by Shane O'Neill
Gone are the days of the “social media plaything” mindset. The course has changed, and those who want to succeed are taking things seriously. It’s all about strategic planning and execution. So let’s start with some basics most amateurs ignore.
Choose Your Platform
When choosing your social media platforms, remember, you most likely can’t do everything and do it well. Consider this formula:
time+strategy+audience = effort /money
In other words, ask yourself how much time you will need to dedicate to properly maintaining the social channel. Know how you’ll use the channel. And, make sure the user base is valid and large enough.
The money part of the equation is social media advertising. Get used to it, because if you don’t have consistent, strategic, paid advertising on social media, you’re doing it wrong.
Whether you’re young or old, leave your personal tastes at the door. If a young person claims they never use FB anymore and that TikTok is the place to be, consider it anecdotal. Smart marketing relies on numbers, data, and strategic thinking – not opinion.
Forget Followers and Fans.
Fans are irrelevant. Yes, that’s right, I said it. With an organic reach of less than 2%, simply posting on social media is an act of futility. Even if you have 10,000 fans/followers, any given post will only reach around 200 of them. Sure there’s relevance in that, but not as much as reaching the entire 10,000! What you should be doing is focusing on the post content and level of engagement. Social advertising allows you to reach the rest of your fan base, plus other people you target in the local area.
The Social Sales Cycle
Remember that social media is primarily a tool to brand your store. You want to be top of mind when sales opportunities occur.
For the retail jeweler, it’s best to view social media in terms of two types of sales cycles.
During the direct sales cycle, opportunities present themselves around mass gift-giving times of the year such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and the holidays.
The indirect sales cycle makes up the rest of the year and takes advantage of buying based on engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It is not timing specific, rather it is dependent on when customers are ready to buy. Which is all the more reason to plan the work and work the plan. So, what are you waiting for?
