Making the most of the internet | FOCUS
Reaching out C
ompanies use a range of digital marketing techniques to build their businesses and brands. In fact, digital marketing is absolutely crucial if you want to grow your business. Let’s start at the beginning. When you Google yourself, or your business, do you like what you see? Everything you see online is your online reputation, or brand. You might not think it, but your brand is why people are buying from you right now. Using the internet and social media can create a trusted brand and strengthen your online reputation, but
it’s only through posting high-quality and
engaging content that you will achieve this. We’re living in a digital age and the internet has become the new shop window. Social media is a way to reach new customers. So, how do you get started? How do you make the most of the internet?
Choose your platforms wisely I’ve advised KBB retailers in the past not to spread themselves too thin and I stand by this. Claim all your profiles across all channels (Facebook, Google my Business, Instagram, Twitter) but choose one or two that your audience use the most and use them well. Eighty-one per cent of all small and medium businesses are using at least one social platform. In this industry, I would always recommend Facebook and Instagram – people love inspiring imagery. Complete your profiles fully and optimise them for
your business name and local area. Your customers will be looking for you on these platforms, so make sure they can find the information they need. Opening hours, contact details and a little about your business, are an absolute minimum. Twitter is great for having arguments with strangers, but for businesses it’s more of a platform for customer services – so make sure you switch your notifications on and respond to all posts.
Produce informative, engaging content You’ve chosen your platforms, now what do you put on them? Most well-known consumer brands are the
December 2019 · kbbreview
Claire Beaumont, head of PR at online reputation management experts Igniyte, has some top tips to expand your reach online
ones that are producing engaging content. Use your platforms to define your brand and showcase your personality. Be the retailer that leads the way talking about new styles, colours and trends. It’s all about video nowadays – Instagram stories, Facebook Live, YouTube. It drives higher engagement and more social shares – that’s how you stand out from your competitors and reach more customers. That smartphone sat on your desk is probably
good enough to get started with producing your own videos. Having an open day, with a guest chef? Film it. Show how their new kitchen can be used. Show your audience around your showroom. Demonstrate interesting features in your displays. Keep videos short. Ideally under a minute or two as attention spans are not what they used to be.
Make sure you tag in your suppliers and ask them to share on their pages – this all expands your reach and could get you in front of your next customer. It can be hard to get started and you may think you need to invest a lot of money in professional videos. But your audience will understand that video production isn’t your business, but they still want to see content from you anyway.
Don’t discount other forms of content. Think blogs, gorgeous images on Instagram or funny and engaging posts on Facebook. An interesting blog post or a series of images of your recent design project can generate the engagement and reach you’re after. And don’t forget to take pictures of all your installations – before-and-afters work well.
WHY VIDEO CONTENT IS IMPORTANT • Video content drives a higher engagement rate and 72% of customers would rather learn about a new product or service from a video. • Social media posts with video have 48% more views. • Social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined.
It’s all about video nowadays. It drives higher engagement and
more shares – that’s how you stand out from your competitors
Set yourself apart from big, faceless organisations and infuse your sense of humour, or your fantastic product and design knowledge into everything you do. Realise that you are special and unique, and if you don’t know why your customers buy from you, ask. Use that information to create your next post. One of the main things about posting online is remaining consistent with your brand image. Does your content match your brand? Does the tone, feel and subject matter match? If you’re a KBB retailer that starts posting about extreme sports – it’s not exactly on-brand. Branding works better when the message is authentic – don’t focus on the widest possible audience – focus on reaching your audience.
Should you pay to advertise? In 2018, Facebook pushed back on branded posts and changed its algorithm to show its users what it thought was relevant. Which meant that a lot of business pages saw a dip on the number of people seeing their posts. Sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram are a great way to boost your reach, and you remain in control of your spend. The targeting is very clever and works at a local
level, which means that your page and posts will get in front of your target audience.
Ask for help You can do a lot of this yourself, but it will take time and effort. Creating a good content strategy will help you focus, so take a month at a time and think about what you want to say, and how you want to say it. There are many companies out there that can help. But talk to your suppliers in the first instance, they might have training courses that can help you out and show you how to get started.
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