Where’s Your Social Media Focus?

Every marketing effort should begin with a goal – what do you want to achieve or how will you know if your investment of time and resources is paying off? Your social media focus also needs a goal, but not something out of the blue. It should be compatible with your overall marketing goals but geared to this particular environment.

Set Goals. Are you increasing awareness? Generating leads? Getting to the former may center around providing helpful content and interacting with customers while the latter moves to paid strategies that persuade prospects to click. Social media is a logical platform for retention, TOMA (top of mind awareness) and branding while ads support lead generation.

Create a Publishing Strategy. How will you reach your goal? Determining this path is part of your strategy. As a practical matter, narrow down where you will publish and which platforms will get your attention. All channels are not alike, and your likely target market uses a social mix. Yet the point is not to pick one over the other, but to support your marketing messages by sharing content.

Repurpose Content across Platforms. If you create a 60-second video, you can upload directly to Facebook and Instagram, but also upload separately to YouTube and embed it on your website. Facebook algorithms prefer videos shared directly rather than shared as a YouTube link (the video platform is actually a Facebook competitor). But there’s no reason you can’t go do both so that the same content is uploaded to platforms in the ways they prefer.

Also take note that Instagram has a 60-second limit on videos. If your video fits that limit, you can share the same video on Facebook and Instagram instead of creating an alternate video for Instagram, or skipping the platform altogether. Be aware that Instagram is a square format – so make sure your video content fits in that square. Instagram also likes images and hashtags. Do you have images of beautiful home improvements to share? Or happy, healthy families who are enjoying more comfortable homes with cleaner indoor air?

Create a Content Calendar. This will help you stay on track as you create posts appropriate to seasons and your marketing campaigns. Your posts, videos and images should complement other marketing. Also, scheduling and automating posts ahead of time is also a far better use of your time than going out to each platform multiple times. A social media management tool like Hootsuite can help you manage your platform activity.

Share Quality over Quantity. Create valuable content that is relevant to your customers and how you can serve them. Social media is a place for reinforcing traditional advertising and direct mail. However, you can also use social media for a marketing campaign testing ground. If you’ve got an idea for a headline or an email subject line, test it out first on social media.

Keep the Focus on Your Customer. This gets back to your overall goal. You’re not trying to post seven times a day on social media just to say you posted. You’re trying to reach customers and serve them with helpful content and let them know about your valuable offers that can help them manage their homes better.

Social media is primarily about building relationships. Through your interactions, listen and learn from customers and respond to their concerns. Be helpful. Be personal (but not too personal). Try a behind-the-scenes look in your shop or your truck or a service call. Highlight the smiling faces of your team. Be lighthearted (but avoid humor that could be misunderstood and offensive).