It’s easy to get lost in the sea of social media platforms, social media marketing strategy, search engine optimization and paid advertising. As a lawnmower and tractor dealership, you may be wondering if social media marketing is really worth your time and effort. After all, what kind of value can posting pictures of mowers and tractors on Instagram really bring to your business?
The truth is, social media marketing can have a significant impact on your dealership’s online presence and ultimately, your bottom line. More and more potential customers are using social media to research and make purchasing decisions and that number is estimated to continue growing as we trudge deeper into the digital era.
Statistical Evidence
How does this translate to lawnmower and tractor dealerships? Let’s look at some relevant statistics:
There is estimated to be 4.89 billion social media users worldwide.
The average time internet users spend on social media a day is 151 Minutes.
Social media can be a valuable tool for lawnmower and tractor dealerships. By creating a strong social media presence, you can reach potential customers where they already are – on their mobile devices scrolling through their feeds.
But simply having a presence on social media isn’t enough. To truly maximize your online efforts, you need to approach social media marketing strategically.
Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social media has become an integral part of modern-day communication and marketing strategies. With the widespread adoption of various social media platforms, it is essential to have a clear plan for how you want to leverage these channels to achieve your business goals. Developing a social media strategy can help you define your objectives, create a consistent brand voice, save time and resources, understand your audience, and provide a roadmap for success. Let’s take a closer look at why having a social media strategy is crucial for any organization looking to succeed in today’s digital landscape.
Developing a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Helps you define your goals: A social media strategy helps you identify what you want to achieve through your social media channels. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales, having clear goals helps you focus your efforts and measure your success.
Ensures consistency: A social media strategy helps you maintain consistency across all your channels. It ensures that your messaging, branding and tone of voice are consistent, which helps build trust with your audience.
Saves time and resources: With a social media strategy in place, you can plan and schedule your content in advance, saving you time and resources. You’ll also have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t, so you can focus on the strategies that generate the best results.
Helps you understand your audience: A social media strategy involves understanding your audience and what they want. It helps you create content that resonates with them, engage with them in meaningful ways and build long-term relationships.
Provides a roadmap for success: A social media strategy provides a clear roadmap for success. It outlines the steps you need to take to achieve your goals and helps you stay on track. It also helps you adapt to changes in the social media landscape and make data-driven decisions.
What Types of Content Should I Post?
Showcase your products: One of the most obvious ways to use social media for your dealership is to showcase your products. Share high-quality photos and videos of your lawnmowers and tractors in action and highlight their unique features and capabilities. This can help potential customers visualize your products and understand why they’re worth investing in.
Share customer reviews and testimonials: Social proof is a powerful tool for building trust with potential customers. Share reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers on your social media channels and encourage happy customers to leave reviews on your website and Google Business Profile.
Create engaging content: To keep your social media followers engaged and interested in your dealership, create content that’s informative, entertaining, and valuable. Share tips and tricks for lawn care, highlight industry news and trends and offer exclusive promotions and discounts to your social media followers.
Use targeted advertising: Paid advertising on social media can be a highly effective way to reach your target audience. Use targeting options to show your ads to people in your local area who are likely to be interested in your products, and experiment with different ad formats to see what resonates with your audience.
Monitor and respond to feedback: social media is a two-way conversation, so it’s important to monitor your channels for feedback and respond to comments and messages in a timely manner. This can help you build relationships with potential customers and address any concerns or questions they may have.
Create educational content: you can also use social media to provide educational content related to lawnmowers and tractors. For example, you could create how-to videos on topics like lawn maintenance or tractor safety, which can help position your dealership as an expert in your field.
Host live events: Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to host live events, which can be a great way to showcase your products and connect with potential customers. Consider hosting a live demo of your latest lawnmower or tractor models, or even a Q&A session with your followers.
Run contests and giveaways: Social media contests and giveaways can be a fun way to engage with your followers and encourage them to share your content with their own networks. Consider running a contest where followers have to share a post, tag friends, or create their own content using your products for a chance to win a prize.
Collaborate with influencers: Influencer marketing can be a highly effective way to reach a new audience and build brand awareness. Consider partnering with social media influencers in the lawn care or agricultural industry who have a large following and who are likely to be interested in your products. You can offer them a discount or even a free product in exchange for featuring your lawnmowers and tractors in their posts.
What are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing?
Brand Awareness
One of the primary benefits of social media marketing is that it can help increase your brand’s visibility and awareness. By creating a strong social media presence and regularly posting high-quality content, you can reach a larger audience and get your brand in front of potential customers.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have billions of users worldwide, and by creating a strong presence on these platforms, you can reach a wider audience than you might be able to through other marketing channels.
Consistently posting high-quality content, using consistent branding, and messaging and engaging with your followers can help build brand recognition and loyalty over time. By including links to your website in your social media posts, you can drive traffic to your website and increase brand exposure.
Increase Sales
In addition to increasing brand awareness, social media can also directly drive sales for lawnmower and tractor dealerships. By using targeted advertising, promoting special offers and showcasing your products, you can encourage potential customers to make a purchase.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer powerful targeting options that allow you to show your ads to specific groups of people who are likely to be interested in your products. This can help increase the effectiveness of your advertising and drive more sales. By promoting exclusive discounts and promotions on your social media channels, you can incentivize potential customers to make a purchase. Sharing high-quality photos and videos of your lawnmowers and tractors can help potential customers visualize your products and understand why they’re worth investing in.
Putting it All Together
We’ve looked at the statistics and seen the influence social media has and will continue to have in the future. We’ve talked about why it is important to have a marketing strategy and how to implement one. We’ve talked about the types of content you should post and the main benefits of social media for your dealership. It can seem overwhelming to know that this is just one piece of the marketing puzzle. If you only take one thing from this post, take this: Just Start. Take that first step into implementing a killer social media marketing strategy and reap the benefits of social media marketing.
If your too busy running your dealership to worry about your social media marketing strategy, Dealers Digital can help. Contact us today to start the conversation and take the leap into Social Media success!
You understand the importance of maximizing your reach and driving more leads and sales to your dealership. But how do you actually do that? One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through social media marketing. Billions of users across various platforms allows social media to provide an unparalleled opportunity to reach and engage with your target audience.
Lawn mower dealers, Tractor dealers and outdoor power equipment dealerships face unique challenges when it comes to marketing your products and services. With the right strategy and approach, social media can be a powerful and low-cost tool for increasing brand awareness, building customer relationships and driving more sales.
In this post we will cover the key benefits of social media marketing for lawn mower, tractor and outdoor power equipment dealerships and provide actionable tips and strategies you can easily implement for maximizing your reach and success on social media.
Understanding Your Target Audience
It’s important for you to understand your dealership’s target audience for many reasons. It can help you to determine which products and services they are most interested in and what their needs and preferences are. This information can then be used to create relevant marketing campaigns and product offerings that will resonate with the target audience.
Knowing your target audience will also help you to tailor your messaging and social media content to their interests and preferences, which, in turn, will increase engagement and build stronger relationships with your customers.
When you understand your target audience, you can better allocate your resources to the channels and platforms where they are most active, maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. It can also help you provide a better overall customer experience. By answering questions and providing support and by showcasing the types of services and products your offer.
To gather data about your target audience, you can use tools like social media analytics, customer surveys, and market research studies. You can also look at demographic data from your existing customer base and analyze customer reviews and feedback to gain insights into their preferences and buying habits. By understanding your target audience, you can create more effective and targeted advertising campaigns on social media, and ultimately maximize your reach and impact.
Drilling it Down
Let’s take a deeper look at the (generalized) target market for Outdoor Power Equipment, Lawnmower & Tractor Dealerships.
Demographic Information:
Age: Typically, the target audience for lawn mowers and tractors is between 35-65 years old. However, it can also depend on the specific product and its intended use for example older adults may be more interested in riding lawn mowers for easier maintenance, while younger adults may be interested in more heavy-duty equipment for larger properties.
Gender: Can be either male or female, as both genders may have an interest in maintaining a lawn and/or garden. This industry has predominantly had a higher percentage of male clientele.
Location: Typically are homeowners and property owners who live in suburban or rural areas.
Income: Typically have a moderate to high income, as these products can be relatively expensive.
Occupation: May be homeowners, property owners, or business owners who require equipment for maintaining lawns, gardens, or properties.
Buying Habits and Preferences:
Need for Equipment: May need new or replacement equipment for maintaining their lawns or properties.
Brand Awareness: May prefer certain brands, based on past experiences or recommendations from friends or family members.
Budget: May have a budget in mind for their equipment purchases.
Online vs. In-Store Purchasing: Historically has been in-store.
Social Media Usage and Behavior:
Platform Usage: May be active on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and may use these platforms to research and gather information about products and services.
Engagement: May engage with brands and businesses on social media by following their accounts, commenting on posts, and sharing content with their friends and followers.
Ad Response: May respond well to social media advertising, particularly if the ads are relevant and offer a clear value proposition.
Now that we know who we are trying to reach, we can look at creating relevant content.
Creating Relevant Content
What does it take to create relative content? Armed with the information you have gathered about your target audience (which may differ some from the above example, depending on where in the US you are located) you can consider the importance of visually appealing content, highlighting unique features and benefits of your products and services, and creating a strong call to action and create some killer content!
Importance of Visually Appealing Content
Attention-Grabbing: To stand out on social media, it’s important to create visually appealing content that grabs the attention of your target audience. This can be achieved through the use of high-quality images, videos, and graphics that showcase your products in an attractive and eye-catching manner. Customers in this industry prefer to see the products in use rather than stand-alone images.
Building Brand Awareness: Visually appealing content can help build brand awareness and increase recognition of your dealership and its products among your target audience.
Making a Strong First Impression: Social media users are bombarded with countless ads on a daily basis, and first impressions are crucial. By creating visually appealing content, you can make a strong first impression and increase the chances that your target audience will engage with your content.
Highlighting the Unique Features and Benefits of Your Products
Product Differentiation: Highlighting the unique features and benefits of your products can differentiate your dealership and its products from competitors and position your business as a leader in the industry.
Providing Value: Emphasizing the benefits of your products can show your target audience the value that your products can bring to their lives and how they can make their lives easier.
Demonstrating Expertise: Showcasing the unique features and benefits of your products can demonstrate your dealership’s expertise and knowledge in the industry, which can help establish trust and credibility with your target audience.
Creating a Strong Call-to-Action
Encouraging Engagement: A strong call-to-action (CTA) can encourage your target audience to take a specific action, such as visiting your website, making a purchase, or contacting your dealership for more information.
Increasing Conversion Rates: By including a clear and compelling CTA in your content you can increase the chances that your target audience will take the desired action, which can ultimately lead to increased conversion rates and sales.
Measuring Success: By including a clear and specific CTA, you can also measure the success of your advertising campaigns by tracking the number of conversions and actions taken.
Analytics
You can use analytics to access how your content strategy is working and adjust the course when needed. Take time each week to look over the performance of your posts and take note of which posts performed the best.
Are they Videos, Still Images or Facebook Stories?
What was the topic?
Have you covered this topic in full or are there other points you can address in follow up posts?
Analytics can play a critical role in maximizing your reach on social media by providing valuable insights into the performance of your social media marketing efforts. What types of metrics should you be tracking?
Engagement: Likes, Comments, Shares and Followers. Posts with more engagement are resonating with our audience more.
Demographics: Keeping an eye on the demographics of your audience can help you to better tailor content to fit your specific audiences needs and wants.
Reach: Impressions, Reach & Page Views show you how many people are seeing your content and how far it is spreading.
Conversion Rates: Use analytics tools to track conversion rates and determine the effectiveness of your social media campaigns in driving leads and sales.
By using analytics to track the performance of your social media marketing efforts, you can make data-driven decisions and optimize your strategy to maximize your reach and drive better results.
Summing it Up
Social Media Marketing is an essential tool for lawn mower and tractor dealerships looking to reach a wider audience and drive more leads and sales. By understanding your target audience and creating relevant content, dealerships can increase engagement and build stronger relationships with their customers. Using analytics to track the performance of your social media marketing efforts and making data-driven decisions can help you maximize your reach and stay ahead of the competition.
Whether you are just getting started with social media marketing or looking to take your strategy to the next level, implementing these proven strategies can help you achieve your goals and succeed in the digital age. With the right approach and the right tools, dealerships can harness the power of social media marketing and achieve long-term success.
Are you to busy running your dealership to worry about social media? We can help! Contact Us today to schedule a consultation and get started!
Managing customer experiences is crucial for any business looking to drive business growth and retain customers. After reading reviews about a business, almost all potential customers will take their next step in a space that the business has complete control over. This means that the majority of customer interactions and experiences are within your control. Whether it’s through your website, physical location, or communication channels, the power to shape the customer experience is in your hands. By effectively managing these spaces, you can turn leads into paying customers and create a positive, lasting impression that will keep them coming back. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into the importance of managing customer experiences and provide you with tips and best practices for optimizing your website, creating a positive in-store experience, and managing communication channels to improve customer engagement and satisfaction.
The Customer’s Journey: By the Numbers
96% of adults read Local Business Reviews
91% of consumers take the next step in the buyer’s journey.
51% of those people will visit your website.
27% of those people will visit your physical business location.
13% of those people will contact you (phone, text, email, live chat)
8% of consumers move from reviews to your social media profiles.
It is more important now than ever to create a positive and seamless customer experience across all touch points. By effectively controlling your website, physical location, and communication channels, your dealership can create a consistent and cohesive brand image and message. Additionally, you can use customer data and insights gathered from these spaces to personalize and optimize the customer experience, improving the chances of conversion.
Maximizing your control over the customer experience starts with identifying and addressing pain points. Utilizing data from your website, physical location, and communication channels can help you do just that. By analyzing website data, you can pinpoint areas that need improvement and enhance the user experience. Similarly, data from your physical location can be used to optimize store layout and improve the in-store experience. And by monitoring communication channels, you can improve customer service and address concerns in a timely manner. By utilizing data from all these sources, you can create a seamless and positive customer experience that drives business growth.
Let’s take a deeper look at each touch point.
Utilizing Your Website to Drive Business Growth
Having a strong online presence is crucial for businesses in today’s digital age. A website can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining customers for lawn mower, tractor, and outdoor power equipment dealers. A well-designed website can provide customers with information about the products and services offered, as well as detailed specifications and pricing. It can also allow customers to easily browse and purchase products online, making the buying process more convenient for them.
Your dealership’s website can also be used to create a sense of trust and credibility with your customers. By including customer testimonials, photos, and videos of products in use, and detailed information about the company’s history and experience in the industry, a website can establish the business as a reputable and trustworthy provider of lawn mower, tractor, and outdoor power equipment.
A website can also be used to provide customers with ongoing support and education. For example, a dealer can provide information on how to properly maintain and repair equipment, or tips on how to get the most out of their equipment. This can help to build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.
If your dealership has no website, or it isn’t quite up to par, we can help. Dealers Digital can help you maximize your online exposure and boost sales. We are the green industries digital marketing experts with over twenty years of digital media experience. Contact us today to get started.
Optimizing Your Dealership’s Website
Here are a few tips and best practices to optimize your dealership’s website to drive conversions and improve the overall customer experience.
Navigation: Make sure that your website is easy to navigate. Use a clear and consistent layout, organize your content in a logical and easy to understand way.
Optimize for Mobile: Over 80% of people browse the internet via mobile and expect for their experiences to be seamless. Your website should be responsive, meaning it adjusts to fit the screen size of the device being used to view it.
Clear Calls to Action (CTA): Your site should have clear CTA’s that guide visitors towards the next step. Whether that is to make a purchase, request more information, or to schedule a consultation.
Contact Information: Make it easy for visitors to contact you by including your phone number, email and physical address and contact form prominently on your website.
Testimonials & Reviews: Use testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers to help build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Search Engine Optimization: Optimizing your website for search engines (IE: Google) can help increase your visibility and drive more traffic to your site. There are many free resources out there to learn about and implement SEO, or you can hire an agency, like Dealers Digital, to help. Get your Free Local SEO Report.
The Value of Your Physical Location
Reviews are a powerful tool for driving foot traffic to your dealership! Reviews provide customers with valuable information about your dealership’s products and services, and can influence their decision to visit your dealership in person. A dealership with a high number of positive reviews is more likely to attract customers, which in turn, increases sales.
Your dealership should make an effort to encourage customers to leave reviews, and respond to both positive and negative reviews in a timely and professional manner. The way that a company handles a poor review says a lot about who they are.
Cultivating a Positive In-Store Experience & Utilizing Your Physical Location
Here are some tips on how to cultivate positive in store experiences and utilize your physical location to drive sales.
Create a Positive In-Store Experience: A positive in-store experience can help to turn customers in loyal brand ambassadors and encourage them to leave positive reviews. By providing excellent customer service, having a knowledgeable staff and creating an inviting and visually appealing store layout can help you to achieve this.
Utilize Your Physical Location: You can offer promotions and sales that are only available in-store or highlight products that aren’t available for purchase online. You can create in-store displays, or by offering special discounts or deals for customers who visit the store in person.
Provide in-store consultation: Offer in-store consultation services like product demonstrations, product trials or shopping assistants. This will allow your customers to have a more hands-on experience and get more personalized recommendations, which can lead to increased sales.
Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews: Encourage customers to leave reviews by providing a clear call to action, like a sign or card that directs them to the review. Respond to reviews in a timely and professional manner, and then use the positive reviews to help promote your dealership.
3 Types of Communication Channels
Effective communication is crucial for providing a positive customer experience and driving conversions for lawnmower and tractor dealerships. By managing phone, email and live chat effectively, your dealership can ensure that you are responsive to customer inquiries, provide accurate information, and address any issues in a timely and professional manner.
Phone: Phone communication allows for immediate, personal contact with customers. It is important to have well-trained staff who can answer questions and help quickly and efficiently. Business texting has become increasingly important in managing customer pickup and service notifications.
Email: Email communication can be used to provide detailed information to customers, such as product specifications, financing offers or promotions. It is important to respond promptly to customer inquiries and to make sure that the information provided is accurate and up to date. We offer automation solutions.
Live Chat: Live chat allows customers to receive immediate assistance while browsing your dealership’s website. It is important to have staff available to answer to chat requests in real time, or use a chat-widget, like Dealeramp to provide 24/7 automated responses.
Managing Communication Channels Effectively
By effectively managing these communication channels, your dealership can improve your customer’s experience and increase the likelihood of conversions. You’re also likely to increase your customer engagement and satisfaction while you are at it. Customers can reach out to your dealership in the way that they feel the most comfortable and convenient. This provides them with a greater sense of control over their buying experience.
Set clear expectations: Let customers know when they can expect a response to their inquiry, regardless of the channel. This will help manage the customer’s expectations and reduce frustration.
Respond promptly: Respond to all customer inquiries as quickly as possible. This shows that your dealership values the customer’s time and is committed to providing a positive experience.
Train Staff: Ensure that your entire staff is well trained in your dealership’s products and services, as well as in communication and customer service best practices.
Personalize your communication: Address customers by name and make sure to use a professional and friendly tone. Your customer will feel more valued and comfortable.
Gather and act on feedback: Regularly gather feedback from customers and find ways to act on it. This can help the dealership identify areas for improvement and make changes to better meet customer needs.
Despite the statistic that only a small percentage of customers may move from reviews to social media profiles, managing and maintaining a strong presence on social media platforms is crucial for any dealership’s marketing strategy. While the customer journey may vary, social media offers a variety of opportunities for dealerships to increase brand awareness, engage with customers, manage reputation, generate leads and stay informed about industry trends and customer preferences. By effectively utilizing social media, dealerships can improve the customer experience, drive conversions, and gain a competitive advantage in the market.
Brand presence and awareness: Having a strong social media presence can help increase brand awareness and establish your dealership as a reputable and trustworthy source.
Customer Engagement: social media offers an opportunity for your dealership to engage with customers, answer questions and provide information about products and services. This helps build loyalty and trust with your customers.
Reputation Management: Social media can be used to monitor and respond to feedback from customers. This can help your dealership proactively address any issues and maintain a positive reputation.
Industry insights: social media can be used to track industry trends, competitors activity and customer preferences.
Managing Social Media Profiles
Let’s look at some tips for creating engaging and effective social media profiles that can help drive business growth.
Define your target audience: Understand who your ideal customer is and tailor your content to fit their interests and needs.
Create a consistent brand image: Use consistent branding across all of your profiles.
Use Storytelling: Use storytelling to create engaging content that highlights the dealership’s unique selling points and the benefits of its products and services.
Engage with customers: responds to comments and messages in a timely manner and use social media as an opportunity to build relationships with customers.
Create a content calendar: Plan and schedule content in advance to ensure that you project a consistent and organized approach to your content.
Harness the Power
Mastering the customer experience is key for any business looking to drive growth and retain customers. By harnessing the power of managing customer experiences, dealerships can take control of the customer journey and turn leads into paying customers. Through effectively managing your website, physical location, and communication channels, businesses can create a consistent and cohesive brand image, personalize, and optimize the customer experience, and improve the chances of conversion. By utilizing data from these spaces, businesses can identify and address pain points, creating a seamless and positive customer experience that drives business growth. By implementing the tips and best practices discussed in this post, businesses can maximize their control over the customer experience and drive business growth. Harnessing the power of mastering the customer experience is essential for any business looking to succeed in today’s competitive market.
It seems there is always some new Social Media Trend or Controversy. Social Media dictates how a lot of people live their lives. We turn to it for attention, sympathy, support, advice, help and entertainment. We consume so much of it that we don’t event think twice about it. We use it in our personal lives as well as our professional lives. With over 3.78 Billion users worldwide, its safe to say that social media is here to stay.
If it is here to stay, then it begs the question, is it really important?
55% of consumers learn about new brands on social media! Social media has always been a place of discovery, and people are now using social media to learn about brands and companies just as much (or more) than TV or Radio Advertising. The average person spends 2 hours and 29 minutes each day on social media. That gives you lots of opportunity to get in front of the right audience.
In today’s age of streaming, we don’t need or want to watch or listen to ads anymore. We’re able to fast forward, change the channel or take our pick from infinite libraries of ad-free content. However, on social media, ads and brand content sits next to our social streams and looks like the content that we consume from our friends, family or other connections. So, Why is this important? Gen Z and Millennials are especially likely to use social media for brand discover. As the spending power of these generations increases, so will social media usage. Your brand should be ready to capitalize on these growing networks, or consumers will most likely discover your competitors first.
Social media users tend to treat social media like a feedback loop where they are able to report an issue with a product, leave a review, or privately message the company. If your consumers can’t engage with you, they may find another company who can. Engagement is the primary goal of many marketers and drives a positive influence on customers’ decisions to buy from a brand. Responsive brands that continuously react and engage in communication with consumers are better equipped to serve their customers’ needs, dial up personalization and humanize their content in a way that forges deeper connections with customers.
What can social media do for my business?
Besides the most obvious, getting your name and brand out to more people quickly and cheaply, there are many other benefits of utilizing social media marketing for your business.
Helps you engage with current and potential customers
You can find out what people are saying about your business
You can advertise your business and promotions
Social media can help your business attract customers
Allows you to gain and collect customer feedback
Helps to build customer loyalty to your business and brand
Who are the major Social Media Players?
Facebook is the market leader when it comes to social media with over 68% of Adults in the US using it on a regular basis. 1.84 billion people use Facebook every day! More than 90 million small businesses have Facebook pages & 67% of marketers say Facebook is the most important Social Media platform in their strategies. With such whopping statistics, it’s no wonder Facebook generated $27.19 billion from ad revenue in Q4 of 2020 alone! With so many people regularly using (and buying) from Facebook, it should be a crucial part of your digital marketing strategy too!
Instagram is owned by the same company as Facebook, Meta. The difference in the platforms is that Instagram only allows you to post visual content, while Facebook allows Text Only Posts. Boasting over 1.5 billion users a day and over 200 million businesses on Instagram, this platform is known for user engagement. Engagement rate on Instagram are approximately 6 times higher than those on Facebook (81% VS 8%).
Twitter has long cemented itself as the hub of political discussions, memes and the prime place to go back and forth with brands. 436 million monthly users troll on twitter. Content strategy can be a little tricky on Twitter, but it’s an important pillar of a strong digital marketing strategy.
TikTok has amassed 42.4% of the adult population in users and is the fastest growing social network with 105% user growth rate in the US over the past 2 years. TikTok is giving Instagram a run for its money when it comes to Influencers. TikTok is now more popular among the Gen Z population than Instagram.
Pinterest has an impressive 400 million monthly user base and has a diverse, big-spending audience that are more dedicated and engaged than any other network. 7 out of 10 “pinners” say Pinterest is their go-to place to find products and services they can trust and their shopping carts are 85% larger than buyers on other platforms. With dedication like that from your consumers, why wouldn’t you be using this platform?
What should my business be doing on social media?
Have complete and correct profile information. Users want to be able to find your phone number, address and website when they need it so make sure that you have added the information and that all information is correct and up to date on your social profiles.
Post regularly. Businesses who post consistently show consistent organic growth. Just like you would nurture any other sales lead, nurture the audience you build through social media.
Set aside time each week to read and respond to all comments. With so many people using social media as a way to connect with brands, it is key that you respond to each and every comment consumers leave about you or your business. Respond to negative reviews professionally and compassionately.
Create content that enhances your target audience’s life. Consumers are accosted with so many advertisements each day, they don’t want to see gimmicky ads when they turn to social media. Your content should resemble other content on the platform and add value.
Humanize your company. Have a new office manager? Do you celebrate employees’ birthdays? Document and post “fun” activities, introductory posts and other ways to share who your company is at its core is a good way to promote your business on social media.
It’s safe to say that social media is here to stay. Your customers are looking for you online. Give them what they want and make it easy for them to find you. Let Dealers Digital help you maximize your online exposure and boost your sales. Because we only work with outdoor power equipment and green industry professionals, we know what content to curate, what your customers want to hear and when they want to hear it. We also work with you to open up the lines of communication from your social channels to utilize them as sales lead funnels.
Contact Us now for more information about how we can help you and your business! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest news!
Which type of Facebook ad is best for local businesses?
On the surface boosting content on Facebook for local ads seems like a pretty straight forward transaction. The more dollars you spend, the more eyes see your message. While that’s certainly true, to get the most value out of your dollar it’s worth knowing the basic nuances of how boosting on Facebook works. Truth be told, Facebook’s Advertiser Help Center rarely provides the answers you’re after on Facebook paid advertising, and true to form, it doesn’t provide a lot of guidance on the differences between boosting posts vs. ads either.
So in this article we’ll cover the differences between the types of sponsored ads on Facebook — a Facebook boost and a Facebook news feed ad—and which we recommend as the best option for your business depending on your needs. Which is the type of Facebook ad best for local businesses?
What are Facebook sponsored posts?
Facebook sponsored posts are promoted posts that receive additional paid reach. Simply put, your business has the option of boosting a post or creating an ad: boosting increases the chances your post will be seen by followers (increasing loyalty), while news feed ads target users based on select criteria, external from followers (potential new customers).
Wait, why sponsor ads on Facebook when you can post for free?
The reality is, organic posts don’t go very far in today’s Facebook world. Unless you have a huge network of fans (50K+), achieving favorable outcomes through organic content in a 1.6B user world is futile. Based on Facebook’s current algorithms, organic reach has plummeted over recent years to the point where 50 million businesses are posting 1.5 times per day, reaching an average of 2% of their audience. That is what we call “rough sledding”.
Should we be surprised though? As the world’s largest social network, it was simply clockwork until Facebook turned to a Pay-to-Play model resulting in paid advertising on the social network giant. But before you start shouting big corporate obscenities, it’s still our opinion that Facebook provides the best advertising platform on the web or anywhere else in the business world. It’s just takes a little practice to get a feel for the landscape to make Facebook ads best for your local audience.
Advertising on Facebook requires a solid strategy
Like anything, you will need a strategy when tackling Facebook paid advertising. Depending on what your goals are, our quick advice is to put money on posts that have measurable ROI, like lead capture, promotions, contests and content meant to capture new customers.
Another fundamental rule is to always promote your own content. Always link back to YOUR site and YOUR page. Even if it’s great material and related to your business, never pay to send traffic to someone else’s website.
Now, with all that said, let’s figure out which Facebook paid advertising delivery method works best…Facebook boosts or Facebook ads.
What are Facebook boosted posts?
Facebook boosted posts are promoted posts that appear higher on news feeds, giving a post a higher chance that friends and followers will see it. While boosted posts can be targeted by location, interest, age and gender, more advanced targeting options is reserved for ads on Facebook. And that’s really the rub with sponsored posts for your business. While it’s easier to create them, you are limited in refining the post to get the most out of your “boost juice” dollars.
What are Facebook news feed ads?
Facebook news feed ads are sponsored ads that appear right on the news feed of readers. Newsfeed ads denoted “sponsored” directly underneath the company’s name on the post you users know that the content could be coming from a source they haven’t “liked” yet.
News feed ads are created in Facebook Ads Manager (or Power Editor). Creating a news feed ad on Facebook is more involved than boosting posts, but, as with most things, more work often leads to more reward.
With news feed ads, you can set a specific objective for your ad that directly aligns to your business goals. You can choose from 12 objectives from three different categories: Awareness, Consideration and Conversion. Notice how these three categories represent different areas of the sales and marketing funnel:
Awareness: for boosting posts, promoting a Facebook page, targeting people near the business’s location and increasing brand awareness
Consideration: to send people to a website, getting app installs, increase event attendance or get views on videos and collect business leads
Conversion: for increasing website conversions, engagement to an app, or to have an offer claimed
Paid advertising showdown: Which is the best Facebook ad for local advertising?
So you’ve probably come to the conclusion that Facebook news feed ads have a lot more power behind them and are geared toward ROI—especially seeing how there’s no price difference between the two formats.
Boosted posts do have a place—if your business is looking for a quick and convenient way to create awareness and drive profile traffic, then we say go for it, especially if you want to hit existing fans/customers. It takes all of five minutes to start raking in thousands of impressions for as little as $5.00.
If you are looking to achieve tangible marketing results, like capturing leads and driving revenue, my money is on news feed ads. If you want to really capture leads through Facebook paid advertising however, you want news feed ads.
So, you want to blog for profit? Where do you start?
Lay the foundation
A great blog starts with a great plan, and the planning stage is where you first answer the big questions that will determine what you write about, who you write for, and why you’re writing in the first place. Before you fire up your typewriter on your grand plan to blog for profit, be sure to nail down answers to the following questions:
Who is going to be interested in what your business has to say?
What are their pain points, and how do your products or services address and resolve them? Targeting your content to a specific readership makes it more likely to be seen (and shared).
Develop a list of keywords relevant to your buyer personas. What kinds of search terms will they use when they’re looking for solutions? Knowing your keywords and putting them into use can optimize your blog to be found. It also helps to guide your writing process and keep your copy consistent.
How often will you write? The fresher and more frequent your content, the more you’ll have to offer to your readership, and the more Google’s page rankings will look favorably on your website. When you’re blogging for profit, you want to be identifiable by both readers and search engines.
Set measurable goals in both the short and the long term. Are you looking to grow your email list and cultivate new leads, or are you focused on making your brand’s voice trusted and authoritative in your field? Whatever your goals, ensure that you have reliable metrics for measuring your progress.
Pick your topics
Are you drawing a blank every time you sit down to write? It may be easy to simply write a product feature or fluff up a sales pitch, but it’s important to remember that even when you’re blogging for profit, the point of your blogs is to provide value to your audience, not to sell to them.
Take a look at your buyer personas and their pain points or problems, and assemble them into categories. These categories and their relevant personas will focus your writing and guide your use of keywords to optimize the SEO boost that the post provides. From here, you can begin to address some general topics.
Another great source of blogging inspiration is your existing customer base. Think about the kinds of questions from customers that you answer on a regular basis. Many of these represent common pain points, and can easily turn into full blog posts. For every one customer who comes in or sends and email with a common question, just imagine how many there are tapping their query into Google in search of an answer!
For example, a furniture store might write a blog on the difference in durability between leather, vinyl, and fabric upholsteries, or the different types of mattresses and their levels of support. An informative post that answers common questions and gives your readers information that they can act on is going to rank higher on search engines and position your business as a source of information that readers can trust.
A food blog may create recipes, but they can also explain how to use certain tools. They can make informative posts about how to chop specific veggies, the differences between knives, and how to tell when it’s time to sharpen them. They can even explain social rituals about food, or how our language relates to food!
There’s no end to the possible creativity you can use when blogging!
Content (not copy) is king
Getting the copy down is one thing, but your blog will be as dry as a bone without engaging content to supplement that copy. The content that your copy supports, more than anything, is what sets your blog apart from your competitors and drives the solution to your readership’s problem.
It’s best to make your own, but there are plenty of resources out there for those who don’t collect data or employ a design team.
Visuals in the form of Statistics
Provide relevant and substantiated statistics in the form of graphs and infographics—these add credibility to your posts, and can provide shock value when used properly.
Header and Sub-header Images
Use visuals to break up the text. The text of headers and sub-headers can often be incorporated into a relevant image that draws the reader’s attention and invites them to read further. A well-chosen graphic or photograph can serve to break up the monotony of plain text as well as add a visual frame to the information the audience receives.
Screenshots/photos
Finally, use screenshots or photos to demonstrate your solution in action. Remember that you’re here to provide value, not to sell. Getting to the end of a blog and feeling like you just read a really long ad means that you’re not going to come back for anything informative or authoritative. The more your readers can learn from your post, the more likely they are to return to your blog when they have another question that needs an answer.
What’s your Story?
Tell compelling stories (and write snappy titles). Narrative is a powerful tool, and we’ve known how to use it in sales and marketing for a long time. The same goes for your blogs. Framing the movement from conflict to resolution as a journey makes your audience more receptive to the information you have to share and puts it within a familiar and memorable framework.
Start with choosing a narrative voice. Anecdotes and stories about your business can use a first-person voice to draw readers in and demonstrate your unique way of overcoming challenges in ways that others can learn from and put into practice. A second-person voice (like the one used in this blog) allows readers to visualize themselves acting out your solutions as your offer them, while a third-person voice is suited to communicating stories about how your business has been part of another customer’s success.
Leverage your buyer personas and their challenges to tell stories that will engage your audience and show how your business fits into their lives. Your posts don’t have to read like a novel, but putting your info in action will help transform your blog from a lecture into a success story.
Sharing is Caring
You’ve written something you’re proud of, so be sure to put it out there! Share your new blog on your business’ other marketing channels, and put the work in to gain readers other than Googlers and regular visitors to your site. Leveraging your business’ social media following to widen your blog’s audience has the added benefit that a new post that a follower finds useful or interesting is always easy to share with their own network.
The more readers that come to see your business as a trusted source of information, the better!
Your blogs can (and should) also link to one another. Where there’s an overlap in information or your blog posts address similar issues, have them link to each other! An engaged reader will always be ready to find out more, and demonstrating that you have more information to offer is never a bad thing.
Finish Strong
Finally, and importantly, bring things home with a with a call to action. Have you ever gotten to the end of an interesting article, how-to or blog post and been filled with the inspiration to immediately test what you’ve learned? While the point of your blog isn’t to sell, it’s important to give your readers something to engage with that allows them to take action and apply their new knowledge. Whether it’s more content, a link to a product or promotion or a contact form, your readers will have a way to act on their inspiration, and you will have a way to track engagement and turn readers into leads.
Here’s hoping this blog has inspired you to start writing your own! By following these tips, you should be well on your way to inspiring your own readers with engaging stories, compelling content, and valuable information that will position your business as a reliable source of information. Write well, help others and have fun!
Building a social media following high in engagement can be difficult, but with these tips, you can start moving in the right direction!
Facebook, Google+, & Twitter
What works: Images, videos, calls to action, industry-related content, general share-worthy content. What doesn’t work: Lengthy content, bland content, poor business/related/share-worthy balance.
Videos and images are best used to catch the eye of social media readers, though video works a little better to hold the reader’s attention. Whether it’s redirecting consumers to your website or online store, or getting them to stop and look at an interesting piece of content titled by your business; Images and videos are your anchor when trying to increase your audience’s social media engagement.
The three best ways to get traction from your readers are to:
Get them to go straight to your website or store.
Get them to like/follow.
Get them to share your content.
Let’s say three people see your business posts about that 20% off sale. These posts are not likely to be shared, so those same three people will see all your posts, and that’s it.
Once people start liking and sharing your posts, you’ll start to see new eyes on your page.
This is where industry related/general share-worthy content comes in.
If you’re an outdoor power equipment dealership, for example, get your readers excited to see and share those maintenance tips! When people are excited to read and share it, you have a better chance that someone who needs professional repairs or a new mower will come across them. Having a good mix of these types of posts is extremely important.
Call To Action
Once you’ve gained the attention of your readers with a photo or video, a call to action is a great way to guide them to their next step.
“Do you like these equipment upgrades? Let’s get started with yours!”
As seen in this above example, calls to action can be used for almost every type of post. Tell your reader to check out your website for a business related post, or tell them to read the article or video you’re sharing. Though industry-related or share-worthy content may not lead your reader straight to your website, the posts are more likely to gain likes and shares, which expands your audience in general.
Packaged in with the importance of shared content is the name of your business. Every time your post is shared, someone new has the chance to see you. That’s brand-recognition, baby! When the time comes for that person to need a dealer or repair guy, they’ll remember the interesting blade-sharpening posts you shared and seek out the name they remember seeing or hearing about. Reaching out in comments and replying to people is also a great way to encourage people to participate.
Work/Fun Balance
On the other hand, lengthy content, bland posts, and a poor balance of business/industry/shareable don’t work well on these media channels. Lengthy content is an especially bad choice for Twitter’s 140 character count limit. As for Facebook and Google+, people just don’t have the attention spans to read posts that are more than a couple of lines long. Keep them short and concise! Don’t post bland, filler content like, “Happy Friday!” unless people have a reason to share it. “Happy Friday, here’s a hilarious meme” can improve brand recognition, but only if shared- use humor to your advantage.
Find your balance between business and shareable content. Too much boring business related posts and calls to action can lead to a stagnant viewer count, while too many meme-based share-worthy posts may lead to your readers not knowing what your business does.
Pinterest
What works: Images, videos, industry related content, general share-worthy content. What doesn’t work: Lengthy content, bland content, and it may not suit your vertical.
Pinterest, like Instagram below, is all about the pictures. If you’ve ever been on Pinterest, you know that it’s a very visual sight to behold. The hook of Pinterest is that people are looking for ideas. This will work best for you if your business provides ideas or the means with which to make ideas happen.
A hardware store can benefit from Pinterest because you may share tree-house building ideas with your store’s name attached.
Don’t forget about brand recognition!
Once people get the ideas from you, they’ll come into your store to buy the tools they need for the job. The best use of Pinterest includes non-business related content. Show people ideas that may lead them to your business, but don’t try to sell them right then and there. The key social media engagement metric for pinterest is seeing your collected pins saved to their own board – or people following the boards you make.
However, Pinterest may not suit your vertical, and it definitely won’t prosper with too much emphasis on text. Many verticals such as plumbing just don’t have many corresponding ideas given the nature of the job. In this case, Pinterest can only be used for shareable content and brand recognition. The text attached to Pinterest posts is often ignored, so any applicable text should go into an infographic displayed as an image.
That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use any text. A small headline or message will suffice here.
Pinterest is not geographically-focused, so if you’re a small company who doesn’t sell online, this may not be the platform for you.
Instagram
What works: Images, projects. What doesn’t work: Mostly everything else.
Instagram is a strange beast. The entire point of this medium is to compel readers to follow you and talk about what you offer. This works best for verticals like restaurants or artists because your customers can post images of your food or projects for their friends to see. This can also work for verticals like home improvement.
In this vertical, your business can post project and progress images of what you’ve been working on. Seeing these images and sharing them can work well to compel the reader to seek you out.
Instagram posts can’t include links, so just like Pinterest, the aim here is brand recognition. Can you consistently post interesting enough images for your readers to stay interested?
Not every business can.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, so if you want to put ads on Instagram, you’ll need to go through Facebook’s ads manager. Ads on Instagram do have a ‘Shop Now’ link to push to your website and bypass them needing to visit your Instagram profile.
Like any Instagram post, the key to getting good social engagement here is to provide an appealing image that motivates people to want to read and learn more about it.
Since you can target ads, you’ll have a bit better luck finding people already interested in the products you sell, but you have to pay for those. It’s not organic (free) marketing.
Reviews
Now that we’ve covered the main social media channels, let’s discuss other ways they can be used.
Facebook, Google+, and other media channels support reviews. Aside from the engagement from posts, reviews can make or break a business. You may be thinking “I can’t control what people rate my business”, and you’d be right. However, you can control how you respond to people.
You can turn around even the angriest rater by replying to their review in a quick and professional manner. You can also use reviews as a way to look at your own behavior in-store, because people are very quick to respond with a bad review if they think they received poor customer service.
Social Listening
Forbes discusses social listening as finding where your audience is discussing topics related to your brand.
People are talking about lawns somewhere, and these are great topics for your dealership. The short and sweet of this is that you need to be researching your competitors and your peers.
What are people talking about, liking, and sharing, and how can you get in on it? You’ll want to shape your social media strategies around what’s getting the best traction everywhere else.
If you know what people are already talking about, you’ll be able to hop into the conversation with comments relevant to the discussion, and keep that social media engagement train rolling!
Get researching!
SEO
This likely isn’t the first time you’ve read about the importance of SEO, and it definitely won’t be your last. When you search your business’s name or keywords related to your work, how high on the results page does it appear?
The more you and your readers are mentioning your name and other keywords in relation to your business, the better your SEO results will be.
Measure Success
Finally, take a step back and look at what you’re doing. Naturally, you’ll want to look for what’s working and what isn’t. Whether you’re counting likes and shares by hand or using Google Analytics to track the information for you, understanding your trends may just be the most important part of the process of engaging on social media channels, so what are you waiting for?
Social Media Engagement can be hard to get right, but it's also the key metric in growing any audience.
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