In this day and age, we all know the power that social media holds. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become veritable marketplaces with baked-in advertising channels. Social media has become essential to small businesses hoping to build brand awareness and sell their wares. Initially, managing a couple of social media accounts may seem pretty simple. However, to remain relevant with your social media followers you’ll need to keep your branding consistent, be creative, plus engage and entertain your fans. Due to technological advancements, you can do these things in a lot of ways. You just need the know-how to effectively utilize the available tools.
Rise Local’s social media team can help you live stream, use surveys, capture media, craft well-written captions, and more. All of these things work to either inform you or your customer. Today, we have compiled a list of creative strategies to captivate your audience’s attention and build a lasting relationship with them. These will help you build customer loyalty, and capture useful sales leads.
Add a Human Element
Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok all allow users to publish pre-recorded videos and go live. Better yet, all of these social media platforms have a lot of users and can introduce your company to new markets. All you have to do is publish content and optimize it for your social media followers.
Video offers a wonderful opportunity for companies to show their authenticity and build a relationship with their audience. This type of media also helps consumers put a face to the company. Now, you may not think your company needs a spokesman. However, it’s a strong marketing move more often than not. Think about some of TV’s most successful ad campaigns. Flo from Progressive is a likable fictional character and helped improve brand recognition for the insurance company. She’s been their go-to spokesperson, which goes to show something is working!
Or you can think about John Stamos, the lovable uncle from Full House, turned Oikos Greek Yogurt spokesman. His presence on commercials gave people someone to connect to and again, significantly increased brand recognition. Long story short, people want to connect with someone and video gives you a chance to offer that to consumers.
SMB Video Production
So if you as the owner choose to go unseen, think about hiring models, a spokesman (real or fictional), or even just making your staff more visible on the website and social media. We guarantee that having a human element will take you further than you could ever imagine.
Our examples reference TV advertising, but videos on social media are perhaps even better for SMBs because they’re more interactive. People can ask questions, comment using “stitches”, or just share your content and start a conversation with their own followers. Going live on social media gives you the chance to answer questions on the spot, give shout-outs, and create a sense of urgency because of the ephemeral nature of the medium.
Tell a Story
Storytelling is one of the best ways to communicate important information to your social media followers. Not only is this a great way of relaying information, but it also allows you to establish an emotional appeal with others. You can share stories about individual team members like their backgrounds, work memories, or their thoughts about the products or services you’re selling. Additionally, people want to know how your local business impacts the community. Tell stories about how your business gives back or purchases from local companies. These types of posts build your team’s credibility with your followers.
Alternatively, you can post customer highlights. Give the client a chance to review the product or service they bought. This is one of the most effective posts you can make because while an employee may feel inclined to say something positive, a consumer really has no reason to embellish. We recommend that you highlight customer’s thoughts and testimonials whenever possible.
Ask Questions!
Try polling or surveying your followers. A product or service is meant to fulfill the needs of a customer. Create a survey that asks them what they like about your products, what they’re looking for, or how your service has impacted them. This shows your fans that you care about their input and want to improve your service for them.
You can also ask questions in your captions as a more discreet form of engagement and market research. Maybe you have a new blog post out, and you want your audience to read it. Ask them to comment on their favorite part of the blog or about what topics they’d like to read about in the future.
Competition and Prizes
Everyone loves a little friendly competition. If you want to engage your fans, hold an online contest. It can be as simple as tagging three followers or reposting one of your images. Small contests like these spread awareness to potential customers and create a fun, dynamic experience. The winners can receive something like 15% off their next purchase, a free consultation, or additional perks. The actual prize isn’t that important, people just love getting free or discounted products.
Rise Local Will Engage Your Followers on Social Media
Effectively managing social media can be very time-consuming. So, team up with Rise Local. Our experienced social media team will manage all of your social media account for you. Together, we will compose strategies to increase your brand’s awareness and foster relationships with followers. Get in touch with us today, so we can kickstart your journey to social media success.