You go where your customers are if you want to make the sales, right?
In today’s world, the chances are excellent that most, if not all, of your customers are on social media. The various platforms have tools to promote businesses and several practical advertising tools. By tapping into the platforms where your customers are, you can leverage social to promote your pool and spa business and connect with your customers.
An active social presence also keeps you in their space and at the front of their minds.
So, how do you make social media work for you?
It Starts With a Story
People love a good story. And when you draw them in with yours, you build bridges. Not only are you opening the doors to sell a product or service, but you also create a bond, giving your customers a reason to keep coming back.
Great storytelling is a must on social media. Tell stories about your products, behind the scenes, customer testimonies, and about your company. Sometimes you can weave in a call to action to get a sale, but you often just want to tell the story and let it draw the people in organically.
You can stretch it over several posts or even several days. Start with a hook that grabs their attention. Then give them a story that doesn’t just tell: it shows, carries, and keeps them coming back for more.
Know Your Audience and the Channels They Are On
You probably already know that the Facebook crowd leans more toward a community vibe while Pinterest is predominantly female, and LinkedIn leans toward the professional. You can use one of these platforms or several to market to your target audiences.
The key is knowing your audience.
Get to know their habits, goals, what keeps them up at night. What do they look forward to on the weekend? One great place to gather this information is via social media. Engage your followers, ask questions, request feedback, encourage social shares, and offer incentives for comments, likes, or shares.
Of course, you can always just ask. Take some time to post questions that elicit feedback, prompts that open the door for a better understanding of your target customer.
Consistency Is Key
If you want to thoroughly utilize social media for your business, you need to be consistent. Don’t post a couple of times, then go several weeks or months before posting something else. People forget quickly, and unfortunately, the adage “out of sight, out of mind” is painfully accurate.
You don’t want to get out of your customers’ minds, so don’t get out of their sight.
Create a schedule and post at least three times a week — but more if possible. Creating an editorial calendar will help you keep everything straight and organized. You will have all your posts in one place and can easily schedule them to post consistently.
Great Visuals Are Possible With Limited Resources
Visual posts get more attention. Facebook posts with images double the engagement over posts with no visuals. People want videos and pictures. They are drawn to those posts that grab their visual interest first.
So, if you are going to make it on social, you have to give them what they want.
And truth be told, great visuals aren’t that hard to come by. If you have a smartphone and a little creativity, you can make your own images for your posts. However, if you aren’t feeling the photography vibe, several great free sites have royalty-free images for download.
Pexels and Pixabay are two large sites with a lot to offer. Most of their images look like stock images, so keep that in mind. If you are okay with that, you are almost certain to find what you want at either site.
Share and Curate External/Customer Content
Curated content is a great way to fill gaps in your own social media calendar. It goes much further than that, though. It can provide value to your customers and the people who follow you. It gives them more information which makes you a thought leader. More people will be drawn to your profiles because you aren’t constantly bombarding them with sales posts but instead giving them information that they can use.
On the flip side, content curation can have its pitfalls if you aren’t careful. Ensure you are sharing from a trustworthy source and that the information is valuable and appropriate. You should also keep your brand persona in mind and make sure the content and the sources are complementary to or consistent with your brand’s values.
Seek Relationships First, and the Sales Will Follow
All sales begin with a relationship. Relationships foster loyal customers — repeat customers. People just want to be heard. When a customer has a problem and contacts you through social media, whether it’s a private message, a post, or a comment on another post, make sure you address it right away.
Make personal posts that encourage engagement, such as a location check-in your pool and spa wish list post. Have some fun and when your customer responds, make sure you are there commenting and conversing with them. When you have a relationship, the sales will follow.
Social media can be a great addition to your marketing strategy. It is easy to use and relatively easy to maintain. You can get in with virtually no cost except for time, but you can also have the option to pay for advertising and other pursuits.
Give social media a try for your pool and spa business, and watch it take off.
