As some of you may know, I am the Marketing and Sales Manager over here at Salon Tracker and I'm back with a social and digital marketing blog in order to help you and your business.
If you follow our blog then you may have seen we have released many social media marketing, digital based blogs that aim to help you grow your business. (I have linked some articles below, if you would like to flick to those after this read.*) Today I am going to focus on an area we haven't touched upon before which is going to oversee social media marketing both paid and organic advertising. Upon the entrance to 2015, a lot of clients have requested information on this particular subject which is why I have decided to blog about it so you can refer back, should you need to. Happy reading!
Your businesses digital presence is just as important as your business itself which means it’s absolutely vital to invest money into it if you want to grow. There are many online essentials that are widely recommended for business development and lead generation such as Google CPC, SEO (on and off page optimisation) and of course the inevitable, social media.
This last decade, social media has grown to become one of the most explosive marketing tools ever known to man. Although initially gracing us as a predominantly social network between peers, businesses have recognised the opportunities to build rapport and up-heave customer satisfaction with social channels like never before.
Most social channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all provide advertising opportunities, but still many businesses aim to grow organically rather than use their marketing budget, because essentially, you can. What many entrepreneurs aren’t aware of, are the possibilities of expansion, growth and development if you are willing to integrate marketing funds. Since the beginning of my career in marketing, I have witnessed many businesses grow their brands through social media marketing and can honestly say there is a huge opportunity to grow your business if you are willing to apply some adaptations.
Salon Tracker Tips;
- Educate yourself on Facebook Ads! Facebook are simple in their approach and offer many articles to help aid your journey in the creation of an ad. For a B2C market with a social background, Facebook can work wonders and you can triple your existing database which means your niche audience is tripled. Although debatable, I am confident most businesses can find explosive success with Facebook Ads as long as you are targeting your market correctly and measuring your ROI too.
- If you are more confident with or hold a larger audience base on Twitter, there are a few options I would strongly recommend both paid and non paid advertising. Twitter Advanced Search is a great way to find your niche market or people who are in requirements of your services and is completely FREE. Twitter Ads on the other hand is a paid technique and can be expensive if it is not measured or researched. I have heard great results from clients who have integrated this into their business.
- LinkedIn is another social channel which is extremely up and coming and still so underused. It offers great opportunity for corporate news or events and is designed to hold all limited company information. If you operate in B2B, LinkedIn is great for outsourcing, content and lead generation.
- For those of you who are always posting to various networks from your phones or laptops, the next pointer might really help you out. ‘Hootsuite’ is essentially a social media executives dream since it saves time and can post in advance to multiple networks. It allows the ability to keep your content consistent, fresh and engaging if you can plan in advance. You even have suggested posts which finds relevant content based on your "interests".
- If you haven’t already, create a professional and working website. Everyday there are people browsing the Internet for services. If you are not present on Google then you simply do not have a chance ranking against your competitors with regards to SEO. In 2015, Google introduced the latest Google Algorithm change which stated all websites had to be fully functioning on a mobile. This was a huge movement for digital and is so important. As a business you are potentially losing out on over 60% worth of business if your website is not mobile friendly.
- Make sure you are on all relevant networks. Some might say join every network you can, but this isn’t necessarily correct. Corporate companies for example are generally opposed to sites such as Instagram. Whereas Instagram and Pinterest are fantastic opportunities for the beauty industry since it is visually focused. I would say for salon owners the top 5 of the minute are the obvious, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google +.
- If you know you’ve got a great team who are talented in their profession, use social channels to show them off! There’s nothing better than a business owner who takes pride in and advertises their employee’s expertise. You are the professionals and therefore hold an authority in industry tips, tricks and advice- use this angle to entice onward.
- Don’t just showcase your own news, share articles your clients might be interested in. We are always sharing visual graphics and future trends because everyone needs a little inspiration from time to time.
- People on social channels, generally scroll through their news feed until they see something they like and share so it has to be enticing and draw the reader in, relevant to your market.
- If you have a full appointment calendar, chances are your client’s are happy with their services. LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook are all great channels to ask for reviews and testimonials from your clients. especially but even Facebook now offer reviews. Try just asking your client’s politely if they would be willing to review your services, usually if they are happy with you, they are happy to extend this.
- Measure! We cannot stress the importance of measuring. Google Analytics is a great place to calculate ROI. Was expanding your marketing budget worth it? Hopefully so. If you have any questions on the above, please feel free to reach out and I will be happy to talk you through this.
Thanks for reading,
Rachel
* 'TOP 5 TIPS: How to use social media' and 'Getting the most out of social media for your business'