Social Marketing Matters 2016

Smart Marketing Matters Staying Socially Wired in 2016

Where you communicate with your clients is as important as how you communicate in a socially wired world. You need to be where your present and future customers are liking, sharing, asking and searching online in addition to person to person and onsite events. The questions many business owners need answers for are:

“How do I reach my customers online and what do I say to them?”

“What online opportunities am I missing to reach new customers?”

“How do I measure my online programs to know I am getting a return on my investment?”

“When do I know that a lead turns into a customer?”

“Who are my best prospects and how do I reach them within my budget?”

“Where are my present and future customers hanging out online?”

Social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and others are very important sources of communication online. People use social media as a way to not only communicate but to also express how they feel about a range of topics to their network of contacts.

Whether it’s sharing a great experience with a brand or merely describing their current mood, it’s broadcasted to their networks via one of these social sharing sites. It is the online equivalent of “word-of-mouth” advertising.

It’s important that you participate in these conversations and become a part of these communities to build and reinforce personal relationships.

With all the hype about social media, online reputations, ecommerce and more, you may feel like the ugly duckling in the digital lake that everyone else seems to know how to navigate. Most business owners know about how to operate their business but are not social media experts. No problem! Whatever your business objectives you can find marketing strategies to produce the results you need. You just need to know the specific metrics to measure results that you can use!

Bigger isn’t necessarily better. Major businesses in your area may be larger in square footage or perceived prestige and resources but that doesn’t mean they are run necessarily better. Throwing money at a website does not mean it is more functional. The question to ask is: Does my online presence create lead traffic that converts to customers? To answer that question, you need to have a good landing page, use compelling images, create educational and inspiring content, optimize your website/blog/social media outlets for SEO and that is just the beginning! But these are the basics you will need in place to compete with larger competitors.

Social media isn’t everything. Facebook and Twitter are important to get the conversation going but you have to provide prospects with value either through your website, blog, contests, webinars or other networking events. The goal is to build and reinforce relationships by providing value through knowledge and advice. Belonging to networking groups such as BNI, LeTip and the Chamber of Commerce keep you connected in a relevant and local to clients and your community. Let’s not forget the power of special events in your business on a monthly basis. Presentations do not have to be just about beauty. You can have experts speak about nutrition, life coaching and balance, or even financial management for women in today’s market. The important focus should be providing your target clients with carefully crafted, unique and informative messages that enhance their lifestyle and well-being and keep them connected to you. You can even offer specials on products and services only available at your event.

News that’s Digitally Fit to Print

Have you collected a data base of e-mail contacts? Are you unsure what to do with this data? The first step is a simple and cost-effective alternative to traditional newsletters. Write and design an engaging digital content newsletter to your client data base via a group mail program.

• No printing costs
• No mailing costs

You’ll enjoy effective results at a fraction of the cost of a traditional newsletter investment, and our newsletter can work in synergy with your social media content and your ongoing marketing and promotional programs. Typical newsletter content includes a customized article in your “voice,” an overview of one of your top services, a product spotlight, and promotional content that drives sales and ties into your social media program.

Using a marketing automation platform for your email efforts is highly recommended. This platform will create and send all messages – from your newsletter to automated emails when a prospect fills out a form or visits a web page. The platform includes a CRM component that integrates all other data collected and is updated automatically. Every prospect and client will be tracked from the first point of contact. Based on their behavior, you can design and implement specific messaging, content, promotions and calls-to-action to drive web traffic and sales. Performance-driven automated marketing delivers more conversions, less wasted budget and efforts, and proof that you are getting a Return on your Investment (ROI).

Print still matters. People do spend a lot of time looking online but people still like to sit down and read through a nice print menu of services and products. You can also use your menu as a tool to get them to go online and sign up for your newsletters and see special promotions available only online.

Share when going social. First came email, then text messaging. Now, social media has ascended to the top of the pyramid as the preferred method for reaching your audience. It’s a trend that can’t be ignored, and in fact, one that must be integrated into every business communication plan. Your clients spend so much time on social medial networks, you might lose them if you don’t meet them where they hangout and where their friends and influencers are.

Facebook: Facebook allows your business to be available to people on a trusted, popular platform, where prospects can see “real” people (their friends, family or colleagues) interacting with you and your brand. This sets the stage for you to build stronger, more immediate relationships with them. A Facebook fan page lets present and future customers get to know you in a fun and immediate way. A fan page builds awareness for your company, provides a platform for your fans to share enthusiasm for your products and services, creates loyalty, strengthens inbound marketing and promotes peer-to-peer sharing.

Facebook Fan Page To Do List

1. Create a presence on Facebook with a fan page.
2. Create a Facebook Group for your product and join other groups to create awareness and become part of the conversation.
3. Subscribe to lists on different topics related to your product and to keep an eye on competitors. Through lists you can easily view and post to select groups or a company, which makes it easier for you to monitor and engage.
4. Use Facebook promoted posts to appear in the newsfeeds of your fans and their friends.
5. Place Facebook ads to targeted audience segments.
6. Share on Facebook a mix of relevant links, engaging content, videos and polls.

Twitter: In this vibrant “community,” businesses can prospect leads and generate discussions on relevant industry topics. Marketers must provide good content in an easily digestible and timely format. With Twitter, it is easy to quickly compose Tweets and messages aimed at those interested in your company, products and services. Think of Twitter as the water cooler for marketers: It’s a vibrant community where businesses can prospect leads and congregate as thought leaders to discuss relevant industry topics. B2B marketers are always striving to provide good content in an easily digestible and timely format.

 Twitter To Do List

1. Start following others on Twitter that are relevant to your profession and service area. This will establish that you are active on Twitter and lets you get involved in the conversation.
2. Create lists in Twitter to segment experts, clients and competitors.
3. Create tweets that are engaging and easy for a follower to retweet.
4. Use Promoted Tweets in Timelines targeted to followers and users who are similar to your followers.
5. Use Promoted Tweets in Search focusing on keywords and locations.
6. Tweet informational messages that start conversations using the 4-1-1 rule: For every one self-serving tweet, you should re-tweet one relevant tweet and most importantly share four pieces of relevant content written by others.

Google+: Google+ is quickly becoming an essential part of any business’ social media strategy. Google+ is also playing a key role in search engine optimization (SEO) by making it easier for marketers to show up at the top of search results. Key Google+ elements include an About Page that offers a quick overview of your business; the Circles function that develops personas and communicate highly segmented messaging to your audience; which maximizes your SEO rankings and click-through rates.

Google+ To Do List

1. Create an About Page to give a quick overview of what your business is all about. Link back to specific pages and services from this page directing potential customers to the most important pages on your website. Having reviews on your page is essential for new business opportunities and web browsers may choose your site based upon the number of stars they see even if you’re not in the top three on the page organically.
2. Use the Circles function in Google+ to develop personas and communicate highly segmented messaging to each audience, i.e., doctors and patients.
3. Post updates on a regular basis on topics that you want to show up for in searches. Google+ posts often rank high on the search page. Using Google+ strategically is a great short cut for SEO.

LinkedIn: As a leading social networking site for professionals, LinkedIn is perfect for B2B organizations, as the focus is on education, work history, companies and professional interests. Companies can build a profile on LinkedIn that showcases products, employee networks, blog posts, upcoming events, and status updates. Much like Twitter or Facebook, users on LinkedIn can follow your profile to learn more about your company.

 LinkedIn To Do List

1. Build a company profile on LinkedIn to reach clients.
2. Create a showcase page so clients can learn about your company also have a contact person who can be reached with questions.
3. Use “Shared Connections” to connect with professionals outside your network.
4. Build a LinkedIn Group. The Groups feature is a great way to demonstrate thought leadership around a specific area and to gain insight into the interest points of potential customers. Make a list of keywords that relate to your prospects or the industries you target, and run a search for any LinkedIn Groups related to these keywords. Find the right groups, participate in discussions, ask questions and make connections.
5. Advertise on LinkedIn. LinkedIn advertising is a great way to get your message across to the right audience. LinkedIn ads work like PPC and because LinkedIn holds valuable demographic information, this may be a great platform for you to reach your target audience. When you set up a LinkedIn profile, you put in information such as title, role, company, work experience etc., and LinkedIn can use that information to specifically target advertising.
6. Create ads that work for your target audience. An ad geared towards a corporate account will be different than an ad geared towards an individual client prospect.

KEY METRICS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKS

• Facebook Likes, posts and shares
• LinkedIn Followers
• Referring traffic to your website from social media channels
• LinkedIn Group members
• LinkedIn Discussions
• Google+ Circle adds/followers
• Google+ mentions
• Twitter followers and retweets

Share with your team what actions you are taking with social media. Let them know if you are using Google mobile to promote new client business. They may not know that words such as “skincare” or “spa” are some of the biggest key word searches online. Tell them you are investing to be featured on the top of the searches in your area.

Have a media board in your staff room so people can see the results posted on how new clients have come in from online promos and your social media efforts. Then everybody on the team can look on the wall and see how many Twitter followers you have got and look at the Twitter feed that’s being updated all the time. This keeps people aware and excited. Also, all your employees need to be Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc., so they can see the posts in real time and give feedback. If possible, create guidelines so your team can post content to spread your presence even further on social media.

Cost Projection and Recommendations

Going forward, it is necessary to have a clear direction and assign the tasks that need to be completed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Below is a Social Media Marketing Implementation Checklist.

Social Media Marketing is multi-faceted and labor intensive. To be successful requires consistent and engaging messaging on a daily basis across the platforms. Results will come over time as you grow your base of fans and followers who will then share your content with their network.

To be successful with social media, it is necessary to get your company in front of prospects at the exact time they are looking for you. The best way to achieve this is an AdWords campaign or PPC campaign on Bing, Yahoo, etc. This will drive traffic to your website and store immediately. And these visitors can then click a Fan button for Facebook or follow you on Twitter.

Many companies get a fast start with Facebook by using Facebook ads and promoted posts. Facebook lets you place ads based on interests and other demographics, so it is targeted and can be extremely effective at generating customers and building your fan base.

Social Media Marketing Checklist

Step 1: Define Specific Social Media Goals

Here are some examples:

• Validate a new product or service using social as a research platform
• Develop buzz and interest around a new product
• Engage users in social to generate relevant and targeted traffic to your site
• Gain market share by leading customer/client service through social

Action: Provide in writing the goals agreed upon for the social media marketing campaign.

Step 2: Finding Your Audience

Who are we speaking to? One of the keys to ensuring your success in social media is to create a voice that resonates with your target audience. In this case, the message and voice will be different for businesses versus clients. For each audience type, we need a break down of age, income, location, and reasons for possibly buying your product or using your service. Define your demographics and craft your message to speak directly to them.

Step 3: Plan and Execute Content and Delivery

Now to the hard part – finding, creating and delivering engaging social media content. This can be daunting but with proper planning it can drive real results.

You need to determine:

1. Frequency of content delivery & response to social engagement
2. Types and specific topics for content creation
3. Ways to increase audience engagement

Action: Provide in writing the topics that will appeal to your target audiences. Indicate if these articles will be written by you or if you want to outsource the writing for these topics.

Step 4: Create a content posting schedule for the year and create a calendar timeline.

Plan your story first.

Plan out the story you want to tell before, not after, you dive into social media. Establish a vision of how you want your company to be perceived, who your customers are, how you want your customers to feel when they connect with you online, and then determine the best voice to speak for your company. Share beauty and wellness tips and best practices. Do not just try to sell them products and services. All of your efforts should be content driven with your promotions following after. That way your clients will look forward to your expertise and being informed.

You will need a good writer to communicate with your audience and someone will need to keep all the tasks rolling on a daily basis. You can choose to assign these roles in-house or hire a professional to take care of it. Either way, it is an important part of the success of social media.

Not all social media is created equal. Some channels are more suited for certain types of content, promotions, messages, etc. It is better to try your program on a small scale and collect data that will direct you to the most profitable channels for your unique story. The takeaway here is: Have fun and experiment!

The right social media and traditional marketing tactics can help you to transform your business from an “ugly duckling” with no digital grace into a thriving and buzzing business that people are talking about, sharing with friends and family, signing up for email updates, visiting your website, participating in promotions, referring friends and many other possibilities!

Bryan Durocher

Essentials Spa Consulting LLC

Durocher Enterprises Inc.

3805 Tamarack Ave.

Whitefish, MT. 59937

Phone: 406-863-9448

Fax: 406-730-2917

www.essentialsmedspas.com

www.durocherenterprises.com