Social media brand marketing strategies by Eden Gelt today: Successful communication strategies tell the consumer about a brands responsible approach to the current situation. A classic example of this occurred early in the pandemic when a toilet paper manufacturer began a campaign designed to dissuade consumers to stop panic buying. Asking customers to not buy your product may seem counterintuitive. But what it is doing is building customer trust by making the consumer aware of the empathic nature of the brand. Find even more information at https://vimeo.com/872341958.

Stepping outside of your target audience might seem daunting but this is crucial to increase exposure of your product and company. Free samples increase your product and company’s awareness. Since this broad, new audience now has your product in their hands, consumers make both a physical and mental connection. Next time they are in the store or shopping online and come across your product, they are more likely to make a purchase. Thus, making the transition to becoming a customer all because of the familiarity they had from your free sample.

So how do you use reciprocity to increase business? Service Business: Offer free advice and consultations. Lawyers can answer pertinent questions, realtors can provide a free staging appointment, medical professionals can offer a free assessment, a salon can offer a free bang trim, etc. Brick and Mortar Restaurants or Retail: Offer something to get people out of their door and into your store! A free small gift just for stopping in, a no purchase necessary gift card for dining, a free appetizer, or even a free experience. Recently, I received an offer from Gillette for a FREE Venus razor – titled “For Your Daughter.” That’s a $15 value, of course that made me get out of the house and go to the store, and we far outspent the value of the razor. Then there are free Slurpees at 711, Free Coffee Days at Starbucks and the list goes on.

As part of your brand communication strategy you will need to provide relevant and consistent content. For example, if your main social media account is Instagram you should aim to post once a week (ideally at the same time, on the same day each week to build consistency). Your posts should be well-thought-out, helpful and add real value. You should not be posting content for the sake of posting. Irrelevant or dreary content can hurt your brand image. Remember, quality over quantity, always. See even more info on Eden Gelt.

Real Estate agent? Take your clients on a virtual ride with you through the streets of a neighborhood and talk about why you’re the area expert. You can touch on school district borders, housing market stats, or even the current night-life. Virtual open-houses have become highly popular during the pandemic so show your clients a listing. You can even have your clients play a game of car-pool karaoke on your next showing and let your playful personality shine through. Testimonials live from clients would also be a great feature.

GMB gives you the opportunity to publish offers, events, services and your product line to your listing and maps. This lets you engage with your searching audience in almost real-time. These local posts give you the power to engage with your customers in real time. Importantly, local posts allow you to broadcast your specials or any time sensitive announcements that can benefit you and your customers such as a flash sale. Monitor your progress through “Insights” – analytics provided by GMB. The analyzing feature lets you know how customers found you, where they found you, who asked for directions and who called. This will give you valuable information on how to craft your local posts, where your customers are searching and how, which will help you with any digital marketing needs. Tracking how your business is reaching customers and potential customers is important because by analyzing this data it will give you the tools you need to maximize your reach by the data.

Network: This is the easiest and most effective way to market on a dime. Learn how to mix and mingle at work events, conferences, virtual calls, lines at a coffee shop even your kid’s school functions. Traditional old-fashioned networking can go a long way to getting your name out there. When you put a face behind the business or brand it goes a long way. Challenge yourself – try to introduce yourself and your brand to at least 3 new people a week.

Reviews Make it or Break it: Did you know that 90% of consumers research online and rely on review sites before making a purchase? Google reviews make it or break it for your business. We live in a world where everybody Googles everything, and ratings can make or break your business. Just a half star increase in your rating is equivalent to a 9% increase in revenue per Harvard Business Review. If your business was a restaurant, Berkley economists found that a half star improvement makes it 30-49% more likely that a restaurant will sell out during peak hours. See more information at Eden Gelt.

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to feature during your segments – consider what is the most important thing you will be sharing about your business/service/product and say it right at the beginning of your video. For example – today, I’m going to walk you through a HydraFacial or I’m going to tell you about the new tenant law passed during the pandemic. Or, let me tell you about our fantastic chicken alfredo, water ride, marketing tip, new product, etc. Then take them on 1 or 2-minute journey. CONSISTENCY IS KEY! Once you’ve made your first video or VLOG (fancier term), you’re on your way but you can’t stop now. You need to generate content consistently. This can be several times per week, once per week, or even once per month. Just stick with it.

Are your clients business professionals or are they casual customers? What social sites are you most comfortable on, what social sites do they frequent? Do you have a website and social channels set up yet? Regardless of platform, a multi-channel distribution strategy is key – you need to place your media where your customers and prospects are and often they are not all in the same place at the same time. If you have a website, start posting your videos there. One “About Us” video isn’t enough – regularly adding video to your website increases SEO and keeps your clients up to date on your offerings. You can create a page specifically for your videos, or place them on existing pages.