The number of small businesses with a social media presence is growing, but many print and mail shop owners wonder if this is necessary to grow their business. While this wouldn’t have been important 10 years ago, consumers have changed and social media is now one of the best channels to reach them. Why? Because 10 years ago, just 7% of the U.S. population used at least one social media channel and today that number is up to 65% and increasing. Your future growth and success may depend, in part, on your ability to engage your consumer base through these platforms.
Having a social media presence means that your company posts and shares content on a social media platform on a regular basis. You should amass followers who are contacted when you post new information, which makes marketing easier. There are many social media platforms in the US and the most popular are:
You don’t want or need to have a presence on all of them to find success. In fact, most print and mail shop find success with three platforms.
Every print and mail shop should have an active Facebook presence because over 2.2 billion people log onto it every day. This includes both men and women aged 25 to 55+, which should encompass your target audience. Most important, Facebook is a local SEO signal. This means that search engines, such as Google, look at your company’s Facebook profile when someone does a search and will place you higher in the list local search results.
You should post on this site at least once a week and go beyond advertising your services to providing content of value. This can include a linking to a blog about clever holiday card photographs or the dos and don’ts of a direct marketing campaign. Sprinkle in a few employee profiles or pics of a creative print job that turned out great (with the client’s permission of course) and a promotion here or there and you’re good to go. While original content is great, don’t be afraid to curate other content that will interest your customers.
Twitter is great for quick connections and can be used in many creative ways to both engage your customers and promote your business. Over 42% of Twitter users are on the site each day and while it is predominately used by 18 to 29 year-olds, the 30 to 64 age range is also well represented. Most important, 74% of Twitter users follow small businesses to get product updates.
You can use Twitter for so many things, such as sharing great reviews, photos of your staff, and tips for getting ready for holiday print needs. This platform requires a certain finesse since you are limited in the number of characters you can use in each tweet but the rewards are worth the effort.
If you have a strong business to business engagements you need to have a LinkedIn profile because this is where you find the decision makers of other companies. Nearly 4 out of 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions in their companies and have twice the buying power of the average web audience.
If you want to target selling print and mail services to businesses in your area, this is the place to do it. Make connections, identify business leaders in your area on the site and direct message them or send marketing/sales information to them with a personal note and maybe a first-time user discount. Discuss your strengths in addressing the needs of businesses and your experience in working with similar-sized businesses.
Do you need to have a social media presence? No. And you don’t have to eat your vegetables either. However, a social media presence will have a positive impact on your business and you only have to spend some time to do it. Also, it doesn’t mean you have to be on every site. Just be active on the platforms you choose and deliver engaging content.
