This is a question I get a lot from new clients. They’ve often been trying to manage their own social media and started out with a lot of enthusiasm that then dropped off once they needed to divert their attention to the actual work of their business. And that’s totally understandable! It’s why I have a job, really. It’s very hard to be doing the work of your business and all the admin behind it while also managing everything that goes into a successful social media strategy.
The first thing I usually say when asked this question is “What do you want to create more of in your business?” The answer is always more sales, but we have to get more detailed than that. We have to look at which kinds of sales you’d like to have more of and what kinds of things we could post about to drive that.
For a salon, do you want more new clients coming in the door for the first time? Or do you want your existing customers to book for more services? For retail businesses, is there a particular product or type of product you want to sell more of? Are we focusing on big ticket single items or adding smaller ticket items in greater volume to increase the sale per transaction?
In these conversations we often have to dive into a lot of business development territory to figure out how to best shape your social media strategy, but it is really helpful. After all, if you’re a photographer who wants to book more family portrait sessions yet only post your work photographing weddings, that isn’t going to bring in the right people for you.
In retail, it’s always a great idea to feature your products and why they’re great but there are so many great ways to do that without just saying “buy this product”. For example, a yarn shop might want to feature a particular type of yarn that just arrived on their doorstep. Talking about the fiber content, how it feels, and the colors it comes in is fine. But what levels it up is when you have a strategy that shows off not only the product details, but history of the brand, where the fiber is made, what animals or plants it comes from, and give examples of specific patterns you can make with it.
Service businesses can talk all day long about what they offer. A social media strategy built on the reasons behind why you need their services and what they can do will go further. For service businesses, education on why someone would want or need what they offer is key. A salon explaining why adding a certain treatment or hair care product will sell more than just saying that you offer it.
So where to start? Start with figuring out the specifics of what you’re actually trying to get your audience to do on social media then find ways not to just sell them on it. Educate and entertain them with why they should trust your expertise. That builds an authentically engaged audience that converts to actual sales.
