Time is money. Many business owners feel like they are wasting both when they invest in social media with no results.
I’ve worked with thousands of retailers to identify the business tactics that lead to positive results on social media. The result? A little tactic called “The Social Selling Mindset.”
The idea of The Social Selling Mindset is putting relationship building first, so that profits can follow. Here are a few ways to put yourself in the Social Selling Mindset.
Focus on Building Relationships
They have to know you in order to love you! Loyal customers will typically be some of your biggest spenders, but you need to put in some hard work in order to build that level of trust. This means offering great customer service, consistently answering questions over the phone, via e-mail, and on social media, and posting engaging content that will keep customers coming back.
Today, it’s easy for customers to make purchases online or at their local big box stores. It’s the unique products and great relationships that they build with small business owners that keep them coming back for more!
Have a Consistent Brand
While copy and keywords are important to a business, branding is all about being recognizable – without saying a word. By using the same colors, fonts, and graphics, you can “train” customers to know your brand, which makes them more likely to remember it.
Your branding should be consistent both offline and on, which means that your in-store signage should look similar to your e-mail templates, social media graphics, and even posts. Posts with text on them or posts that include your logo should also fit your brand.
Know Your Story
Of course, having the right words matters. Similar to having a consistent brand, you need to have a consistent story. Sit down with your staff and come up with a list of words that describe your store. Write them down and refer to the list when you are writing your social media descriptions, posts, and advertising materials. Ask yourself: Does this fit our description of the brand? What do we need to change in order for our tone to be consistent in all of our marketing materials?
It’s also smart to think of a tagline or “elevator pitch” to use for your store. An elevator pitch may be as simple as, “We are a home and gift store focusing on products made in the USA.”
Show, Don’t Just Tell
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: Photos and videos perform great on social media. They consistently get more views and interactions than text-only posts, and there are hundreds of resources out there to help you snap, edit, record, and add effects to your visuals.
The next time you go to post, ask yourself, “How can I SHOW this instead of just saying it?” Stick with text for giving details and links, but try to incorporate photos and videos as much as you can.
Be Easy to Find
It should be simple for a customer to find your contact information, including e-mail, phone number, and address. And it’s up to you to make yourself easy to find!
All of this information should be included:
- On your website
- On your social media accounts
- On all of your online listings
If you don’t know what online listings are, they are sites that collect business information for customers to search for. Google listings are one example. When you search for a business online, the results that show up in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, that include things like a map of the location and business hours, are that business’s listing. Yelp, Bing, and Foursquare also provide online listings, but there are more than 60 listing sites available.
Having consistent listing information is important because it boosts the chance that you will show up in search but also makes sure that once a customer finds you, they know how to get to you. Crystal Media offers a listing management service called Get Listed, and you can scan your business to see your current listing results FREE.
Running a store isn’t just a business. It’s a mindset. Get in The Social Selling Mindset and stop wasting time online now!
Crystal Vilkaitis is the owner of Crystal Media; a company dedicated to helping retailers integrate proven social media, mobile and e-mail marketing strategies into their businesses. Crystal started Social Edge, an online membership group exclusive to retailers looking to gain an edge over competition using social media. For more information and to receive free weekly social media tips to your e-mail inbox, visit crystalmedia.co or socialedge.co.
