 Jeff Korhan |
Maintaining a vibrant online presence is essential for attracting new customers today, as consumers within every demographic are using the Web to make better buying decisions. While having a quality website is the traditional method for accomplishing this, an active social media presence will dramatically increase its effectiveness.
Blogs and social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are considered more credible news sources than websites. This is why Google gives them more authority and ranks them higher in Internet searches. If you want to increase the likelihood of customers finding you online, you will want to consider making social-media marketing a regular business practice.
Your knowledge and experience has value.
Most consumers rely on the advice of friends when making buying decisions. In the absence of that they will seek out an established expert. The social networks give you the opportunity to be both their friend and a trusted expert by sharing friendly advice drawn from your experience.
If you type “gardening” into the Google search box, it will return suggested search terms for the gardening category that are prioritized by how frequently they are used. You will discover gardeners are most interested in learning tips and advice about gardening before they seek out a garden center. This suggests that if you assist them with expert advice, you will be their first choice when they are ready for plants and materials.
My best recommendation for accomplishing this is with a blog. Unlike the other social networks, you have complete control over your blog. It is not just a platform for conveying your expertise, but also one for redistributing that content to the other social networks where it will be shared and redistributed again and again.
While there is no limit to what you can blog about, you will discover the basic information is what most people are searching for. This is why the most popular blog titles begin with “How To.” You can share this kind of info through lists and step-by-step procedures, by relating experiences with actual clients, or simply with before-and-after photos that speak for you.
What you will find very exciting is that when you type “garden centers” into that Google search box, the suggested terms that are returned most often relate to location. This indicates that most gardeners, whether they are enthusiasts or novices, prefer to do business with a local garden center. So, while it would be great to develop a reputation as the top expert in town, you really just need to be the authority in your immediate vicinity.
Personalize your business with Facebook.
When you help customers succeed with gardening you give them confidence that builds their excitement for doing more, and that establishes a foundation for loyalty. This objective is the same with your social marketing as it is when a customer walks through your doors. The skills you have used to build your business are the same ones you will use online.
While your blog is a great place for content that establishes your expertise, a Facebook page is better for personalizing your business. The environment within Facebook is informal, and ideal for demonstrating what makes your business unique. Use Facebook to humanize your business with photos, videos and human-interest stories, and you will increase store traffic.
Part of the confusion with social marketing is that it is not marketing in a traditional sense. It is more about building relationships that indirectly lead to new business. This is especially relevant amidst this challenging economy when everyone is concerned with risk.
Get ready now for a new way of marketing.
There is an entire generation entering the workforce that was raised on Facebook. They live on Facebook! This is where they share information, and it is also where they go to do their research. Now consider that the rate of growth in social media use over the past year, according to recent study by the Pew Research Center, doubled for those 50 years and older. This points to a future where the most reliable method for reaching customers of every demographic will be with social media—because that’s where they are spending more of their time.
If you have not yet started with social networking or marketing, you are not alone. Less than 20 percent of all small businesses nationwide are currently using social media. However the statistics suggest that to ignore this trend much longer is to risk becoming irrelevant. There is a lot of hype surrounding social media, but it’s really just a new way of doing what you have always done with your business—make new friends, build relationships, and provide outstanding service to your customers.
Jeff Korhan is a speaker, consultant and top-ranked blogger on new media and small business marketing at www.jeffkorhan.com. Mail korhan@gie.net.
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