It seems like every single day I read an article about the next BIG social phenomenon that my business simply MUST jump onto. The FOMO is flying as some journalist explains in 10 secret tips how I can’t live without this new ap. As if I have nothing better to do than spend 17 hours researching, understanding, testing and starting to grow an audience on this new channel? [lately it’s been Snapchat popping up everywhere – I will tell you want I think of it when I get further into it – at the moment unless you’re marketing to 13 yr. olds I see zero value]
Seriously… There. Just. Is. Not. Enough. Time! For that matter, there isn’t enough energy to keep up, let alone care about all these new fangled social networks. Am I right?
Just like fashion or music trends, there are always going to be ‘flash in the pan’ business ideas that people gravitate to [some faster than others] and there is usually very small percentage that you actually really need.
We established in this past article that Social Media is most useful for our business in the following 5 ways:
- Brand Building
- Client Discovery
- Relationship Building
- Customer Service
- Advertising
All of those roles lead to the end-goal, which can be summed up in 4 simple words: ‘influence a purchase decision’. Statistics suggest that 71-74% of consumers are likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. Those purchases are basically to satisfy two primary needs:
- Solve a problem—avoidance of pain or loss
- Increase pleasure—enjoyment and stay trendy
So essentially you want to subtly and every once in a while, not-so-subtly, paint a picture of how your product or service can solve that problem, or increase that pleasure. Usually this is most effective through the delivery of a mix of original or curated non-original content in and around the lifestyle or topic of the pain or pleasure [articles, videos, photos, infographics, recipes, resources, lists, tips etc.] – often this content will live on your website and/or blog and you’ll simply share a link to it through social – sometimes it’s just shared from other social platforms. Generally thought, there is always one ultimate goal: gently take that stranger by the hand and lead her towards a purchase.
So we now we know the role Social Media should play in our business – and that the ultimate goal of each of those roles is to help make strangers comfortable getting to know us, purchasing from us, and sharing our goodness. But that still leaves us wondering why and how to use or choose between the growing number of channels available to us.
Today we’re going to dig into just that. We suggest you choose ONE of these platforms as a priority in your business [spoiler alert: it is probably going to be Facebook] and that you have a maximum of 3 total social channels that you focus on developing. That doesn’t mean you can’t be present in all the fancy social places [quite the contrary – it’s probably a good idea to at least reserve your brand name on each of them – even if you’re not present there] but it does mean that you’re not a robot and you have to delegate your resources in the most effective way for your life and your biz.
Before we jump in, let’s just go over a couple ground rules so we’re all on the same page.
- Act like a human first and foremost [see Dogly Principles below]
- Only auto-update from one platform to another as a last resort. Try not to.
- Get comfortable with hashtags. Use them. Create your own and encourage other people to use them [Ours include: #workingwithdog, #mydailytreats #petpreneur] From time to time have a look through the feed and like & comment on photos / posts that show up. I don’t ‘own’ these – but I try to be the dominant poster]
And as always – as with all our marketing activities, we want to keep the Dogly Principles in mind:
Why: Let’s call it like it is – Facebook is the most visited website in the world, and it’s 10x bigger than the biggest TV station in the world. Let that sink in for a minute. In America, 72% of online adults use Facebook. SEVENTY TWO PERCENT!! What that means, is that basically no matter what your business is, if your ideal client owns a computer and or a smart phone, you can probably find them on Facebook. What’s more, 70% of these peeps log on daily, 43% log in several times a day… 23% of Facebook’s users check their account five or more times every day [which one of these are you? I am not saying which one I am *blushes* ]
One of the more interesting stats for your business is that Facebook has clocked in at the most effective channel for getting consumers to talk about products [aka: word-of-mouth] at a staggering 86%. Oh and how ’bout some SEO? Facebook shares have the greatest influence on Google search rankings in the U.S. followed by backlinks.
How: Facebook is great for all 5 of the Social Roles – but definitely focus on relationship / brand building and advertising. If you spend your digital dollars anywhere – spend them here. You can create highly targeted audiences, totally control your budget, the duration of your ad, get almost real-time analytics and of course do endless amounts of testing for very little dosh. Often the best plan for advertising here, is to post content to your page [from your blog], then boosting that post through ad dollars. Since it’s more likely that a new visitor will give you an email but not a purchase, you want to make sure you have an ‘opt-in’ set up on your blog post / page – so that visitors can get sucked deeper into your world over time. You dont necessarily want to relay on the immediate conversion.
Tools: As for scheduling, you can batch-create and schedule posts right on your page. Be sure to install the Facebook pixel ASAP [just trust me on this one] and
Why: On Twitter, 53% of consumers recommend companies or products in their tweets. Of those, 48% follow through with the intent to buy that product or service. That conversion rate is very good news for you the product or service! Other interesting Twitter demographic facts include that internet users living in urban areas are more likely than their suburban or rural counterparts to use Twitter, and also Twitter users are 33% more likely to be Democrats.
How: Twitter is ideal for sharing quick bursts of news, hosting ‘chats’ or ‘twitter parties’ [create a hashtag and host a live chat using that hashtag] serving customers with quick questions or complaints, and researching potential leads. This is not a relationship building platform necessarily – but does seem to be wrapped up in credibility – so if you plan to be an author or journalist – you’ll want to build a respectable twitter following because your editor or publisher will probably ask. Not long ago Twitter finally made their platform MUCH more visual – so be sure to make use of that and upload images with your tweets as often as possible – it allows the user to scan thousands of tweets quickly and land on yours if it’s of interest.
Tools: With only 140 to work with, you will undoubtedly run out of characters when you try to pop in that ubder-duper long URL – so use Bitly to shorten it. If you create an account, you can save and see all your Bitlys [and some analytics!] Also if you want to track and schedule your tweets, check out Buffer.
Why: As you might be able to guess, Pinterest is all about the ladies – 83% Of Pinterest users are women… 44% of online women use the site, compared with 16% of online men. These ladies are largely using their pin boards to research, collect and remember – 50% of Pinterest purchasers created a pinboard specifically for a purchase decision.
Top 5 categories for social-to-sale on Pinterest
- Food + Drink*
- Art + Design
- Gardening & Décor
- Fashion + Beauty
- Other
*Garlic cheesy bread is the most re-pinned pin on Pinterest!
Another significant characteristic of Pinterest users, is the time they spend on the site : the average Pinterest user spends 89 minutes/month on Pinterest. Almost an hour and a half a month, that’s a lot of likes and repins!
How: Pinterest is a visual place – so images reign supreme. Make sure your photos have your copyright in the metadata so if they get swept on to pinterest you don’t lose credit. Equally, put a title in the image can be a great way to draw interest to your individual pins. Small note, hashtags don’t really do anything on Pinterest, so don’t worry about using them – but do write a description for your pins so they are more searchable! As far as content goes – go DIY, go inspirational, go home + decor [see the top 5 categories above]. You really need a high standard of image here, so if this is a platform you plan to pursue more seriously – get yourself some great brand images taken!
Tools: If you want to create ‘header’ images for your blog posts so that they are more Pinterest-friendly [ie put the title of the blog into the image so if it get’s shared it’s clear what it is] Check out Canva for making your own, or Creative Market for some great social templates.
Why: Instagram is the new darling of social media. There are experts popping up all over the place claiming to have built their entire business off the back of this visual storytelling platform. They key here is to build relationships. Build ‘know like and trust’ by telling a beautiful story and every now and then, going in for the kill… with a contest, a call to action, promotion or exclusive offer. I myself have been focused on growing this channel and even though it’s still quite new – I have already experienced some significant conversions. Plus, it’s a FUN platform to engage in – turns out, 59% of Instagram users agree and are on the platform daily, including 35% who visit several times a day… Often first thing in the morning and last thing at night – so there is significant opportunity for focused attention on your content.
How: Creating a signature ‘look’ [I highly recommend you have a visual strategy here – don’t just chuck up any ol’ crappy cell phone photo]. Incorporate your branding through color and content – try to include lots of ‘airy’ images – detail shots or quotes – items with lots of negative space in the background to let the images ‘breathe’ and not look too busy. If you want to grow this channel try to post once a day so you can stay on your audience’s radar – and be sure to engage with other users – commenting, liking and following as much as possible to expand your reach. Be sure to have fun with #hashtags – use one or two in the caption of your image – then create a comment for more targeted hashtags around the content you’re posting. If you want an example of this, check out out the working with dog instagram – check out the quotes. Don’t neglect your bio here – as that is your once chance to have a clickable link.
Don’t forget: if you’re a local business, say where you’re located in your bio!
Tools: Iconosquare is dominating the analytics game for Instagram [I am still not sure how helpful these stats actually are – but I will keep you posted.] As for scheduling, Instagram hasn’t opened up their API to 3rd party aps – so having a software that posts for you is actually against the terms of use [which means if you do it there is a slight chance you could have your account shut down] so most ‘social scheduling tools’ like Hootsuite will simply let you pull together the photo + text in advance, and then alert at whatever time you set, and then you can post it manually. I did experiment with Schedugr.am but I found it cost-prohibitive and I got super nervous about breaking the rules.
Why: If you’re looking for grown up college grads, you’ll find them on LinkedIn – 46% of online adults who have graduated from college are LinkedIn users and LinkedIn is the only major social media platform for which usage rates are higher among 30- to 49-year-olds than among 18- to 29-year-olds. What does this mean? It’s a great platform for developing credibility & authority among peers or potential clients – and it’s a wonderful channel for B2B [business to business].
How: Create your profile [or spruce it up, if it’s been a while], create a page for your business and plan to share the content you’re already creating [or creating custom content, if LinkedIn is your primary platform]. LinkedIn is also another wonderful place for targeted advertising – the channel boasts notoriously high ROI, but it’s less flexible and it’s expensive – you’ll often pay at least $2 per lead [as opposed to $.20 on Facebook] so you need to make sure you’re set up with a good sales funnel to make the most out of your investment.
Tools: Looking to get in with some big hitters? Sign up for the premium version of LinkedIn and you can contact anyone, whether you’re connected or not. I did this when I was trying to book interviews for the Million Dollar Dog Brand book – and 98% of the people I reached out to [who had never heard of me] emailed me back and booked in for interviews. You’ll need to have an incentive that makes them want to get in touch – but this may be the most effective method of ‘cold calling’ out there! It’s pricey, but you can turn it ‘on and off’ as you need.
YouTube
Why: YouTube has over a billion users — Almost one-third of all people on the Internet: it’s the world’s ‘second biggest search engine’. On YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the States. Like Facebook, you’re looking at a social network with more reach than prime time television – only it’s FREE to have a presence. Actually, you can get PAID to have a presence… did I mention that you could add a significant revenue stream to your business by running ads on your YouTube videos? Yeah. The number of YouTube channels earning six figures per year is up 50% from last year! If that’s not enough – how about a bit of SEO punch? Videos are around 50x more likely to show up in a Google search than text [here’s a handy little guide about how to make that happen].
How: Aside from pretty much forcing you to use Google [but honestly who doesn’t have a gmail these days?] YouTube is super simple to set up. Try shooting a video on your laptop or smart phone, upload it in just a few clicks and then share it – all within minutes. Consider ‘how-to’ videos if you have something to teach, intro videos to get your audience familiar with you, show some ‘behind the scenes’, use video to make announcements, highlight individual products or services, or make yourself a Vlog [a video blog]. It’s faster to produce, quicker to consume and helps your website rank higher than a regular ol’ text one [see SEO above]. At a minimum, shoot something simple [and short: Short less than 1.5 minutes] video contentand get it up on the home page of your website… it could be the key to get people to stick around longer.
Still not convinced? How about this one… Social video generates 1200% more shares than text + images combined. Seriously. Go right now and make a video!
Tools: Scared of editing video? No problem! Go to Upwork and find yourself a fancy yet affordable editor to do it for you. Test a couple different applicants and see who you like best. Don’t forget to add music!
Google+
[I have nothing to say about this. Set up your obligatory profile to use Google Aps and then ignore it. No one uses Google +]
Snapchat
[Check it out and see if you can figure it out – here’s a funny take on how to understand it. Best thing I’ve found is the ability to create Geo-filters for events, so if people are snap-chatting about you, you can offet them ‘wraps’ for their snaps with your branding.
References:
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/masroor/2015-05-28/social-media-biggest-influencer-buying-decisions
http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-networks-influence-buying-decisions/
https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html
http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html
https://www.brainshark.com/ideas-blog/2013/August/6-cool-stats-about-video-seo
https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/advisor/15-social-media-statistics-every-business-needs-know-001509118.html
Infographic: 46% of Consumers Use Social Media in Purchase Decisions