Lesson 2: Help customers find you and choose you
Did you know that 72% of U.S. adults use at least one type of social media? 1 With so many people posting, tweeting, and snapping, social media can be a great way to be found by potential customers and to connect with existing ones.
But, just like you want to optimize your website so it’s found by the right people on search engines, you want to optimize your social media so it helps your audience find and choose you.
Choosing the right social media platforms for your brand is key
You don’t need to be on every social media site, but you do want to make sure you are on the most popular and most profitable sites. Google’s My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are most likely the accounts where you’ll glean the most benefits. Make sure to find ones that will be right for your business.
Watch the following video to get some tips that will help you choose the right platforms for your business.
Help customers find you by creating and claiming your pages
Once you’ve decided which platforms are right for your business, it’s time to create and claim your pages. Make sure to set up your social media pages as ‘Business Pages’ and not personal or individual pages. Remember, consistency is important to your brand, so use the same name on all pages.
Claiming your handle (name) on social media is important, because it means that no one else can create an account with that same name. It’s free to do and it allows you to control the information and photos and to respond to reviews.
PRO-TIP
The big first impression sites are Google (specifically Google My Business), Yelp, and Facebook. This is where customers are making purchasing decisions. You want to be one of those choices. One reason having Yelp is important is because Apple and Yelp have an agreement where, if an iPhone user searches Apple Maps, Siri, or Safari, then all of their results will be powered by Yelp instead of Google. Half of phone users have iPhones and the average iPhone user makes $80k/year or more, so this is an important demographic to capture.
Help customers choose you by creating great content
Filling in your social media with your business details and other content allows customers to learn about and engage with your business. Get potential customers to choose you by creating social profiles that look established, professional, and trustworthy.
Look established
Complete to compete! Use your logo as your profile photo, and upload a great cover photo. Write a compelling description of your business in your bio and update any necessary information like your location, hours, and contact information. Your ‘About’ section or bio should represent who you are and show off what you’re all about. Link to your website and other social platforms to maximize all available tools.
Look professional
Upload high-quality photos of your business and products. People buy from people, so also include photos of you, your staff, or even your customers (with their permission, of course). Use content that helps build the experience you want people to have when interacting with your brand.
Look trustworthy
Make sure reviews are a prominent part of your digital presence–both the comments from your customers and your response to them. About 80% of consumers read reviews and 70% of those read responses from the business owner. It typically takes 10 reviews for a customer to trust a business, so aim to get at least 10 reviews!
PRO-TIP
Respond to every review–even the negative ones. For negative reviews, show empathy. Don’t argue, but do invite reviewers to contact you directly to resolve the issue. This shows potential customers who read the review (your real audience) that you care about what customers are saying and will follow up to improve. The way you respond to reviews is an extension of your customer service and reflection of your brand. Responding to reviews makes customers feel appreciated and increases the likelihood they’ll return and recommend you.
Creating content that looks established, professional, and trustworthy is an important overarching goal to keep in mind. In the next lesson, we’ll get into some of the more practical tips for actually posting social media content.