It might sound crazy, but it's an important question to ask. As you try to get your company off the ground, it can be hard to connect with the community to generate business. Gauging the population’s needs, wants, and interests can help you adapt your business approach to work best for your target clientele. Interactive advertising can be a tricky trade to master. Creating a genuine, engaging online presence that still gets your point across can be almost impossible. But it's incredibly important if you want to become a staple of the community.
When you start a small business, you obviously have a goal in mind. Whether it's to sell amazing cupcakes or build a venue for local artists to sell their work, you have a plan and you will do whatever it takes to see it succeed! Whatever product/service you think you can bring to your community and will improve their lives is worth promoting. Yet many owners don't ask the vital question: what about my company will get people in the door?
Hiring the right staff is a good start and probably something you've already done. This creates the atmosphere and work culture that you want and is what motivates your employees to clock in every day. But what about your business appeals to the average consumer? It's usually a make or break idea. You have to ask how you're going to engage the community. Will your company be witty and chase social media trends? Are you chasing the right trends? What's your demographic? Something that's funny or engaging for a college student might be completely irrelevant to a customer in their 40's. Are you going to plan out your social media channel or are you going to fly by the seat of your pants? Generally speaking, there are no wrong answers to any of these questions. But not having a cohesive, consistent voice can confuse your followers and keep them from engaging with your company.
Well, what's the best way to approach your customers on social media? Naturally of course. Think about this: when a customer walks in to your store, what do you do? If you want them to buy your product and potentially come back, you're typically going to ask them how they are. Maybe you'll ask if you can help them find anything. But, no matter what, you talk to them in a friendly, genuine manner that says, "Hi! What can we do to make your day better?"
Personal interactions like this are made easier thanks to social media. Nearly everyone is on at least one social media platform and that brings them closer to you! This connection makes it easier for your business to advertise to a broader audience while simultaneously tailoring promotions or events to select groups within your customer base. Better yet, you open the doors for important dialogue between yourself and your patrons. And the best part? You don't even need to have the same personality on every social media platform! Each has a target demographic that must be understood to succeed in social media engagement.
For instance, SproutSocial has shown that Facebook users are typically college educated, urban, high income consumers between 30 and 65 years old. By contrast, Instagram and Pinterest attract much younger audiences that are typically in high school or college. They also tend to be widely used by women. Then there's Twitter, king of breaking news, which sees mostly recent college graduates and has a user base that is nearly two-thirds men.
Use of different social media platforms and carefully crafted content by a knowledgeable team of content creators will help establish a down to earth, engaging personality for your business. Really, it will establish your brand! Plus you receive information about what your customers want, giving you a huge edge on the competition. So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with Libre Social Marketing so we can help you develop a personality for your business. You’ll be amazed where it will take you.
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