In recent times, social media has become an integral part of our everyday lives, the same can be said in business.
Social media can be a valuable, cost-effective tool for businesses to market and promote their business to a wider audience, increasing their customer base and thus impacting sales.
The double glazing or fenestration industry is no exception. With trust amongst potential customers being hard to come by, building a brand and standing out, creating a more trustworthy appearance is key.
By utilising social media platforms for your business, you can help decide how your business is perceived through key messaging, helping build that trust.
As a business, you’ve most likely used social media to encourage business and build an online presence. However, this doesn’t always mean instant success.
It is important to have an effective social media strategy in place in order to make the best use of the benefits of social media.
So how can your business use social media to attract new customers?
In this article, we take a closer look at some best social media practices for businesses so that your business can thrive in the digital age.
Social media for double glazing
Here we have identified some of the ways you can utilise social media to grow your business:
- An effective social media plan
Like any business strategy, when using social media for your business, it is important to start with a good plan in order to set clear goals and objectives which can be measured and referred back to.
Without a clear plan, it is very easy to divert from your initial business goals. Take time out to construct a social media plan and watch your business grow.
Here are some tips to create a strategic social media plan:
- Set goals and objectives for your businesses social media: Use the SMART framework to create goals that are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. It is essential to set goals that are measurable so that you can track your progress. For example, acquiring new customers or a higher conversion rate.
- Research your competition: Whilst we are not suggesting to copy how your competitors are using social media, it is useful to learn what others have done, and then see how you could do it better.
- Look for inspiration: You may have researched your competitors’ social media but it also can be very insightful to see how other businesses in different industries are doing things to draw inspiration. You may find you can apply something from one industry to the double glazing industry.
- Create a social media calendar: a social media calendar is an effective method to ensure that the right content is being posted at the right time, creating a clear schedule. A calendar will allow you to produce posts that are seasonal and timely, responding to upcoming events and being able to piggyback on trends. But don’t let the calendar make you inflexible; social media moves fast, and so a great deal of reactive activity is necessary to stay on top of emerging trends and in-the-moment trends.
- Choose the right platform for your business
There are numerous social media platforms, each with their own unique purposes and audiences.
It is important to identify which social media platform(s) best suits your business and what you aim to achieve. To do so, it is a good idea to conduct research on each platform to help gain a clearer idea of their demographic and how best you can utilise them to achieve your business goals and objectives.
You are likely to find that Facebook carries an older demographic these days, whilst TikTok carries a much younger demographic. Likewise, Pinterest brings a large female demographic, but also leans towards inspiration for projects.
You aren’t limited to one social media platform but you should tailor the content to each social media channel.
- Identify your audience
Being able to clearly identify your audience is an effective way to market your product or service directly to people who have a keen interest in the service you provide.
Social media allows you to micro-target audiences. But first you must know who your audience is. Compiling data from previous customers and social media analytics can enable you to get a greater understanding of who is purchasing from you and also interacting with your business online.
Are your customers generally more affluent? Are they in the younger or older demographic? What interests and traits do they commonly have?
- Grow your audience
It’s not enough to just know your audience. You should always be looking to grow your customer base.
Through social media you are able to reach a wider audience than what would be possible offline.
When looking to grow your business online, you should revisit your initial social media plan and evaluate your target audience, looking for ways to reach other audiences.
Sharing quality content that your audience can enjoy and engage with is an effective method in marketing your business. Your audience can then share content you have created helping to gain exposure for your business and grow that audience into something bigger.
- Building customer relationships online
Social media marketing for businesses is unique in that it allows you to directly engage and interact with your audience.
Over time, this helps to build a relationship between your business and potential customers. Why is this important? Building a rapport with your followers enables them to gain trust in your business and encourages brand loyalty.
According to Global Web Index, more than 40% of digital consumers use social networks to research new brands or products. This includes getting a better understanding of a brand and what they stand for.
Whether it is an organic post or a paid ad, it is a great idea to interact back when people engage with your content. As your audience shares and likes your content, this helps to gain new exposure for free.
Joining and posting to Facebook groups that are related to your business is just one way of helping to gain awareness to your business and build a community.
The importance of social media
Social media can be a useful ally in growing your business, no matter its size.
But it’s not just the work you do online that is important; how your business operates with customers offline is also integral. That includes providing quality customer service.
At TruFrame, we understand that it can be a challenge for businesses to drive sales online and build loyal customer relationships. That’s why we are passionate about helping our customers across the fenestration industry through intuitive marketing strategies designed to deliver results, albeit online or physically.
Looking for more information about what we can do to help your businesses grow? See our marketing support page, and get in touch with us to see how we can help supply hand-finished windows and doors to your business.
