Social Media

When I decided to write an article on social media I went back onto various blogs and articles I wrote a few years ago to get some inspiration. I have realised just how much more dynamic you have to be to partake in and perform well on social media nowadays. In 2 short years the degree of participation has changed so much and the importance of this participation is above and beyond anything I think anyone could have ever imagined. It is a fast changing space that requires active interaction and constant development in order for it to be an effective tool to market our spas and salons.

For several years now “Social Media” has been the buzz word in the marketing world. Before the many complexities came into the mix it had been said “It’s free and everyone can use it!” But the truth is; it’s not really free and not any old person can use it effectively. You need the right staff member to run it and a whole lot of inspiration. It will cost you time and constant effort to maintain. Monthly internet, design as well as devices to do so; are also costs that have to be thought of before you embark on this exciting journey. So yes, Facebook and Twitter may not send you an account at the end of every month but without and let me emphasise; a dedicated staff member, a solid strategy and a good deal of well managed time you might as well not even bother. Of course I would say bother; this is a space you HAVE to be playing in if you want to keep up with the crowd.

So where do you start and how do you ensure you make your mark?

First things first; you have to define your business objectives and what you want social media to do for you. Is it?
• Customer acquisition?
• Brand awareness?
• Customer retention and community building?
• Increased sales?

Remember to have clear, measurable objectives

Second, decide who your target audience is. There aren’t many people not using social media anymore. A couple years ago our parents – the 60 somethings – were all like “what’s this Facebook nonsense?” Now the majority of the posts on my newsfeed are my folk’s selfies as they trot the globe. The older generation has become more tech savvy and these are some of our key customers. Choose the correct channels for your audience – never more than 3 social media platforms to begin with. Outline what you are going to use each one for and stick to it. Do not veer of course because you will lose direction and ultimately impact.

Thirdly you need to set goals / targets. Make sure these are achievable and not cast in stone. You need to be able to gage if your tactics are working and if not; change it up and try something else. Goals could be anything like;
• 10% more customers through the spa per month
• More shares / retweets in a month
• More likes on my page / followers on Twitter in a certain time frame
• Increase in sales in an allocated period of time

Fourth you need to plan how you are going to achieve these goals. Get it all down and into a calendar. Allocate specific times and times frames for when you will be posting and sharing etc. Never lose sight of your goals otherwise you can fall into the trap that so many people fall into – getting lost in the proverbial forest that is social media. You will land up spending hours reading news feeds / glancing at the newest shoes hot off the runway, instead of getting in, doing what needs to be done and getting out; to continue with the other tasks you have to accomplish in that day. A spa cannot be run on social media alone 

Now that you have clear objectives, your target market is identified and you have goals; you need plan and create a content schedule. The first mistake companies make with social media is they just start willy nilly posting and sharing irrelevant content all over the show with no clear goal in mind. They jump onto a plethora of sites and create profiles on ALL of them. We are bombarded with masses of posts from many platforms asking for likes, shares and retweets but then nothing…..

Create campaigns for each month and make sure that you carry the campaign message through everything that you post. Pretty pictures with a monthly promotion are no longer good enough to get you through. With 100s of millions of users on Facebook at any given time you have to make sure that you are engaging constantly so that your post is seen by your followers.
When creating content for your campaigns you need to remember this recipe:

Create – Engage – Analyse – Optimise

Create meaningful content that is relevant and valuable.

Engage with your identified customers; to ensure that you are appealing to them and that you encouraging them to participate with you and your conversations. Do not use social media as a platform for hard sell and nothing else – you will not get the desired outcome you are looking for.

Analyse every campaign against your goals and targets. Have you achieved what you set out to do? If not change what you are doing and try another tactic until you arrive at the desired outcome.

Optimise all the time, never stay stagnant and do not keep doing the same old thing. Your customer will become bored and start ignoring you or even worse; become irritated and stop engaging with you.

I cannot emphasise the importance of quality content. The staff member who is responsible for your social media must be informed and knowledgeable. They must be engaging with companies and key people in the industry so that they create content customers want to hear about. No one will listen to uninformed person babble on about nonsense. Give them the tools and the time to create a solid and interesting plan. If you do not have the right staff member or the time to do this yourself; do not despair! There are great companies out there that can really assist you in this journey and will not cost you an arm and leg. They can help you develop strategy and write content for you so you can have fun and watch your business reap the rewards of social media marketing not create unnecessary headaches associated with getting it right.

So get planning and have fun! These are exciting times and there is SO much to learn and enjoy every day.