As professionals, we don’t need to do things just for the sake of doing them. In fact, if we can’t identify exact purpose or relate efforts to ROI, we’re apt to nix things from our To Do Lists pretty quickly.
Social Media is—and isn’t—the exception to the rule. We often hear from folks who are looking for “other” marketing solutions because they don’t feel social media works for them. Sometimes, the reasons social media efforts aren’t working are very apparent.
Usually, the biggest reason for ineffective, unproductive social media presence is because it’s too one-sided. If your social media venues contain nothing but ads and commercials about your brand or product, you may want to re-consider your strategy.
While we all know we’re supposed to be engaging, it can be hard to figure out how to do it every single day. And, arguably, when we don’t get the response we hoped for, it can be discouraging.
Fear not! We have some general recommendations that might just provide the inspiration you’re looking for to be more engagingly engaged in your social media efforts.
The most effective path is not always the most direct.
Here’s a scenario: Marketing state-of-the-art painting equipment that will make any painting project easier and faster for customers requires much more than simply telling people how great the products are. Customers have to be able to relate to the product, and need to be shown how and why the products will benefit them, before they’ll actually buy it.
If done correctly, social media allows the opportunity to bring products into peoples’ lives in a way that shows them why the product is right for them without directly selling to them.
For example, using the painting equipment company analogy, let’s build a “campaign” around what we know about DIY painting projects.
- We know what our products are capable of, and we have lots of detailed information on our product packaging and company websites to back up their capabilities.
- We know our customers love re-purposing and refurbishing old furniture and fixtures.
- We know our customers’ DIY projects would be much easier and more enjoyable and they’d have better results if they used our products.
- Because we are the product professionals, we know it’s our job to show our customers how our products can help them.
How does what we know become how we engage via social media? Glad you asked!
Just put it out there.
Knowing what we know about our DIY customers, we know they’ll totally relate to refinishing a flea market find. So, let’s say we acquire a lovely old cabinet with great lines and fun details that’s just waiting to be given a new lease on life.
- We put it out there by posting photos of the cabinet. We tell what we know about it and describe the material it’s made of, the design elements and the character of the piece. In subsequent posts, we may even talk about where it came from and how we acquired it.
- We can choose to post single photos, each outlining a different element about the piece or the great project that it’ll be. Or, we can choose to post a series of photos and tell a longer story. The idea is that we’re sharing this project with our customers. And, just like they would “get to know” the piece if they were refinishing it themselves, we’re engaging them by introducing them to the piece that we’ll be working on.
Ask questions.
People love to be involved by sharing stories and opinions, and you can learn a lot about their interests by providing opportunities for them to share.
With various photos of the cabinet taken at different angles, ask:
- Have you ever seen a cabinet like this?
- What do you think it was used for in its former life?
- What would you do with it?
- Where would you put it in your home?
- Do you think this cabinet would look better painted or stained?
- How many ideas can we come up with to re-purpose this fabulous piece?
Ideally, because people can easily relate to this project, they’re interacting with their own experiences and ideas about your project. And, of course, you take each and every opportunity to interact with your community via responses, suggestions and even more ideas. You’re building rapport. You’re connecting your brand and your product to this wonderfully every-day project that just about anyone can do without saying, “Buy our product!”
Show Them, and They Will Come.
This “campaign,” may last a week, or a month. As long as new and different things about the process are incorporated, people will look forward to coming back and seeing what’s next.
- Provide How To tips about preparing the cabinet for re-finishing.
- Show how your experts sand and prime the surfaces.
- Demonstrate how easily and beautifully your painting equipment provides a new finish.
- Accentuate the results with before and after photos.
- Share ideas about how to add new hardware to the cabinet after it’s refinished to customize the look.
- Talk about the different ways that the piece can be accessorized, or how it can be used within the home.
With each of these interactions, you’re showing your customers something useful. These are tips, steps and ideas that they can use and share with others, all while keeping your brand top-of-mind.
So what?
In all of the engaging possibilities above, your brand is present. Without hard-selling anything, you’re letting people know what your products can do for them, and that’s the best way to increase sales. In addition, you’re learning more about your customers through their interactions with you. The more you engage with them, the more they tell you what interests them. High response rates indicate what you should focus on in the future to keep customers’ attention.
And then?
Everybody like a good deal, right? Now that you have the attention of all these DIY-ers, take it to the next level.
- Create a drawing to give away the fabulous cabinet that your brand/product just refinished.
- Invite people to post their best ideas about the cabinet or some other interaction that will get them to “enter” your social media “drawing.”
- Take it a step further by also offering drawings for the equipment used to refinish the cabinet.
- Provide special pages or places for people to submit photos and stories of their own projects using your products.
And —we can’t stress this enough—respond, respond, respond! Genuinely compliment, comment and consistently interact with your audience. THAT is what engaging is. THAT is what creates relationships with a brand, and that, ultimately, is what drives sales.
While this analogy doesn’t specifically relate to every business, it does outline some of the steps that lead to being engagingly engaged in social media. It’s not just about the obvious! More often than not, it’s about the not-so obvious… It’s about conversations and generalizations and personality rather than just blunt, fact-of-the-matter selling. Take the time to take the steps, and you’re sure to see the rewards.
Looking for ways to step-up your social media engagement? Call Filament!
Comments (3)