As a business owner, you may be familiar with the 80/20 rule. 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. That fraction represents, for the most part, loyal customers. When deciding what resources in your budget go where, focus on your ‘loyals’. Appeal to their wants and needs. The question is, how do you figure out who your loyal customers are? There are many ways to do this. However, the most cost effective way is to publish content and listen.
Opinion leaders: The more they engage, the more you learn.
Whenever you post something to your accounts, take the time to read through comments. Often times, the top comments are good indicators of an opinion that has substance. Think about it, if other people have liked the comment, they probably support and/or agree with that opinion. You can also gauge the quality of your content by the number of shares and likes it receives. After listening to your audience over an extended period of time, you will learn what works and what doesn’t. Once you start to consistently push content that is engaging a lot of your followers, you can begin to really look into who is contributing the most. These are your opinion leaders. They will push your content to their personal channels and the sharing will continue, depending on the share ability of your content. This is why it is important to listen to your audience and find what content receives the most engagement.
A sense of belonging.
As humans, we want to feel like we belong. A sense of purpose, if you will. It’s important to create an atmosphere on your social accounts that breeds engagement. Most people don’t like to talk to strangers, right? A brand is no different, unless you build trust by pushing relevant content and encouraging engagement. When someone does decide to engage with your brand, be sure to commend their trust in you by liking their comments and replying to them. Nobody likes to be left out of anything fun so strive for exciting content that breeds engagement. The comments and shares will snowball, but once enough of your followers are engaging with your content regularly, you have created a community of loyal customers that not only enjoy interacting with your brand, but also can’t wait for the next chance to do so.
User-created content.
Nothing says community like having followers that favour your brand enough to create content like photos or videos of them interacting with your business. Not only is this a good look for your brand in the eyes of your other consumers, but it is also a way for you to show your appreciation of their hard work on a public platform. Reposting their content to your accounts will give them a sense of accomplishment. If they cared enough to create something relevant for your audience and tag you in it, then it’s worth your time to tell them they did a good job. Like a parent recognizing their child’s hard work. We could all use a little bit of gratification once in a while. If they feel like their contribution did not go unnoticed, they are more than likely to post again and keep coming back to comment because they will feel like they are a part of the brand and the community at large. User-created content is also another surefire way to learn exactly what your audience cares about.
Test your content, not your audience.
For many business owners, monetizing every single one of your promotions may sound like a good idea at first, but have you ever conducted a test to see which kind of promotion your audience would react to the best? Initially, test two versions of the same promotion on your audience. Be sure to post the two versions at similar times. The one with the most engagement is more likely to do better when you do decide to monetize it. You can also make subtle changes to one version of the promotion and keep testing to see which changes affect the engagement and how. For instance, sometimes all you need to do is change the background colour or font of a promotion to see a difference. Be careful not to make too many changes and post the same promotion to your page over and over. Nothing is more cringe worthy than a cluttered social media feed.
Forget surveys. Just ask.
Trying a new product? Promotion? You’ve probably heard the expression that two heads are better than one. Right? Whether you own a business with one or 100 employees, you can never have too many opinions, and who better to ask than the people paying for your product or service? For example, show a picture of a potential service, promotion or product you wish to implement and ask for their opinions? Often times, you will get a simple yes or no. Now that Facebook has implemented reactions to their metrics, you can gauge exactly how little or how much your audience likes your content. Not only this, but your audience will feel involved in the process, making them more likely to purchase your product or service, and recommend it to others.
Interested in hearing more? Contact us at getsocial@93agency.com or follow along on social media at @93agency.
