Many of my clients come to me stuck on how to create effective social media marketing.
They want to sell, but have a fear of being "too sales-y".
They get how important it is to market on social media, but worry about "blasting" their message "all over Facebook".
So how do you you market successfully, get sales AND get responses like this:
Here are my top 4 tips for awesome social media success:
1) Be authentic!
Share yourself! Share your personality and passion for what you do. Dry copy about objects or services you sell won't engage people. Stock photos or product photos only go so far. Social media allows you to share so much more - your likability, your credibility, your expertise and most importantly, yourself.
Here's a video of Carrie and me, showing off the Catherine Dress from my clothing line. We're just totally OK being our adorable, goofy and awkward selves, and it's that vibe that our customers love. And below are some of the comments we got for that video.
2) Be proud!
People love people with passion. If you're not proud of what you do, how could anyone possibly be interested? You've built a business you're proud of, now share all the details about what makes you proud!
This can be a tough one for some people. We've been taught not to brag, or we feel that being proud is being conceited.
Some people have trouble seeing what it is they have to be proud of because they're so close to their work.
I remember a designer telling me, complaining about her laborious process, that each piece took 11 separate steps to make. Being on the outside, I was able to clearly see that was a powerful message to be proud of. She took such care to make an incredibly carefully crafted garment and people would love to know that. But to her it all just seemed like work!
It's because I freely share my pride of what I do, that I get comments like this:
And I'm pretty proud of that!
3) Be of service!
"This made shopping (a task I find really daunting) so much easier and fun!!!"
OMG. This is my favourite comment ever!
When I saw how our social media was of service to people- making their style choices easier and more fun- a new world opened up.
We started to do many more videos, putting in the work to show the clothes in 3 dimensions and point out all its features. We talked about how it stretches and how it feels to wear as well as ways to accessorize it and create more outfits.
People could see how they move and drape, and how they look on various bodies from the comfort of their own home.
We offered to hold their size for them so they could come and try it on. And we offered to consult about size over email or skype if they couldn't make it into a store.
And being of service to them works for us, big time! Every day people walk into our stores ready to buy what they saw online. Or they can order with confidence from our online store.
Getting clear on this one thing - how to serve them better through social media - was a game changer.
4) Create fun!
Another popular post we do is the "'help me decide" strategy. Angela is a well-loved Fresh Collective Store Manager at our Roncesvalles location and when she does these posts, people love to jump in and comment.
And those comments result in sales, of course. (You can see the post here.)
Once people are taking a moment to stop and think about which colour is best for Angela, of course they're going to think about which colour is right for them!
It's just a fun little game that creates engagement and helps build relationships with our customers, and just one example of how we inject a little fun into our social media.
I hope this article provides some clarity on how to create a social media strategy that works.
Laura-Jean is a Toronto based entrepreneur and Business Coach as well as a trailblazer with Happy Healthy Women Toronto West. Find out more at www.laura-jean.ca.