As the popularity and spread of social media grows, it is tough not to be caught in this whirlwind. That’s one reason why businesses, even those that have no presence online whatsoever, are trying to increase their visibility on social media. It’s not all hype though. Several studies conducted in recent years have shown that customers like to trust a brand that has a sizeable following on social media compared to a competitor that doesn’t. It is not hard to see why. If you were researching for apparel brands on Facebook, would you trust a brand that has 50 likes over another that has 50,000? Not quite.
However, for businesses that are based completely offline, it is tough to get started on getting social media if they do not have an online marketing budget yet. It’s a tough call to make - would you be okay with allocating $10,000 a month on an online activity that does not translate into sales anytime soon? The opportunity cost is possibly a TV spot or a Sponsor slot at a local industry event. Both these alternatives are likely to enhance your brand visibility much more and are likely to bring in sales much sooner.
That does not mean businesses completely ignore a social media presence. It’s a prerogative especially when your competition already has a headstart in building a social presence. Giving competition the leeway to gain an upper hand over you in an emerging medium is a cardinal sin. So what are some things that your business can do to build a social media presence without having a separate social media marketing budget? Here are some ways small businesses are doing it.
Social Links On All Marketing Material
One of the easiest ways to get started is to get the links to your Facebook/Twitter profile on every marketing material your company prints. This means all marketing brochures, business cards and newspaper/TV advertising campaigns need to promote your social media profile. If you are a B2B business, then it also makes sense to promote your social profile on the large format graphics banners or popup display materials you routinely have in your trade show booths. The objective is simple - any prospect you intend to capture with your marketing brochure not only needs to know about what you do, but also where to reach you. By promoting your social media profile, you are offering a platform to personally connect with this prospect which, besides helping in improving your social media visibility, also helps in building trust and sales over time.
Use Social Media To Support & Connect
If you are a business with a dedicated customer support team, it is a wonderful opportunity to leverage this resource to enhance your social media presence. A typical interaction between a customer and the support team happens over a telephone call or an email exchange that is hardly visible to the external world; primarily potential new customers. By engaging with your customers over social media, your business comes across as one that is human and accepts mistakes as they come. Besides, your social interaction with customers facing issues also helps underline the fact that you are a business that cares and helps customers out. In addition to support, you may also use the social media platform to answer sales enquiries thus getting new leads while building a brand visibility.
Integrate Social Media Components To Your Promos/Contests
Businesses routinely have promos and contests as part of their marketing budget. Typically these contests do not reach out to more people than the campaign targets. For instance, if a giveaway is organized in a trade show, only the audience who attend the trade show are reached through this. Instead of such campaigns, if the promo or giveaway is integrated with social media, it can have a much larger presence. For instance, a giveaway targeted at people who review your brand on social media can virally reach out to a far larger audience than a similar campaign targeted at the audience who attend a trade show.
Building a social media presence is tough job, especially when your business cannot afford a dedicated marketing budget. However, by integrating your profile smartly into your offline activities, you may ensure that your business stays ahead of competition in this emerging segment.