Social Media on a Shoestring
Covid-19 has made cashflow a little (or a lot) tighter for many businesses. Some small business owners are looking for ways to DIY social media marketing until the economy turns around.
We know how hard things are right now so we thought we would compile a list of 20 simple, practical things you can do to ‘up’ your social media game. Best of all, most of our ideas here WON’T COST YOU A CENT. Sound good?!
ASK YOUR CLIENTS TO WRITE YOU A FACEBOOK REVIEW
Facebook Reviews are a fantastic way to quickly build credibility and trust with anyone who is coming to your page for the first time. And for converting those people who have been considering your products and services for a while.
As people have a bit more time on their hands, now is a great time to ask people to leave a review. We recommend sharing a link to your Facebook review page to make it nice and simple. If you are super ‘keen’ you could incentivise feedback with a small discount.
2. SHARE A THROWBACK POST.
Social Media is a great way to remind your followers just how awesome you are at what you do. Sharing throwback posts every now and then is a fun way to stay front of mind so when this ends, you’ll be at the top of their shopping list.
3. START A FACEBOOK GROUP
Starting a group is an awesome way to grow a community around a particular topic. You might need to invest a bit of time upfront in getting it going, but it will pay off down the track when your followers are interacting and sharing.
Our top tip: find a niche topic to build your community around. Buffer provides a great resource for getting started.
Our Facebook group is an awesome network of small business owners who are helping each other Thrive Through Covid-19! We’d love to have you involved!
4. GET INVOLVED IN OTHER GROUPS
Why start your own group if someone else has done all the hard work for you! To find one that suits your particular networking interests, just go to Facebook Groups and then search within the categories, or near to you.
Don’t forget: there is social etiquette to follow – you don’t want to barge into the party and start splashing your name around everyone. You’ll need to be introduced first, before you can start chatting with people about your business. Just pay attention to the conversation, and offer your two cents worth when it’s appropriate.
5. ASK FOR FEEDBACK
Some people are using this time to review their products and services and enhance them for the new generation business that they’re launched post-Covid-19. Which is so freeking awesome – when you think about it, we so rarely get the time to work on the business, do we?!
It’s a great time to be asking for feedback. By asking for your customers to let you know how you can improve, you’re communicating that you value their opinion, and you care about what they have to say. Social Media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer some fun ways to ask for feedback. We love the in App survey functionalities that Instagram Stories offer. You could also use Facebook polls.
6. GO LIVE!
Sorry to get all nerdy on your here: Social media algorithms favour video content – especially LIVE video content. Or in other words, it’s more likely to appear in people’s news feeds that other kinds of content. Which is why LIVE video is a great way to increase your visibility.
Also, when you go live, your followers will get a notification so they’re more likely to tune in. Just another reason why it’s such a fantastic communication tool.
In terms of how you can use LIVE video, the sky really is the limit. During Covid-19 we’ve seen LIVE video used for educational purposes (webinars, cooking demonstrations, art classes – you name it really!), entertainment purposes, and just for keeping in touch. You just need to put on your creative hat, get some half-decent lighting and sound equipment, and you’re away!
7. SHARE USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Go hunting around and you just might find that your fans have shared some posts featuring your product. Let me tell you this content is pure GOLD. Share this to your account to show your followers that other people are loving your products.
Or, if you want to spend a little, you could encourage your customers to share photos by incentivizing it with a small discount on their next purchase.
TIP: If it’s not perfectly on brand, it might make a good story!
8. RUN A COMPETITION
Ok so this one isn’t completely free (unless you find a way to make the prize free!), but it’s potentially low cost depending on what you decide to giveaway. Competitions are a great way to quickly grow your followers or even build your email database.
TIP: make the entry requirements simple. The less you ask of people, the more responses you’ll get. And, consider giving it a bit of a ‘boost.’ This way you’ll help get it in front of more of your target audience/
9. START A PINTEREST ACCOUNT FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
Pinterest is a fantastic platform for lifestyle brands. It’s an easy way to discover new products and services, and it has a very high click through rate. And yet, it is so under-utilised! Why not use this time to create some pins that link people to the blogs you’ve created (refer to the next point!).
10. SHARE A BLOG
Some say the golden days of blogging are over, and to an extent, this is true as video becomes the preferred way to digest content. However, blogs do still serve some great purposes. As an example, they are a great way to help your communities navigate Covid-19, and they’re also great for SEO! When thinking about your blog topics, start by putting yourself in the shoes of your audience. HuffPost offers some other great tips for getting started.
11. SHARE ON OTHER CHANNELS
We’ve all got a social media channel that we favour. We won’t judge you for it because we have our favourites too! (Mine is Facebook). However, if you have been giving all or your love to one, you might be missing out on engaging with your audiences on another. This is a great time to change things up!
12. SHARE A MEME.
We love memes because they’re a great way to show your brand’s personality and have some fun with your followers (and there are some very funny ones flying around at the moment!). Just don’t get too carried away – they’re fun, but you don’t want your account to starting feeling ‘Spammy.’
13. OFFER A DISCOUNT FOR PURCHASING PRODUCTS OR SERVICES IN THE FUTURE.
If you’re looking to bolster some cashflow, you could offer a discount for booking ahead of time. We have seen some clients inviting bookings as far out as 2022! Your e-commerce strategy will come in to play here. Get in touch if you’d like some help with getting this started.
14. HOST A WEBINAR
Offer your communities some helpful information by hosting a webinar. Facebook now offers the functionality to stream two people LIVE. Alternatively, Zoom is a fantastic tool for video conferencing.
14. OPTIMISE YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS FOR ENQUIRIES
When was the last time you reviewed your accounts to make sure the information was up to date? Longer than a few months?! Now is a great time to jump in and check some of the settings. As an example, check your contact information, opening hours, and links. When things start to pick up again, it could be the difference between making a sale, and missing it!
15. HOST A VIRTUAL TOUR.
We’ve seen this work really well for our real estate agencies and other businesses where people need to do inspections. Simply do a walk-through so people can inspect your properties. You could pre-record this, OR you could do it live. Both offer great benefits.
TIP: invest in a stabiliser and basic sound tech to get a more professional result.
16. REACH OUT TO POTENTIAL COLLABORATORS
Social Media is a fantastic way to connect with other businesses who might want to collaborate. Once you’ve worked out what a good partnership would look like for your business, you can simply reach out and see whether they’d be interested in working with you!
TOP TIP: have a PDF ready to send through if they’re interested in learning more about your products or services.
17. SET UP A BOT.
A ‘bot’ is an automation of your customer response. You might have seen this when you’ve direct messaged a Facebook page and an instant response has come through? They’re a great way to minimise the amount of time involved in responding to direct enquiries, and it might not be a bad idea ahead of allll those enquiries you’re going to get in not too long. It’s a little technical to set them up so you might need a bit of help, but they’ll pay off in no time!
18. START A PODCAST!
Would you believe, it’s not difficult to make a basic podcast! And it’s not expensive either. You can download free sound recording applications. If you find a great little niche, it might just be an amazing new channel for your brand! Here’s some information to get you started.
19. GO BACK AND RESPOND TO OLD COMMENTS
BC (Before Covid),w hen things were a little busier there’s a good chance you missed a few of those comments that came through from your fans (be honest!). Now is a great time to go back and use those as opportunities to reconnect. You could even preface it with something like: “Sitting on the couch going back through my comments which I never had the time to respond to pre-covid! Just wanted to say thanks for your support over the years. It means the world to me.”
20. SHARE YOUR STORY
And last but absolutely not least, keep your story front and centre of your content. Be genuine let people know what you’re going through. Be visible and honest. It will go a long way to creating authentic connection with your followers.
Hopefully this has been helpful! Please let us know which of the points you’re using to help you Thrive Through Covid-19. And please share it if you think others would find this helpful.
Don’t forget, about our Thriving Through Covid-19 Facebook Group – we would love to have you in our community! Here’s the link.