It’s All About Content
So, now that you’ve bought in, let’s talk about how your business has changed. What you did 15 or 20 years ago doesn’t necessarily work anymore. The world is different. It’s a new way of clienteling. Your sales staff need to think differently. Your sales team should be banging it on social; if not their personal account, your store’s. It’s all about creating content. There are all types of content and all of it is useful to drive your business, but it takes work! Regardless of whether you do your marketing in-house or work with a third party, there is one thing that is greatly needed; content. Blogging could be HUGE for your business for many reasons, but will you put in the time? Quick, in-store videos take under a minute but perform great online. Just grab a cell phone, put a ring on your finger, and say something…done. Do that for 1 minute each day and you’ll have 30 pieces of content. Empower your team to get involved and be creative. Is Sally going out to a popular local restaurant? Give her a piece of jewelry, and have her take a pic while there. Perhaps it’s a ring on her hand while she holds the stem of a wine glass with strategic placement of the menu in the background. Boom…content for Instagram or even the individual product page on your website. Now you’re connecting locally with like-minded businesses, giving them a shoutout, and creating content for your brand. Which leads me to… What’s your brand identity? We touched on it above, but really, how do people identify with your brand? This is where you can craft that perception with social. Create content purposefully and define your brand by connecting your customer profile to other like-minded businesses or brands. We gave one example with the local restaurant above, but here is a broader example. Let’s say you’re a big Rolex dealer, and your clientele is affluent and upscale; then shape your brand to speak to that audience. What are some of their similar interests? Perhaps a content picture of someone wearing a ring while holding onto a steering wheel and just in the corner you can make out the BMW logo. Or maybe you live in a big boating community. Take some video and pictures on a sailboat. It’s all great content and, most likely, you have similar interests as your customers, so it’s really not that difficult to do. While all of this content will work for a number of your digital assets, the best channel to build your “brand identity” is Instagram. No inspirational quotes or posts of staff members' birthdays. Keep your Instagram feed focused on your brand’s lifestyle. Let Facebook be your catch-all, it’s great for news and events.The Bottom Line
- Start creating content en masse, even if you don’t use it all. You and your staff should all be content curators.
- Only use social platforms you can do well and how they were meant to be used with unique content for each.
- Add in some video. It’s what’s hot right now and tends to have better engagement.
- Blog or Vlog (Video Blog). Since you’re creating all this content, use it. Post to your blog at least 2-3 times per month with real insights, both written and video.