If you’re a business owner and have never considered using digital marketing to promote your business needs; what’s stopping you? Digital marketing in this age has gone far beyond billboards and newspaper ads. It allows businesses to market to an online community. You can get to know what the online public is looking for, what they’re talking about, and what ads and posts create the most buzz. After sitting in on a presentation of two marketing and public relations specialists at J&E Media Corp of Rochester, NY, I learned how they were able to really focus in on why every business should have a basic social media account for today’s business needs.
For the businesses that don’t have at least a Facebook page, both specialists explained how you’re missing out on half the world. In terms of business, if you’re not a national business in terms of the world, you’re still missing out on half of your local community. Facebook, created in 2006, has become the patriarch of social media. With over 1 billion users, you’ll begin to realize how much you’re missing out on.
If you’re thinking that maintaining social media is gonna cost you big money, it’s not! Facebook has rates that start as low as $5 a day for ads and posts. From the likes, shares, and engagement you get from your posts, it will reward you with business growth and an online following.
When creating posts to advertise your business, include photos and text to draw out more people to like your page and follow what your business does! A key rule in posting is to follow the 80/20 rule. When posting photos, make sure only 20% of the text is in the image and the rest should be above or below it. Too much text will make the image hard to read and can confuse your audience.
Another key rule in digital marketing is to keep your page updated!! The worst thing you can do as a business owner is having products or services to offer, but not updating them to meet the needs of customers. The same thing applies to social media, keep your accounts updated with relevant promotions or specials for what your business does. Don’t have a facebook page’s most recent post be something Christmas-themed when it’s almost the Fourth of July!
If your posts are intended to advertise your business, share funny memes that relate to your business or posts about the employees that make up your business, and create a weekly/monthly calendar of your post content. Having scheduled posts will make your page more organized in terms of events. Your readers will be able to follow what specials to look for, they will get to learn about some of the employees and the business too.
A key rule in digital marketing is that everything is trackable. Not only will your Facebook page be easy to find, but as a business owner, you will be able to navigate and learn how social media behavior can work for your business. For example, if you own a nail salon, you can set up a Facebook page for your business, posts ads to promote your services and offer specials to those who like your page or recent post. As a business owner, you can navigate how social media behavior can work for your business. For a nail salon, your prime demographic is going to be women, young and mature, single, in a relationship, married, etc. You can promote your nail salon specialties or its location to drive more clicks, likes, shares, and eventually in-store visits to your business.
A great bonus of having social media is that your customers and clients can review and rate your business. As scary yet exciting as this capability is, you can work to get yourself the 4.0 and higher rating you want to see your business have. On social media, the online community has a voice in the comment section. The comment section can make or break your restaurant. If the majority of the comments mention great customer service, good value in prices or just in general how much they love your business, you’re instantly going to get more page likes and more attraction to your business. If you find that your comment section is filled with complaints or suggestions, then maybe you need to scroll through and see where your business is falling short. The comment section is a business’s opportunity to engage with their online audience. If they see that a past client wasn’t happy with their service or product, they can reach out and find how to fix their mistake and see a second visit from them. If a current customer is happy with their services and sends a shout out online, you have an opportunity to thank them for their continued business with you and your company!
What’s even more refreshing about digital marketing is that there are more and more social media channels for your business to use. So you don’t own a facebook page for your business, that’s okay. There’s Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Maps, Airbnb, Youtube, Fandango, Zillow, and other types of social media and applications that can bring your business more buzz than you think! All the rules of social media can be applied to all social media channels.
Ask Red Door Real Estate WNY! You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Maps, and the Red Door WNY website. If you’re interested in conducting business with Red Door Real Estate give us a call or email!
Phone: 716-768-1177
Email: realtyrenee@gmail.com
By: Kaitlin Tillman
