One of the worst things to hear from a client is “Oh, I didn’t know you did that!” So use your Marketing Calendar to ensure that you are covering all services/products on a regular basis. Keep those services “top of mind” for your clients. It’s easier and more profitable to expand a current client than to go out and get a new client.
Another excellent article from Social Media Examiner. These pros often work with larger companies who have social media teams. Not always, but often. So I added my thoughts for my small business people. We have to look at things a little differently!
First my answers then click the link to read the full article.
Should I continue to promote my business on social media? How?
Yes, continue using social media. I would recommend at least continuing the activity you have been doing. Show people that you’re still in business. If you were making twice a week posts on two platforms, keep that going.
If you or your staff have some extra time, start a new platform. Look at the social media demographics (I can email them to you) and start a new platform you haven’t had time for before.
Should my social media strategy change? How?
Review all of your content to be sure it’s relevant. If you’re a restaurant, advertising dine-in specials is going to fall flat. But take-out specials will be worthwhile. Every business can adjust. Be very clear on how people can help you and how you can help people.
Should I be running ads on social media? What kind of messaging should I use?
If you want to run ads, hire an expert to guide you. I can give you referrals to experienced professionals. The ads are not easy to set up. You need to set a clear budget. You need to carefully measure the results.
If you haven’t ran ads before, I would wait a bit to get started. Are you doing everything else? Up to date website with solid search engine optimization? Email marketing? Phone calls? Videos? Are you participating in groups on Facebook or LinkedIn? If you’re doing all these things, you probably need to add in social media advertising.
How can I use social media to move my transactions online?
Make sure you post about the ways you use online transactions to help your clients. Online meetings? Video training? Catalogs on your website? Be very clear what is available to your clients.
We are all learning new things and shifting some ways we do business. Be creative. Be kind.
I’ll close with my favorite social media quote –
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
Dale Carnegie
This article title is a little mis-leading. Don’t pass it by if you are an established business. In fact, it may be more important to an established business. Over time we can get into a marketing rut. Or we may discount a technique that has changed and re-surfaced. This article has some interesting statistics about what is working right now in marketing. Compare this list to your marketing calendar. What are you using? Are you getting similar results to those mentioned in the article? Call Your Computer Lady if you want to review your Marketing Calendar and freshen your plans.Business Can Continue With Online Meetings!
Your Computer Lady was an early adopter of online meetings. It’s often my preferred method of meeting for its simplicity and time-savings.
But with COVID-19, online becomes more important. You can keep your business functioning in many ways with online meetings.
Yes, you can email but using video calls or online meetings allows easier, more clear communications.
What’s App
This is an app for iPhone or Android that allows chat as well as video calls. I work with a programmer in Germany and we meet 2-3 times a week via video. After you download the app, you place a video call just like you would a phone call. Apple provides a similar service called FaceTime. (What’s App is free!)
Zoom or GoToMeeting
Online meetings give you video, chat, screen sharing with 1 or 1000 people. There are free accounts with limited features and more robust plans that have monthly fees.
Your Computer Lady can help.
We are all going to need to make changes and adjustments during this crisis. But there’s no need to panic. We can do business! We can find work-arounds and hacks to make it happen.
Call me if you have questions or need assistance.
PS – You can use the same online meetings to stay in touch with family and friends. If you can’t do an in-person visit, jump online. Share those smiles!
“In today’s digital workplace, more organizations offer the option for remote work in an effort to cut overhead costs, reach talent in other geographical regions, and give employees a more flexible schedule. In fact, 74% of organizations believe that flexible working has become the “new normal”. Now, in light of the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), some organizations are even requiring remote work. “
Click here to read the full article.
Having an Inbox, Social and a Promotions tab is too much!! Sorting is supposed to help but it just mucks things up for me.
So turn the extras off.
In Gmail,
Go back to your Inbox. There’s only 1!!!!
Kudos to the Phoenix Women’s Leadership Summit for fast, creative thinking. Instead of cancelling the conference, they switched to Live Streaming and On-Demand. They sweetened the offer with 12 monthly webinars and a pass to next year’s conference. Good marketing! Good community building!
Phoenix Women’s Leadership Summit
Constant Contact is a long time favorite of mine for email marketing. I like their interface. I like their Knowledge Base. I LOVE their live tech support.
Now they are expanding to become a broader digital marketing company. What’s new so far?
LogoMaker – For the long term, you can’t do without a high quality logo for your company. But this logo maker is a starting point. It is also a great option for a special logo for an event, a product introduction, a new service announcement.
Social Media Posts & Analytics – You can schedule posts for Facebook and Instagram from your Constant Contact account. And you can read your analytics from CtCt.
Website Builder – It seems everyone has a website builder these days. I’m leery of them because they are proprietary software which limits your website. The advantage the CtCt builder has is that it is an interface you are already familiar with. Your learning curve would be lower. If you are considering a small, simple website, I recommend looking at the CtCt option. The site would, of course, have an opt in that would connect directly with your CtCt email list.
Customer reviews are becoming more important on social media platforms. It isn’t just Yelp for restaurants! I started my research for a new dentist at Yelp last weekend. More and more of my retail clients are telling me about business coming in after reading reviews on Facebook, Google or many of the other sites. You need to respond to good reviews and to bad ones. Don’t be afraid of bad reviews. If you have 20 5 star reviews and 1 griping curmudgeon, people are going to downplay the complainer. We all know people like that. But note in this article how few people respond to good reviews and how responding increases sales!! If you need help putting together your action plan, call Your Computer Lady.