There are various great benefits a business can look forward to when creating a Social Media business page for their brand. The extent to which these benefits are experienced, however, highly depend on how effectively the social media page is run. There is a lot more to it than just creating your profile and posting your products or ads on your news feed.
It is crucial that businesses create a page that is entertaining, informative and make their customers feel part of a community. By doing so, they will create a solid platform through which their brand can grow in likes, interactions, brand awareness and ultimately sales.
This can be a daunting process for new business owners who might lack the “know how”. But this shouldn’t be the case. The great thing about Social Media is that most activities are free. Business owners can therefore easily work on a trial and error basis to find the right balance of what it is that their customers want and need. A great place to start is with the below 5 fundamentals for creating an effective Social Media business page:
[1] Updated business information
Users regularly go to business pages to quickly and easily find the business information they need. It is therefore crucial that your Social media page has all the relevant, updated information a customer might need to recommend or utilize your business.
Always ensure that the following information is easily found on your page:
- Name
- Website URL
- Trading hours
- Contact information (preferably both contact number and email address)
- Short About us
- Location
It is also advisable that your cover image displays exactly what your brand is about. This can be done through an image of your product or service, together with a slogan or listing one or two key products/services you offer.
You should also ensure that your page is updated with current business information or issues. For example, when your telephone lines are down, be sure to make a post about it. Or when you are closed during a public holiday, state this on your Social Media page. This will ensure that customers are always aware of what’s happening and why you might not be available when they are trying to contact you.
[2] Less “us”, more “you”
One of the largest mistakes businesses make on their Social Media pages, is to make everything about them. Visit a few business pages and check how many times a post is started with “We offer the best..”, “Our brand is..”, “Our products are..”, “Our new..” etc.
The truth is modern day customers don’t care about you or your products. They care about what your products or services can do for them. Words like “you” on your Social Media page should always outweigh, or at least be equal to, the “we”, “us” or “our”.
Think about making the customer the hero and talking to their needs.
For example:
Incorrect: Contact us for more information on our gardening services. We offer a great service using only the best gardening tools and skilled staff. Our services also come at affordable rates.
Making the customer the hero: Are you tired of listening to that buzzing sound on a Saturday, pushing the lawnmower in yet another heat wave, sweat dripping off your body? Rather enjoy the day out cycling, drinking beer with friends, or stretching out on the couch. Take back your Saturdays! And we’ll take care of your lawn. Contact us to get quote on our top-quality gardening services.
[3] Don’t be an ad centre
Another big mistake businesses make is only posting their products and ads about their products or services on their Social Media pages. Your page should not be an ad centre, and if it is, customers won’t hesitate to press the “unlike” button.
Sure, you should announce new arrivals, specials or advertise your products/services from time to time. But your page should also be educational, entertaining and add value to your customers’ lives.
Let’s use the gardening service as another example. Instead of only posting ads about your pricing, latest services, areas of service etc., also focus on posting entertaining or educational content relevant to gardening, such as:
- Youtube videos (created by yourself or others) showing how or when to plant certain flowers, trees etc.
- Images or articles of some of the most beautiful gardens around the world.
- Gardening ideas or hacks as advise from you. This can be done as a visual representation or in a blog format.
- Blog posts by yourself about general advise when it comes to gardening.
- Post about different garden tools and what they are used for.
This will ensure that your page becomes more than just an ad centre, and rather an information/entertainment hub. The benefit here is that you will grow in “likes” and also create a sense of trust amongst your followers. By doing so, customers will more easily use your services, not because of the service itself, but because they trust you and your knowledge about your industry.
[4] Encourage 2-way communication
Customer want to know that they have a voice and that their opinions matter. They also want to feel part of your “community” when they like your brand.
Businesses should therefore encourage 2-way communication with their customers on their Social Media pages. This can easily be done by simply asking for their customers’ opinions and involving them in some of their decision making.
Consider a few of these simple ideas:
- Create a poll between two relevant products and ask the customers which they like better.
- When developing a new product, for example a new t-shirt, involve the customers in the process by asking them to choose between two colours.
- Want to run a Black Friday sale? Get x2 different options ready and a month before, ask the customers which deal they would prefer seeing on Black Friday.
You don’t have to involve your customers in every process or decision, but asking their opinions or involving them in some of your decision making from time to time will make them feel part of your brand. Consequently, you can look forward to better brand loyalty and increased sales conversions.
[5] Consistency is key
Once your page is set up, and you are communicating with your audience in the right way, it is important to have consistency on your page. Posting three times in one week, and then not posting for 2 weeks, and thereafter for a few days before going AWOL again might make your customers lose trust in you, or lead to them forgetting about your brand. Being down for a few weeks might also make them think that you went out of business.
It is therefore important that you have a Social Media calendar with posts planned out on a routine basis. Try aiming for 2 to 3 posts per week on each platform and do so consistently. This will constantly remind your customers about your brand, without bombarding them on their news feed.
Eager to start your Social Media business page but still unsure where to start? We can help you create a successful page for your business – contact us today!
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