Not too long ago, SEO agencies focused almost all their time on search engine marketing. Those days are long gone, and Houston internet marketing agencies and local businesses are jumping on the social media marketing train by the thousand. With each passing day, the importance of social media marketing for local companies becomes increasingly essential.
This article will touch on the basics of social media marketing. For this example, let’s look at a local beauty salon.
Owners of local beauty salons must wear multiple hats. Keeping their clients happy, hiring the right staff, staying current with the trends, stocking up on the right products… and the list goes on and on. They are under constant pressure to tackle the ever-growing competition while finding new ways to generate new business.
Social Media Marketing
Social media can help a salon stand out from the crowd. Especially now, social media is rapidly changing how brands connect and communicate with their customers. It is an exceptional business tool to have in your marketing repertoire.
With a clever and strategic use of social media platforms, businesses can promote their services, grow their customer base, and retain existing customers. Some social media marketing ideas will work for any local company.
Know Where You Need To Be
Social media marketing can be tricky if you need to know which platforms you should focus on. In fact, it’s perfectly possible to spend all your time being everywhere and not see results. As an online marketing company for local businesses in Houston, our clients often need help with this problem.
Our advice for business owners is to start with Facebook and Instagram, The two most popular social platforms today. Facebook and Instagram offer excellent opportunities to connect and engage with your audience. And because most businesses can benefit from visual content. Once you have mastered those, you can move on to Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube.
Boost Your Brand Image
Whether your business has a fun and modern feel or gives off a vintage vibe. You must communicate your brand’s image effectively on the best social platforms. For example, if a beauty salon specializes in alternative cuts. They should highlight that aspect in their posts. Create content in a way that would appeal to people with unconventional styles. However, it’s most important to maintain a consistent tone for whichever social platform you choose.
Strike an Instant Social Media Connection
Photos are the way into your potential customer’s mind. But it would be best if you steer clear of stock images. Instead, use real photos shot inside your business for maximum effect. For instance, using a collage of some of your best works as your Facebook cover image can instantly tell someone what they can expect when they visit your business. Post photos of stylists and hairdressers at a beauty salon is also a great idea. People love to see the faces behind the brands.
Showcase Your Success Stories
It’s one thing to tell people what makes your business different and why they should choose you. But giving them first-hand proof in the form of before and after photos make it much more credible. Plus, the visual appeal of well-shot photographs and entertaining videos can convince prospective customers to pick up the phone and book an appointment. Even better, have your clients share the videos featuring them on their own social media pages to promote your business among their friends.
Network With Other Local Businesses
Local business is about networking, building relationships, and creating opportunities for mutual growth. Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn are great for networking. Twitter allows you to engage in many ways. You could strike up real-time conversations, mention someone in a tweet to get their attention, or send a tweet via direct message and have group conversations privately.
Conversely, LinkedIn is where many local businesses come together to discuss relevant issues, connect with other companies, and build new relationships.
Team Up with Social Media Influencers
Finding local bloggers and YouTubers to partner with is an excellent way to reach more customers. These social media influencers, through their popular content and daily relationships with fans, can build your reputation and convince more people to try your business.
Create a Buzz with Discounts and Promotions
It’s great to leverage your social platforms to spread the word about special discounts or promotions. Be creative with your advertisements, and share them extensively on your social pages, website landing pages, and email lists. This can help you pick up sales during slow times and beat your competition during busy seasons.
Host Contests and Giveaways
Who doesn’t love free stuff? And that’s precisely why contests and giveaways are such big hits with people on social media. You can use Facebook and Twitter to host contests with early-bird gift cards and complimentary services for several winners. Also, giveaways such as “a free manicure for liking and sharing our Mother’s Day post” can get your special packages and offers before a wider audience, creating more awareness for your business.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a huge trend you can quickly capitalize on. Almost everyone uses a wedding hashtag (e.g., #gettingmarried) while posting pictures or discussing their engagements and wedding plans on Instagram and Facebook. So what’s in it for you? Search for a few wedding hashtags, find people who have announced their engagements and wedding plans, and send them a private message with your sales pitch.
Treat Your Social Pages As Your Mini Websites
Make sure your social pages have all of the information that customers may be looking for. Platforms like Facebook offer features to add your business locations, services, photos, and reviews to your page. Take special care to provide a working phone number and regularly check your social inboxes for client queries. Also, your social profiles should be SEO optimized for people to find you more easily.
Get Professional Social Media Help
Sure, you can pull off these social media tactics on your own but remember, you need to be regular and consistent, or else you won’t see results. This means you will need to spend some time daily away from your core business to focus on your social media activities. And this is where most companies stop or get erratic with their efforts before they start seeing results. To avoid this, consider bringing in the professionals.
ProEngage Local Houston SEO Firm can help you build a social media marketing plan for your local business based on your specific needs and budget. Call us at (832) 857-0065.