Social Media, the ultimate goal is to be seen, right? Being seen consistently, strategically, is the path to consistently growing your business.
This week we’re going to talk a bit about injecting some PR into that path.
Here’s the definition of PR from PRSA (Public Relations Society of Ameria) “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
A few months ago the PRSA North East region chapter had a conference, and I was a speaker at the conference. I got to see first hand how people were leveraging PR and Social Media together. Christina Daves and I have known that for years, we’ve interviewed dozens of people for our Get Seen Be Heard YouTube channel! But it was great to hear all kinds of angles on making this work most profitably. And I realized I have NEVER talked about this on my blog!
So here it is, my top 5 ways to use Social Media and PR together, profitably.
Connect with journalists who cover your industry. Make sure you’re connected on Twitter and LinkedIn primarily. Create a Twitter list for these journalists and be sure to retweet and converse with them regularly! Please don’t pitch them, be of service, save the pitches for the exact right time.
Use LinkedIn Inmail. If you’re following me, you KNOW you need to have a great profile (need help? Start here) (link to first three things page). Once you’ve been connected for awhile and you’ve been sharing their content and being of service, it’s time to take the next step. An InMail is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Maybe you’re just asking permission to pitch them in the future, and asking them how they prefer to be contacted.
Snail Mail rules. Remember the days when your mailbox was overflowing with bills and crap? Now, your email box is, and mail stand out. Send a nice note, include something that has your social media accounts listed so they know how to follow you. They will remember this, I promise.
Read your content – to the journalist and in general – out loud. Make sure it Blog sounds like YOU. If not, rework it. Please don’t sound like a robot or use all kinds of corporate jargon. Be real. It works every time.
Monitor relevant hashtags. Primarily on Instagram and Twitter. You’ll see who’s talking about your topics, and you can jump into those conversations. These conversations can help you develop your next pitch.
That’s it! Pretty simple when you put a process to it. Wondering where to start? I put together this FREE video series showing some simple ways to use social media and PR to get more customers. Check it out! www.gmctips.com
We’ve all heard – it’s easier to sell to existing customers than it is to gain new customers.
So, how do we do that? How do we improve our customer loyalty?
You know what’s coming next, right? Social Media!
Listen. Listen to your existing customers. Listen to social media, do research on local hashtags; what are people in your town talking about? What products or services are being talked about in your industry? Where do your customers congregate online?
Now respond. Start conversations around what you learned in step one and get engaged with your local customers!
Contests and rewards programs keep your customer base coming back. Incentives drive customers to come back to your business and as long as you provide what they need, they’ll think to YOU first. Use Social Media and PR to get visibility for those programs.
Are you following your customers on social media and supporting their online efforts? Following and friending a customer boosts morale and makes them feel appreciated. Interact with social pages by giving a retweet or a like now and then from a happy customer!
Think like a customer. Identify their pain points and make sure you can solve them. Being a business is all about providing a solution to a customers need, so be able to identify that and provide a simple and attractive solution.
Provide ROCK SOLID customer service on social media. People love to share their experiences with products and services online. Be aware of positive and negative presence on social media and be able to build up a customer when they are pleased, and fix a problem and offer a solution when they are not.
HAVE A PLAN! It is not just enough to casually monitor your social media. Being engaged consistently is key to staying in contact with your customers and to catch any immediate posts that need your attention. Timeliness in responses and updates show a customer that you care. And showing you care is the key to keep your customers coming back!
Ready to get engaged and connect with your customer base? Visit www.gmctips.com to view more of these tips and get your first video FREE!
Your business is on Main Street, not on Wall Street.
You see the Fortune 500 companies doing it, getting publicity and visibility, but what about YOU?
It’s just as important to build credibility and trust when working locally, I’d say even MORE important if you want to STAY in business. Now, are you wondering how can you do that virtually through LinkedIn?
Here are five tips on how you can use LinkedIn to increase your local business:
1. Establish Yourself as a Local Expert
Increasing familiarity with your business is so important when building a profitable foundation in a local business area. Showing local clients what you do, how you do it and your success rates right from the beginning will attract the local client base and establish trust in your abilities.
You might even want to get a LinkedIn company page up and running to focus solely on your businesses brand. Once you have it made, go ahead and promote yourself! LinkedIn has multiple options now that allow you to promote your page as advertisements to target segments. Get your business out there, get connecting with people and show them your successes. And don’t be afraid to brag a little!
2. Attract Top Employees
Every business needs a strong employee base to enhance productivity. Once you’ve established yourself as a local expert, recruiting top tier members to support your business is essential for growth.
Make use of the job postings section. Seek out suggestions from credible sources and get digging on which you believe can enhance your business.
3. Build a Network of Local Business Owners
As I mentioned in my Social Media Quick Tip: Local LinkedIn Networking Groups article, I love local-based networking groups. People love to do business with associates, which make it a key topic to consider when growing your local business and network of clients.
Join a few local networking groups and see what the conversations about; or even start your own! From there, you can engage with local business owners, give recommendations, post blogs and mention events you may have coming up. From here you can establish connections, as well as gain multiple clients from your participation in these groups.
Once you’ve built this network, connect with your local clients! It’s a great way to stay in touch, further your client base and support the people who support you!
4. Host Events and Promote in Local LinkedIn Groups
Getting face-to-face meetings with potential clients is the ultimate goal in building relationships with local business owners. By hosting events relative to your audience, you create the opportunity to get in front of these businesses that may need your help.
Promote these events in the location-based groups you have created, as well as post your events to other local groups that attract your target audience.
5. Don’t Forget Personal Branding!
When it’s all said and done, your business is nothing without your personal brand. Be sure to stay true to what you have a built and maintain these positive social networking relationships through your brand image. After all, you are what you post!
Ready to get started? Check out this free video series! www.gmctips.com You’ll learn some fun ways to get more clients!
We know that social media can be used to reach areas of the world that were previously unimaginable. You can have conversations with consumers across the globe, creating more fans for you and your business.
If you’re a local business, you may be thinking, yeah, so what? What do I need with fans in Bulgaria?
Those same tools that earn companies a following of customers overseas, can be used to build an online community, locally – you just have to adjust to your audience.
Know your neighbors. If you’re marketing to a bohemian community in a wooded area, you’re not going to be marketing like Tiffany’s. You’ve got to do some homework, get to know the vibe of your community, and support that vibe.
Know what’s going on with the kids in town. Did your local Little League team just win a regional championship? Use your social media to support them and cheer them on! It doesn’t matter if you’re a high end restaurant or a family-owned dry cleaners. Is a local teen competing on “The Voice”? Show your support!
Incorporate local folk lore. I live in a town that is rich with history. George Washington slept here and all that.
Incorporate seasonality into your marketing. Is it fall? Share your pumpkin spiced latte recipe!
Establish yourself as the neighborhood expert. Use your social media to field customer questions, and make yourself the community go-to for locals who need advice.
Yes, you still want to talk about all the things that make you an amazing local business, but think about how you can use social media to add value for your customer. When you show your community that YOU’RE supporting THEM as well, it’s win win. Engaging your local community online is core to social media and will help you become a hometown favorite.
If you want more tips on how to build an online community, locally, and want to learn how to turn these fans into customers, grab my FREE “Get More Customers” tips series! CLICK HERE and get started today.
We hear a lot about social media, the great equalizer, shrinking the world, allowing us to do business with people across the globe. That’s representative of MY business! I’ve got clients on continents I’ve never been to (yet!), that I will likely never meet. But what if you have a location based business? A business that has no marketing need to reach people across the pond?
Social media isn’t just for international businesses anymore! It can be a powerful tool for driving local customers to your mom-and-pop shop on Main Street or pizza parlor in the town center. Building a social media presence for your local business can help you:
Become a more integral part of the community – Share local news, support and interact with other local businesses, and post content relevant to events going on in the area. People will start to see your business as a hometown favorite!
Make customers feel more connected to your business – Interact with customers before they even set foot in your shop, and continue the conversation after they make a purchase to keep them coming back!
Target your ideal customer – Are you focused on a niche market? Do you only deliver to certain zip codes? Strategically using tools like targeted Facebook ads and location-based hashtags will help you attract customers based on their niche interests or proximity to your business.
Amplify word-of-mouth – Word-of-mouth is a major driver of customers for most small businesses. Social media provides an easy way for happy customers to share experiences and allows the positive impression you made on them to spill over to all of your local fans.
Utilizing social media marketing has become the norm for small businesses. With a solid strategy and the right content, social media can help you reach local customers and increase profits.
Not sure where to start? Head over to socialmediaandpr.com for some insider secrets that will give you a jumpstart to get local exposure fast!
The bad news: Great social media support is NOT for the faint of heart!
The good news: Once you get a high end system in place, you will see massive growth in your business.
I meet people at events all over the world, most of these events are geared to digital marketing. I get asked the same question over and over, no matter what the event.
“What tips can you provide me, I’m starting a social media support business?”
Without asking a single question, I answer “Double your prices”
And I get blank stares. WHAT???
Here’s what I know for sure. Almost every person who supports businesses with social media tries to cut corners. They accommodate requests like “I just want 3 Facebook posts per week.” NO ONE is going to have a successful digital marketing campaign with 3 Facebook posts per week! Maybe they want to pay you $50 for that. They’re throwing that $50 out the window. It’s a lose – lose situation.
NOW, imagine if you doubled your prices. You built in enough profit into your packages and services to offer RESULTS BASED MARKETING. How awesome would that feel, to both you and to your clients? One very simple way to do that is to build some PR strategies into your services. NO ONE is doing this. I want to change that.
Take a look at this infographic for a place to start. It’s chock full of the strategies Christina Daves and I use with our private clients.
[Tweet “Check out this infographic chock full of social media and PR strategies!”]
Drop a comment below if you have any questions or just want to share YOUR ninja social media and PR tips with us!
And when you’re ready for more, we’ve got a FREE e-book that details our three part process for supporting our clients with high end social media and PR strategies.
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