Social Media the New Marketing: The Most Powerful and Effective Tool-Set for Small Business Advertising Part II — “Strategic Tips on How Best to Use the New Marketing”

Last month we introduced the “New Marketing” by way of explaining two dominant advertising and marketing models: “push marketing” and “pull marketing,” and we went on further to introduce and use a synonym for “pull marketing,” namely, “content marketing.” We ended that article by explaining why all successful content marketing begins and end with great content. In this article, we focus on the top social media platforms, and provide arguments for why every business in the liquid waste industry should be including one or all of these social media platforms in their advertising portfolio.
The concept of “content” should be self-evident—it is the text, images, and everything else that constitutes the bulk of your social media platforms. So, the first rule of content marketing is: incorporate the most informative, innovative, creative, and fresh content on your sites. This is the way to increase brand awareness, improve customer service, and draw your prospective leads and clients right to your website ready to inquire about your wastewater services. The second rule of content marketing is: forget your old understanding of marketing or advertising. Remember, the new advertising is not about selling. So, your old spiels and hawking of your goods and services no longer apply. The focus is no longer your company in your advertising; it is all about your audience or client base. It is about giving stuff away—not products or services but content—information, knowledge, how-to guides, and some entertainment.
Let us take a look at some of the new marketing strategies and we will develop strategic tips along the way of how to best incorporate, take advantage, and capitalize on your content marketing using social media platforms. Last month we supplied some data on social media site usage. This month we would like to update that data. Like we said, social media usage is growing exponentially every year. While almost every poll or article you read will supply slightly different data, due to the ever-growing nature of social media, the following data from the eBusiness Guide publication of 2015 is telling on how rapid it is growing. The numbers reflect worldwide usage.

Recent Data on Social Media Usage

Facebook: 900,000,000 monthly users
YouTube: 898,000,000 monthly users
Tumblr: 420,000,000 monthly users
Twitter: 310,000,000 monthly users
LinkedIn: 255,000,000 monthly users
Pinterest: 250,000,000 monthly users
Google+: 120,000,000 monthly users
Instagram: 100,000,000 monthly users
Source: The eBusiness Guide, 2015

Facebook
Starting a Facebook page for your business is very easy. In fact, most of the social media sites are easy to set-up and use. In the old days you needed to know how to format, program, write code, etc. Now, the programs do all of that for you. All you need to do is sign up, and the format, structure, and outline becomes immediately visible. All you have to do is know how to type and upload files. What is more, most of the social media sites discussed are totally free. All you need is a computer, an internet connection, an active imagination, and great content. Once your Facebook page is created, visitors to your site can “like” it (i.e., opt-in to have access to your posts and be able to post their content to your site). When that happens, they are posting to your “wall” and your posts will be automatically posted to their “wall.” When they “like” your content, they can share it with their friends (the average user has 130 friends) and everyone gets to see all of the posting activity. This puts your brand immediately in front of an audience that normally may not have had access to it. Signaling that they “like” you indicates they are interested in what you have to say, becoming part of your target market, and this creates the prime opportunity to reach this target market. If you are smart, those that continuously visit your site should create the prime opportunity for you to convert some of these prospects into customers. Remember, it is not just about how many “likes” your get, although that is the process of getting your brand or message to hundreds, even thousands of viewers (each one a possible business lead)—it is all about the quality and freshness (newness, novelty) of the content you post and share. That is what will ultimately attract them to your site and cause them to continuously visit it and post to it.

YouTube
It is very easy to set up a YouTube account and it is free to set up and establish your company’s own YouTube channel. Simply go to www.youtube.com and create an account. Name the account after your business. Then start uploading the video files that you have created and that you save to your hard drive. Title your files with words relevant to your business; under the title you can post keywords. Hit publish and your videos appear on the Internet on your YouTube channel. Include a link to your business website or blog, or google+ account (see below). Creating and posting video content on YouTube is a great way to boost the visibility and credibility of your waste water business. There are plenty of ways to produce video content. If you want to sell one of your older trucks; if you want to show off a new truck; if you want to show how a septic tank is pumped; if you want to show off your portables at an interesting site, etc., simply create a video of it and post it. Many small businesses have also had great results by posting videos of customer testimonials on YouTube. This is a highly effective way to build trust and credibility with people who may need that extra “nudge” to invest in services. Plus, video testimonials are proven to have a much bigger impact than written ones. Don’t forget to include “calls to action” (CTA) content in your videos. Possible CTAs can include contacting you for more information, subscribing to your YouTube channel, leaving feedback, requesting your viewers share your video with others, or some other desired action.

Tumblr
As it says on their website, “Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos from your browser, phone, desktop, email or wherever you happen to be.” While the high number of users reflects a massive use by a younger demographic, Tumblr’s use by businesses is growing rapidly. Once you sign on simply follow the prompts. On your dashboard, or user interface, you will see seven options you can choose from to post your content. They are:
• Text: Explain your latest or best technology (pumper truck, inspection camera, etc).
• Photo: Any images, such as pictures of your new or best pumper truck, a profile of the owner, or of the “employee of the month,” visit to a recent trade show, etc. You are only limited by your own imagination.
• Quote: A one-liner that you would like your customers to hear.
• Link: Anything you think is important or relevant that your recently saw on the Internet, you can make a link to it.
• Chat: Perhaps you had a funny exchange with a customer? Recount it here.
• Audio: Post a song that everyone in the office enjoys, or maybe a song that mentions your line of work.
• Video: Post a small video of your new pumper truck in action.

Twitter
Again, it is easy and totally free to set up. Posts can be no longer than 140 characters and they are organized by hashtags (#). Participating on Twitter is often described as “micro-blogging” because people usually post short snippets of text as opposed to longer diary style entries found in more traditional blogs. What is different about Twitter, say as compared to Facebook, is that users “follow” each other. If someone links to your Twitter and follows you, you can follow them back. Therefore, it is easy to quickly gain a following, although your followers are not as targeted as they are on Facebook or other social media platforms. However, if you stick to subjects immediately relevant to your business, then you and your followers should be “on the same page.” Post new news about your business, or of a expo you attended, or a new technology you are interested in buying, or have already bought, or recent events in your town, new laws and regulations about dumping wastes in your area, charities or causes you support, etc.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the premier business-to-business (B2B) social networking site and professional directory of companies and individuals. Through LinkedIn you will be able to provide information about anything your company does: septic tank servicing, cleaning, and installing; grease trap servicing, pipe inspections; portable toilet rentals, etc. People also use LinkedIn to search for jobs and companies use it as a recruitment tool to post job descriptions if they are looking to hire someone. If you need good employees, being on LinkedIn gives you access to the resumes of dozens, even hundreds of smart people looking to be hired.

Pinterest
Go to www.business-pinterest-com, which is their business platform. Once you connect to the site, The Welcome to Pinterest page appears. You actually sign up for an account via your Facebook, Twitter, or your e-mail address. This means that these social media are automatically interconnected. Pinterest is an image board where the total focus is on photos and other kinds of images. Small businesses can create boards based around their business. Users populate their boards by hitting a “Pin it” button which lets you then post your pictures, videos, or other visuals. If you add the “Pin It” button to your site, people can use it to add stuff to your Pinterest site. Pins are like little bookmarks people add to Pinterest that always point back to the sites they came from like yours, or the sites from where you get your “pins.” It’s great for posting company logos, logos of companies, suppliers, vendors dealers, etc. you contract with. Once you post their logo for example, everyone that goes to their site is automatically connected to your site. Pinterest connects people through shared interests—their passions, hobbies, tastes and values. It therefore gives you an opportunity to express your personality. Be creative. Post logos or photos of anything that interests you.

Google+
Google Plus was introduced in June 2011 for personal use and but now it can be used for businesses with the “Google my Business” function. To get started, simply create a Google+ page with the basic details of your small business — your address, store hours and relevant photos. When posting, focus on keywords from your business or industry, which helps potential leads and prospects find your business when doing keyword searches such as “need septic tank service,” etc. Some of the features of Google+ include: Circles, Hangouts, Messenger, Instant Upload, Hashtags and more. All of these functions are easy to learn and each has a distinctive business use. One feature that Google+ offers that the other social media sites do not, which can create a unique value proposition for your advertising strategy, is the ability to group your followers into “circles” and then target your messaging to those individual groups. Even specific blog posts can be delivered to one circle but not another. A great reason to have a Google+ account is that it will boost your rankings that the Google search engine uses to determine where and when your website or social media sites will appear when someone does a Google search. It’s an obvious visibility platform that will help generate more traffic to yours sites. It definitely makes businesses easier to find and learn about.

Instagram
Because businesses have been flocking to Instagram in droves, Instagram has created the Instagram for Business Blog, which offers lots of tips, brand spotlights, Instagram Application Programming Interfaces (API) examples, and news to help businesses take advantage of the unique features of the platform. Once on Instagram, you can have fun by telling your story with images from your business. Many liquid waste industry businesses already have pictures of their equipment, workers and trucks in action, etc. on their website. Now you can post those pictures on Instagram so that a huge audience has access to the pictorial narrative about your company and its equipment and services. As they say, “A picture speaks a thousand words.”
To get started simply sign in for an account, using the same mane as your Twitter handle, add a profile photo or brand logo, and a link to your website, connect your account to Facebook and let your followers know your are there.

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