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Social Media

How Can a Small Business Leverage Social Media?

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Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses

Many small businesses today wouldn’t be possible without social media. Social media can be used to spread the word, market your business, make sales, build a community, and more. The most popular medium for businesses (and the most business-friendly platform) is Facebook, but small businesses also use Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and others. If you have a small business, you might be wondering about the best ways to take advantage of social media. Here’s a guide to help!

Get the word out about your business, product launches, special events and more!

Get The Word Out

This is going to be your first task once you launch (or are preparing to launch) your small business. While this might be considered marketing, think of it as “pre-marketing”. You want to make a good first impression, especially when you have no one to put in a good word for you. Your first customers are your most important.

Create a business page on Facebook or special accounts on Twitter or Instagram. Invite all your friends and family to follow your business even if they’re not part of your targeted demographic. Everybody knows somebody. Your biggest supporters will be people you already know – whether they’re interested in your product or not.

Once you’ve got the fire spreading, the next step to leveraging social media is marketing!

Market Your Business To The Max

Social media is today’s most useful marketing tool for both small businesses and corporations. As a small business, however, you’re at an even better advantage. Many small businesses can get away with marketing through social media exclusively.

There are countless ways to do it! Posting regularly is the biggest thing. You want to keep reminding followers of your business. Just because they click that “like” or “follow” button doesn’t mean they’ll remember you forever. It’s up to you to keep the ball rolling.

also read: 10 Ways to Grow Your Social Media Presence the Right Way

Here are some more ways to get the most out of social media marketing:

  • Create ads. It has to be a great ad, however. You scroll past ads. I scroll past ads. We all do. That’s why your ad needs to be top-notch! Reel in your target demographic with just the right visuals and words. Get help from a professional copywriter if you need one!
  • Post videos. On Facebook, videos automatically start playing when someone scrolls upon it. Take full advantage of this with a killer intro! Upload professionally edited videos to YouTube and even join TikTok. Keep up with the current video-sharing trends!
  • Make memes. That’s probably a tip you’ve never heard before! There’s nothing wrong with a little humor – and people love it, too! This especially works if you’re targeting millennials and younger.
  • Take advantage of community marketing. Community marketing is when you allow your customers to share ideas, talk with one another about their experiences, and interact with you – the business owner – as a whole. This is a great way to get ideas and opinions, but it also makes customers feel valued and more likely to make purchases.

Sell Your Products Through Social Media

This is a very common practice – and an effective one. And it’s not just for multi-level marketing, either. For example, many boutiques display products through a post and name the sizes, colors, etc that are left. Buyers simply comment to claim a product. Then, through a private message, you can arrange pickup, delivery, and payment.

Selling on social media is quick and easy. It also inspires customers to be the first to jump on a sale before it’s gone.

Facebook Marketplace is a great place to sell your products free of charge.
Facebook Marketplace is a great place to sell your products free of charge.

You can also sell products by hosting live events. Just make sure people know the exact time you’ll be going live – and be sure to remind them again right before you do. This is also a great way to interact with your customers and get to know them!

What Else Can You Do To Leverage Social Media?

Business owners have gotten creative with social media over the years. Support a cause to build your reputation, hold special events and contests, and simply take advantage of the limitless reach you have! Although you’re a small business, you could get the world on your side if you wanted to.

learn more: social media marketing

Now that you know how to get the most of your social media marketing journey, it’s time to shine!

Marketing Strategies for Corporate Businesses: Expectation vs Reality

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Marketing is a huge challenge for any business. Whether you’re a startup or have been running your business for a while, effective marketing is always changing. You may expect one result and get another, either positively or negatively. How can we know what to expect – and what not to expect? Let’s take a look at some different marketing tactics and their realities in the business world.  

Social Media 

Social Media Marketing can cover a wide range of channel options.

This strategy is a no-brainer in today’s world. Most people (most of your customers, at least) have at least one social media account. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube are popular platforms for selling. However, if you’re just getting started with social media, there are a few key things to remember.  

Expectation: No one pays attention to ads on Facebook. 

Reality: People pay attention to good ads. It’s true that most people will scroll past ads on Facebook or other social media. That’s why you have to make the most of your advertising strategy. Focus on visuals first and foremost. Once you make them stop scrolling, have some enticing, clever copy that will convince people to click. There are plenty of books, resources, and agencies that will help you with online ads. 

Expectation: Your likes and follows correspond to sales. 

Reality: While follower count determines the reach of your business, it doesn’t guarantee the number that will actually buy your product. Social media presence alone isn’t effective marketing. Posting regularly, sharing testimonials, buying ad space, and making great videos will be sure to reel in more buyers. 

Cold Email Marketing 

Email marketing reaches all of your contacts fast and effectively.

Email service is the grandfather of digital communication. It’s just as relevant – if not more so – today than it was in the 90s. Most corporate businesses need an email campaign plan. You have 2 options: Cold email and “warm” email. While the latter goes to subscribers, cold emails are unsolicited and typically viewed as being “spammy”. However, when done right, you could have yourself a nice strategy. 

Expectation: Cold emails are always ignored and deleted. 

Reality: Cold emailing works when done with care. The worst mistake you can make is not knowing your recipients. By that, we mean having researched the person or company. Potential customers will appreciate seeing their name, a brief explanation of why they were chosen to receive the email, and how you can serve them individually. Automated cold emails are technically spam. Unique, thoughtful cold emails don’t have to fall under that category. You may want to assign someone to work on this full-time in order to produce individual emails. 

Traditional Marketing 

It’s even older than email marketing. It’s been around for generations, and it’s still as important as ever. We’re talking billboards, brochures, flyers, commercials, mail, posters, magazine ads – the works. The truly traditional way of marketing is costly, but it’s worth it. 

Expectation: Traditional marketing is a thing of the past, so it won’t increase sales. 

Reality: Is there a billboard you pass daily that is ingrained in your photographic memory? Maybe a restaurant ad telling you to turn off at the next exit? A catchy slogan? Which magazines do you skim through in the grocery checkout? Traditional marketing is everywhere. If it didn’t work, it would have long died out. Many members of the older demographic don’t use email or social media. If you’re looking to reach elderly folks (as well as younger), traditional methods are essential. 

Radio reaches people in many places like cars, work, and even in their homes.

Expectation: No one listens to the radio or watches cable TV anymore. 

Reality: According to a 2019 study by The Nielsen Company, 90% of Americans listen to the radio at least weekly. People still listen to the radio in their car, at work, and some people even listen at home these days. You’re not wasting any effort with radio ads. Cable and satellite TV are a little iffier, as consumers in those industries are declining. However, commercials still reach millions of people every day. You have an audible and visual advantage to really make your company shine.  

Conclusion 

No matter which route you go (or how many you choose), smart marketing will take your corporation to new heights. Consider your expectations of reality and turn them around for the good of your business. Creativity and confidence are key! 

Facebook Local Competing with Yelp?

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Facebook is at it again with a useful development!

The Facebook Local app was recently revamped (from what used to be the Events app) to become a real player in the fight to be the best local information provider. I think they stand a real chance at making this great since so many people already rely on Facebook to list not only their business, but also personal and professional events.

facebook events

And perhaps this is true about other places too, but at least for Milwaukee it can be difficult to find the best events going on, having to scan through multiple third-party event websites that may or may not be accurate and up-to-date. At least with Facebook, it seems there’s a better chance of seeing more of the good events in one place.

The features within the app can also be found on the desktop version of Facebook under Events. It’s nicely organized into what’s happening this week, popular event near you, adding in the ability to choose dates, and event categories. What’s more is the app will show you which of your friends have liked a location, or are planning to attend an event. You can set any location to be your “preferred place” for recommendations, whether you live there or not.

The map tab on the app defaults to showing events, but you can change this to any of the other categories, like food, dance, fitness, art, and more. And conveniently you can use the search bar if you know what you’re looking for!

An interesting idea comes to mind with the app permissions. Facebook Local will ask to track your location, and if you agree, they will effectively be able to see which businesses you’ve looked at in the app, and then see whether or not you actually went there. This may seem invasive, but also creates a great opportunity for marketers to see which of their marketing efforts are actually contributing to real-life store visits.

Currently Facebook has not commented on whether Local will feature paid ads. Perhaps they will first get the popularity up before introducing yet another great spot for small businesses to feature their offerings. And then they could potentially offer an option to retarget people who looked at their store(s) in the Local app.

B2B Internet Marketing Strategies Part 3: Be Heard

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The last step in this series of B2B internet marketing strategies is all about being heard. Even if you’re reaching a good audience, are they reaching you and then leaving right away?

Create Commitment

Make it very easy for people to get in touch and stay in touch through the website, social media, or any way your audience prefers.

  • If you are frequently sharing great content on your site, make sure social links are easy to see so people can like, follow, and share it.
  • Create an email subscription form so you can reach out to people on a regular basis with a newsletter or coupons.
  • Make more robust content like white papers or eBooks “gated” – that is, require a trade of an email address, survey answer, or other info for the download. This gives you a quality list of leads (just don’t do too much of this).

Engage with People Online

It’s important to talk to your customers, listen to them – both compliments and complaints. Resolve their issues, talk to them about fun things related to your business. The purpose of digital marketing is not only to create more sales for yourself, but to revive customer retention rates, give each person a unique, personal experience, and cause an increase in referral customers.

If you really have a quality business, make this known to other people in a way that they’ll want to share it with all their friends. That model will give you long term growth and success.

 

Competing in the digital economy in some industries has become an overwhelming and sometimes difficult task. Focusing on these three essential B2B internet marketing strategies consistently will give you a great competitive edge and a strong, committed customer base.

If you’re like most business owners and know you don’t have time to keep track of these extra things, utilize the B2B marketing services offered by K-Kom, and we’ll work together with you to grow your business to the next level and beyond!

B2B Internet Marketing Strategies Part 1: Be Found

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The first step in achieving business success online is by first being found, and not only that, but being found by the right people (the ones that will do business with you of course).

A Great Website

The first place people will look online, or the first thing people will likely find especially while searching on Google, is your website. The first impression someone gets should be as positive, clear, and simple as you can make it. You want your best side to show through, what sets you apart from your competition, and why they should choose to do business with you, rather than the search result below or above you.

Is the information all up to date? Is the purpose of the site clear (the user knows right away to call, send a request for quote, buy from your physical or online store, or whatever you want them to do first)?

Great Content

This ties right into the website. Again is all the info accurate and clear? Is there too much to look at? How many things are you asking the person to do at once (ideally only one or two simple things to begin with).

Make sure to have good quality, updated photos and videos as well. People are highly visual and photos can easily explain something more effectively and quicker than a paragraph of text. It doesn’t hurt to also include that paragraph of text near the photo or as a caption for Google’s purposes.

A good brand video is also very helpful on the homepage, showing you the owner talking about the goal of your business, why it’s important to you, and why your potential customers should trust you over your competitors.

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Google and other search engines have a method for sorting websites based on what a person searches for, and which website seems to be the best and most relevant choice to display at a particular time.

Social Listening – Who’s Your Audience

Assuming you know your audience, really dig into what these individuals are saying on social media, especially when it comes to daily struggles, problems they have regarding your industry service or product. It’s also very important to listen to your competitors to stay on top of industry trends, and social influencers that have an impact on your customers.

 

With this first step in your B2B internet marketing strategy, you’ll be starting down the path towards a strong brand and an increased bottom line!

If you’re like most businesses owners and have a thousand other things to think about and do with your time, contact K-Kom and ask about our specialized B2B marketing services. We’re ready to grow your business with you!

6 Things Your Business Might Be Doing Wrong Online

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Your business’s online presence is more important than ever. 36% of shoppers say they find new businesses using internet searches.

So here are some things you want to make sure you’re NOT doing so you, your revenue, and happy repeat customer base can continue to grow!

Not claiming your digital properties

When you start a business, there are certain legal steps you take to set it up. With the internet, you should now do the same with various platforms that customers use as a way to build trust with a new company/brand.

Not only this, if you have competitors with similar names, they can easily claim these for themselves so they will pop up when people search for you. This may lead to confusion and a loss of potential customers.

First steps: claim your business’s domain name, and your business name on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Obviously you may not have an immediate use for all of these, but you can place the profiles as private so they don’t sit unused, and pull them out when you have some ideas for them.

Lots of typos and bad grammar

While not everyone notices or cares about typos and grammar errors, it looks incredibly unprofessional especially to consumers who do notice. Especially on your website, this will reflect on the value of your business and ultimately hurt you to some degree. Another set of eyes before you publish content, or even using a professional copywriter can do wonders for maintaining a positive brand image.

Never responding to comments (esp. bad reviews)

One of the main purposes for social media is to interact with customers and create a real community if you want to improve brand loyalty.

As well, many people now look at reviews and comments to gauge whom they should give their business to. Besides collecting great reviews from people and encouraging customers to create content with your brand, if you have a few bad reviews coming in, you need to address those immediately, positively, and publicly if the reviews are public. Everyone and every business makes mistakes. It’s those companies who admit to their mistakes and do their best to fix them that become loved by their customers and stay in business for years to come.

Having unused social media accounts

Social media is a fantastic way for B2B and B2C companies alike to enjoy free marketing and networking with relevant digital audiences. Search engines like Google also look favorably on brands that interact on a regular basis on these channels.

However, when customers come across unused profiles, or out-of-date posts at the top, they may think you’re no longer in business, or look for a competitor that looks more favorable.

Your website is not mobile-optimized

Besides that Google itself now looks at this as a pretty major factor for search results ranking, many people are very mobile now. If you have a terrible mobile website that is frustrating and slow, people will leave within seconds to look for a competitor who has a website that is functional and will give their business to them, even if you have a better service or product.

Make sure you test your site on your phone, ensure photos are the right size, everything loads the way you’d like, contact or buying buttons are very clear and easy to use, etc.

Lots of poor quality photos

While having compressed photos is important for fast website loading speed, having grainy, distorted photos looks unprofessional. Make sure you’re using a decent camera (most smartphones these days are just fine). Our brains process images 60,000x faster than text, so if people see bad photos first, you might lose their attention more quickly than you’d like.

For social media channels, make sure your photos are the recommended dimension for the space they will be placed (profile picture, cover photo, etc).

Avoid these easy-to-fix mistakes, and your business and brand name will continue to thrive!

10 Ways to Grow Your Social Media Presence the Right Way

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Social Media for Business Part 2

Social media for businesses may still sound frivolous to some, but it really has become an important factor for Google rankings as well as for building customer trust and loyalty. Here are 10 ways to ensure you grow your social media presence the best and most efficient way possible.

1. Determine goals and objectives

Before you do anything, you must decide why you’re doing it and what you want to come of it. Make sure you’re not wasting money and energy in a place that doesn’t have your target audience!

2. Understand your audience

To create content that’s worth someone’s time to read or share, you must understand the type of people your company’s products or services appeal to. What are their interests? What types of things do they talk about online with their friends? What problems and complaints do they have that are related to what your business does?

3. Let your social media platforms reflect your brand

Profile pictures/icons, cover photos, content shared – everything must feel fluid and make sense to the people you want to attract. This includes color, design, and the voice behind your content.

4. Interact with your audience

Once you start growing your community (remember it is a community you’re after), interact with them. Build real relationships. This is the best way to foster customer loyalty and appreciation. Be human.

5. Have a social media strategy written down

It’s easy to think you have everything clearly remembered in your head, but being able to see the big picture, get sucked into the fine details, and then go back to the big picture is not easy, especially if you’re juggled three to five different platforms, each with a different purpose. Designing a content and social media calendar can be a major headache-avoidance system when you start planning out ideas months in advance.

6. Use relevant hashtagshashtag

While some platforms are better for this than others, this is one good way to reach more people and gain potential followers that you otherwise wouldn’t reach or would have to pay to get in front of.

7. Provide real value

Going back to understanding your audience, look to provide extra value to them. If they see that they’re gaining something worthwhile from you at no cost to them, this creates an appreciation and greater willingness to do business with you, now and in the future.

8. Network like crazy

There are lots of public groups that people have created with a shared interest. Find the ones most relevant to you and share your added value content with them, for free. If this really is relevant to them these are the people that will be even more likely to bring you additional business.

9. Post consistentlysocial media calendar

There’s something about being consistent that people and Google-like. A Facebook page with a post from last year is very unappealing, and may cause someone to question whether you’re even in business anymore. Being current is also very appealing to Google and your SEO status!

10. Provide efficient customer service and promote conversation

Do not avoid issues. Encourage customers to share their problems and deal with them in a very public social media platform (when appropriate). When people see you’re not afraid to handle issues and are willing to go the extra mile to fix them, customer loyalty will increase dramatically.
If you’re like most business owners, and way too busy to deal with things other than running your business, contact K-Kom Marketing and ask about social media strategy. We’ll be glad to become part of your team and create the social media presence you need to increase your reach online and explode your bottom line!

Social Media for Business Part 1: How to Quickly Grow Your Business

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Using Social Media For Business

Let’s start with a social media definition:

Websites and apps allowing users to network socially for fun or professionally in the case of LinkedIn, and create and share content like articles, photos, videos, etc.

With the nature of these platforms, namely Facebook, users share all sorts of data about themselves – and not only basic demographic info, but daily struggles, likes, things about their lives, their friends, they join particular interest groups, etc. Whether you’re interested in networking for relevant leads or paying for ads to expose your product to thousands of people, all of this data creates an incredible opportunity for targeting the exact type of person you know (or think) will like your product / service and become a paying customer.

Which Social Media Platform Should We Choose?

So how do you know which platform to spend your limited time, energy and money? To start, it depends on your target audience and your industry.

Where do your future customers spend most of their time while online? If you know for a fact that Facebook is where a minority of your customers are, then maybe a professional network like LinkedIn will provide more value, or a slightly more news-oriented platform like Twitter. Choosing which platforms really should be decided on a case-by-case basis after some target market research, but for example, not many construction people spend time on Facebook – some do, but are they your customers?

For SEO purposes, it has become necessary to remain active on at least one if not two-three platforms, to show your legitimacy, increase trust for Google and potential buyers, and to show that you’re still in business.

How Much Time Do You Have?

As a business owner, you’re probably very busy handling all the other aspects of running your growing empire. This is where a professional social media manager comes into play. Let someone who focuses on social media on a daily basis help you achieve great results and grow you business using the newest and most cost-effective marketing platforms available today.

K-Kom Marketing can create these great results for you, so you can relax and know that your online growth is in great hands! Contact us today to learn more about a social media strategy, and other forms of internet marketing that your business can benefit from.