enhancing the search for YOUR perfect CUSTOMERS
enhancing the search for YOUR perfect CUSTOMERS
I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting as well as putting the presentation together for you. Below you will find helpful information to help you in your social media journey. Click the download button you will be redirected to my download site to get the documents that will be useful for the 5 daily challenges. You will be required to sign in to receive the documents.
Social MediaSocial media today has become very overwhelming for the average solopreneur and small business owner. As a professional organizer, we can understand why you may find it frustrating - organizers tend to like 'a place for everything, and everything in its place'. Social media typically doesn't work this way, You gotta love to hate it, It is a necessary evil and, it can be very overwhelming.. Which leads us to:
How Do You Manage Social Media as a solopreneur or small business?
First off, you must know your customers. Why do they buy from you, what they are looking for and why? Typically people buy for two reasons:
1. to Survive:
2. to Thrive.
Survive buying is food, necessities, items to conduct business, items needed in everyday living that are not considered extravagant.
Thrive buying is the extras, the lifestyle statements to show status, etc.
Think of it this way. A person may need to buy a pair of running shoes for their daily walk. If they were to buy any running shoe that will get the job done, this would be a survival buy. Now, if they purchased a $500 pair of running shoes, that would be a thrive purchase.
When planning your marketing, it is important for your messaging to resonate with your buyer. Creating post with an image of a pair of running shoes and a price will be less effective than portraying a female executive, sitting in her BMW, changing out of her designer 5" high pumps and putting on a pair of $500 designer running shoes with a headline that says 'Useful Style' or similar.
There are other questions you can ask to know your customer:
There are a multitude of questions you can ask to truly know your customers. If you market to a type of customer specifically, with a clear message as to what they are looking for, developing your social media messaging will become that much easier. Most businesses have more than one customer type. For a professional organizer, you will have customers looking to hire you because they do not have time, they don't know where to start, need assistance in closing an estate, moving, or just want to make sense of their unorganized lives. Each of these will require a customer avatar to create your marketing plan effectively.
Just like knowing your customers, you also need to know your product or services and how to promote these to each of your client avatars above. The product/service may be identical, but how you market to your avatar would be different. Here you will want to make a list of your products and services, what the main benefits are and how it fits, or doesn't fit with each of your avatars.
What is the purpose of your social media channels? Are they all the same, are they specific depending on the channel? Are your goals to build awareness, sell online, start conversations, book appointments. Develop a call to action for each of your goals as they relate to the avatar.
For content you will want to develop inventory of content shareable items. Images, blogs, videos, links, ebooks, tip sheets, etc. Really consider what you are comfortable creating on your own, will you write your own posts and materials? Do you create your own images, graphics and video? Do you have resources from the Professional Organizers of Canada you can share or use? What resources are online that you can share. Are motivational quotes something your clients will like, or maybe before and after shots. Can you write blog articles. This is a good one - One blog post (if written properly can be 3-10 individual social media posts, driving traffic back to your website. All marketing should drive traffic to your website.
After you have determined the who, where, what, why and how above, It is time to schedule all that planning. If you are doing your social media yourself, the best way to make sure it happens is to block time weekly to write, create and schedule the posts. Create a content calendar (we've included a basic calendar in the downloads) to outline the types of content you plan on using each week and month, ie: 1 blog monthly or bi-monthly, 4 videos, 4 link shares, 4 shares to pages on your website, 4 tip sheets, 4 motivational quotes etc. Each week prepare this content in the blocked time, schedule the posts and you are done for the week. The only thing you need to do is post 'in the moment posts' that your fans will find interesting and monitor your messages and results. And one more thing, don't forget to share your posts personally from your facebook business page, this will extend your reach.
There are a variety of tools on the market for scheduling your social media posts - some are better than others, some can be used free, but most require a payment plan for the ability to schedule. That being said, if your facebook and instagram accounts are set up properly, you can use the Meta tools for creating and scheduling posts on both platforms. Book a consultation with me if you are not sure how to take advantage of all the tools offered by Meta (facebook's new corporate name). One of my favourite tools for scheduling is Zoho Social (there's a free trial) -- it will allow posting, scheduling, responding and monitoring to facebook pages, groups, linkedin profiles and corporate pages, instagram, instagram reels, twitter, youtube and tiktok. Very powerful tool for a reasonable fee - which is actually billed to you in Canadian $s not U.S.
The implementation is the easiest, but also time consuming - sometimes it is easier to have someone else do it for you, if they understand the platforms. You could also hire a social media manager to write and post content, then you would simply need to add the 'timely happenings' into the mix. This can however be expensive to be done properly. You will want to find someone that knows your industry fairly well.
And finally, it is important not to forget the analysis. You will want to study how people are getting to your channels, where they are going, are they clicking your links, are they engaged, is it translating to business? If you don't analyze the results, you will be throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.
There are a variety of tools, products and services to help managing your social media and content easier. These however all come with a price and can add up quickly. We mentioned Zoho Social and Meta Business Centre above for scheduling, there are many more and believe us, when we say we have used many of them over the years. Some work better than others, and the price varies substantially. There are however other tools and services to be considered:
Of course PRowl Communications offers these services for creating images, writing posts, blogs, ebooks etc., however you can also buy many of the services a la carte if needed. We have several services for blog writing and graphic design on demand. If you look further however, you could have Fiverr write blog articles for you complete with images, or use a tool like Canva to create your own graphics. If using Fiverr or similar services, vet the person you choose to hire well. Look at reviews, number of projects etc. By hiring a professional to create content for you, you may save a ton of frustration on your part, and definitely time. After all you already wear many hats, is doing your own social media really worth the time. We get it - not every business can afford a marketing team, but when you can - it is well worth the investment.
Social Media Management Services can vary in price from cheap to very expensive. You will want to look for someone who knows your industry, find out if there is a contract, what they will give you for the fee charged, quality of work, reviews etc. Do your homework. And remember, it is important for you to have someone that is easy to talk to, understands you and can think like you - otherwise it is a battle and failure in the making.
This goes back to your avatar and your products and services. Tell a story, engage your audience. Selling constantly will make people run faster than a jack rabbit... Make it interesting, engaging, ask questions, offer downloads, videos and links to information on your website. Mix it up. Some say 3 information/educational posts for every 1 ask post. Others say 5-1 and some 8-1. Regardless of what you are posting - always include a link to your website -- drive traffic there. If you have a good website, it will sell for you.
How often is probably the question I get asked the most. And, my answer varies from client to client, social channel, to social channel. In my world, I believe you should post daily on each of your channels and make it different content. You don't want someone that follows all your channels to see the same post everywhere. I like to have the same theme happening on each channel with my posts on any given day, with different content. No, this does not mean you need 5 different pieces of content per day, it means you need 5 pieces of content for 5 days, you're just mixing it up as to the order. Frequency also depends on the channel. Twitter for example could be 3, 5 10 times a day if you have enough content to share, or even repeat. Twitter users do not scroll far. Instagram users will scroll longer.
Time Management is another item to consider. You will need to monitor your channels - have specific times set aside for doing this, but also have your notifications turned on - this way you can see items as they happen and respond accordingly, or plan your response for the evening or first thing in the morning daily. You do however want to respond to direct messsages as quickly as possible.
For you as an organizer, I'm sure the association website has content you can easily share, but always remember to add your information to the post prior to sharing the link so your audience knows why you are sharing the content. One of my favourite sites for fun or interesting information is www.daysoftheyear.com - there is always a few interesting days to share, or months - like January is National Organizing Month, or pack-rat day, organize your desk/office day, etc.
Other places to get information to share, or even ideas to write about include Houzz, HGTV, Home & Garden, local newspapers, and if you really don't have time to write your own blog now and then, www.newscanada.com is a great source for editorial content. If you use articles from this site, keep in mind the articles cannot be altered in any way, you must use their image if provided, and link back to newscanada.com. Their articles usually contain links to other websites as they are generally written by companies and supplied to News Canada for editorial use. Check the links to make sure you are okay with this before using the article. Articles are typically written by companies like Home Depot, energy sites, insurance companies, etc. Do not make these articles the basis of your blog - use once in awhile when you are crunched for time in creating your own unique content.
Not everyone is a photographer or can hire one. Finding the right image can take time and you definitely don't want to do a search online for an image and use it - chances are pretty good it is copywritten. For free stock photography images, that do not require attributes, my favourite site is www.pixabay.com and if you're looking for even better photos to use is www.megapixl.com if you don't mind a small subscription fee.
When you started your business, I bet it was to do what you loved doing... You didn't realize you also had to be the accountant, the marketer, the HR team, plus, plus, plus... right? As small businesses and solopreneurs, we wear many hats. The sooner you can put processes in place, tools in place and hire the right people, services to help, the easier your company will function and your workload will decrease. Doing it all isn't fun, but you do it for the love of being your own boss. If you are looking to start creating processes, streamlining your business and automating your marketing, book a complimentary consultation with us.
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