.
- Re-purpose existing content.
- You know all of those big name tax commentators that blog and write articles that really make you think? Instead of writing your own content, consider sharing theirs. It’s good for them because they get more exposure. And it’s good for you, because you’re delivering captivating content without taking a lot of time out of your calendar to develop it.
- Do you have a blog full of posts that you’ve never shared on social media? You don’t need to create new content if the content you already have is still relevant. In fact, you can probably source 10 or more social media posts from every blog article you’ve written.
- Share content more than once! Don’t fall prey to the theory that you can only post something once. Chances are, no one in your network sees every post you create. If you put a winner up on a Thursday at 9am one month, try recycling the same content on a Monday at 7pm the next month to get in front of a different segment of your audience.
- Remember, by consistently sharing content you’ve written, you increase your credibility and visibility, both of which impact your ability to increase sales over time.
- Develop relationships that convert into sales.
- While the cartoons and articles are great for letting the world know your lights are still on, truth is, this type of content doesn’t usually lead to sales. Know what does? You. Your thoughts. Your expert opinion. Your ability to start buzz worthy conversations. People do business with people they know, like and trust. You can help people get to know, like and trust you better when you ask though-provoking questions about newsworthy topics in the tax world and the business world as a whole. For example, if there’s lots of chatter in the marketplace about too much business being sent overseas, you could respond by posting something that says, “There’s a lot of buzz out there about the amount of business we’re losing overseas. What do you think about that? How is it impacting your industry?”
- Remember, social media is all about connecting with people on a deeper level. Take the time to follow your prospects and learn what they’re interested in. Comment on their posts. Share their tweets. Show them you care.
- Once you’ve shown that you’re out for more than a sale, you can start to drop in offers to turn those relationships into sales.
- Get personal.
- Develop a brand personality.
- Be authentic. Talk about your wins and your losses. People appreciate transparency. That’s why video outtakes and bloopers never go out of style.
- Let your followers get to know you. Give them an inside look into you, your process and so on and so forth. Try recording a short and simple video on your iPhone where you introduce your staff and the value they bring to your team. People love behind-the-scenes stuff like this.
- Respond to negative reviews.
- The vast majority of unsatisfied customers never write a review.
- If they are leaving you a review, it means you have a chance to address their concerns.
- By responding quickly and professionally, you maintain your image as a business owner who cares personally about each customer and illustrate your ability to take constructive criticism and make changes as needed.
- Remember also, it’s really important for you to get in the habit of asking your clients to leave reviews for you in the social media sphere. Those reviews are becoming more and more valuable with every day that passes.
- Use paid advertising.
- When you pay to promote your posts, you will maximize your visibility and likely grow your network.
- Take advantage of hyper-targeting capabilities. With Facebook ads, you can even target your competitors followers!
- For as little as $2/day you can start to grow your audience in the social sphere.
- Customize your content to each platform.
- On Twitter, your go-to should be short, newsworthy bursts.
- On LinkedIn your content can be short form, yet you can also take advantage of their publishing platform which allows you to share your expertise, blog-style. The best part is that once you publish long-form content on LinkedIn, it automatically becomes part of your professional profile, rather than just a short blip of content that disappears into the social media black hole after a short amount of time has passed.
- On Facebook, you’ll do best sharing a content-mix that includes industry news, inspirational material, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, polls and more.
- Know when to share.
- Each platform has different guidelines for how often you should be posting and which times of day are best.
- Do your research and schedule your posts ahead of time so you don’t miss optimal windows.
- Expand your network
- Connect with your clients and look at who they’re connected with.
- Make new connections with insurance sales reps, estate planners and attorneys regularly. Since they share your customers, it’s just plain smart to show up in their social media space.
- Invite people to share your content. Yes, really! It doesn’t look desperate. It looks strategic and smart!
- Start and join groups or communities on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Create unique hashtags on Twitter and encourage people to engage with and about your brand.
- Look for people that can be excellent alliance partners.
The specifics of your social media strategy will depend greatly on what platform(s) you use and what your goals are, but these 10 tips should be enough to get the ball rolling. Good luck!
Check back with us next week. We’ll be sharing some email marketing tips so you can more effectively nurture your email list once people join it.
