social media--what should i be doing?

[huggytree]

Ive been told by a few other contractors now that they spend 2-5 hours a week on social media promoting their business

where should I be? what should I be doing?

[Freelancier]

They're spending that time... but are they making any money through that marketing channel?

[huggytree]

some are telling me their website gets them 10-30 calls a week....right now im getting maybe 1 call a week at the most....so I know what my possibilities/goals are now

are you saying social media ( twitter and the like) wont help me get any business? (im not sure)

my wife has been playing around with this stuff and passing it through her friends...I think im up to 50 likes....I am trying to send out 1 message a week trying to sell a specific product....so far it actually got me 1 small plumbing job....it just helped remind a distant friend of hers that I was a plumber

[Freelancier]

are you saying social media ( twitter and the like) wont help me get any business? (im not sure)

Not saying that. I'm saying that if someone is spending 2-5 hours a week on it, you'd want to know if it was landing them any jobs (not just calls). If you think your best customers would engage you through social media, then you should be there. If you aren't, then time to figure that out before you go spending 2-5 hours per week that you could spend on something more productive.

[Wozcreative]

some are telling me their website gets them 10-30 calls a week....right now im getting maybe 1 call a week at the most....so I know what my possibilities/goals are now

are you saying social media ( twitter and the like) wont help me get any business? (im not sure)

my wife has been playing around with this stuff and passing it through her friends...I think im up to 50 likes....I am trying to send out 1 message a week trying to sell a specific product....so far it actually got me 1 small plumbing job....it just helped remind a distant friend of hers that I was a plumber

Some of your comments regarding your audience being women/home owners.. we "do" tend to go out via social media to look for recommended products, resources, shopping etc. You can search for people needing plumbers, or you can try to "network" with realtors or other potential people who are connected with those that own homes/builders/mortgage brokers etc.

Fact is.. I think social media for business "sales" is tough, unless its a product and you can reach instagram, pinterest, twitter etc. It is mostly about gaining ground on your brand/who you are..you are lucky if someone contacts you for that a year from now after you spending hours on it a week.

I get a lot of business by finding people that are specifically looking for what I do. Social media usually isn't the place for me (though I am on it A LOOOOT).. those tend to be penny pinchers or are looking for quick and dirty design work. This may be the case for you as well. If my pipes broke.. I wouldn't go to twitter to look for a plumber. I'd be all.. ah man! Let's start googling the hell out of this and reading reviews, or contact someone who I know would have a reputable plumber.

Anyway.. sorry that was a whole string of babbling.. it is "possible" to get some business.. but very difficult and time consuming. Search their twitter/social media accounts and SEE what they are posting! IF they are spamming people (sending links to their sites), then that's not what you want to be doing.. it might get them traffic, but it'll be useless traffic.

[huggytree]

that was the answer I was hoping for....I didn't want to spend my time on facebook....my wife made me a facebook page...so its at least there for people to find

[Freelancier]

Let's start googling the hell out of this and reading reviews, or contact someone who I know would have a reputable plumber.

That's where I'd go as well. angie's list, kudzu... I want a house worker, I'm looking there. Spend time getting presence in those places.

[Wozcreative]

that was the answer I was hoping for....I didn't want to spend my time on facebook....my wife made me a facebook page...so its at least there for people to find



Yea just make sure it's completed. Add a photo, details on the "About" section, your web address, email address, phone number.. and include a cover photo. Have it linked to your website/site linked to the page. It bothers me when people "do" setup a FB or social media account but leave it bare. Makes me think this company is out of business.

[Core List]

Hi Huggytree,

I have a few tradesman mates who ask me about websites and social media and seo. I do put a bit of thought into this and have devised a bit of a strategy in my head and even made suggestion to mates but none of them have done it. As I find most tradesman prefer doing their trade than playing computers.

What I would do is this -
1 -Setup a blog or news feed on my site. I have setup sites for mates on Wordpress so I am referring to wordpress.
I believe there are plugins in Wordpress that automatically post to facebook and other social networks.

2 - Get the Wordpress iphone or android app and take photos of jobs I have done and post it to the blog. I would then write a small bit of text, for example 'Fixed this tap in (suburb name), it was stuffed.' I would use plumbing related terms and the areas you work in. This will help for seo. This post will then get automatically posted to your facebook page and any users will start to get an idea of what you do and what area you work, BEFORE they ever need a plumber. So when they do, you're the first one they think of.

I would also offer some sort of extra or a small discount if customers share your website or like your facebook page. Preferably get them to write some text that relates to what you do. e.g Thanks (business name) for fixing my tap.

I think if you did something resembling that, you would get a steady flow of leads for your business. However I don't know anyone who has actually tried this.

Regards
John

[Freelancier]

John's idea is a very good one, huggy. What you would be doing is two-fold and useful: creating content that people will be searching for and promoting your business at the same time. It's less social, but you can then add in "Like" links on the posts so that people will be engaging your business. I probably wouldn't bother with twitter, but I would consider adding Google+ just for the SEO love that brings you in search results.

The downside is that wordpress is a pain to manage these days with all the hackers trying to break into those sites. You have to spend time hardening it, keeping it updated, etc.

[DeniseTaylor]

Yes, social is getting more and more important. Facebook is probably a good place to start - we found it offered more results than Twitter. Our blog shares tips you might use - blog.sitesell.com (type or copy and paste into your browser).

Good luck!

[LeadMaster]

If you want clients NOW then social media is not a great place to be spending a lot of time. Direct communication and networking is more efficient for swift development of clientele. However building your social media presence, blog, etc. can be beneficial over the long stretch.

[Patrysha]

For your contractor clients I'd go Linked In for the most part, but only if the people in your area are that type of contractor...the redneck type contractor is not going to be on linked in but the more citified professional contractor will be - who's your customer? Pinterest might be a hot on for your remodeling type work, but really depends on your demographic. As has been said over and over...you want to use the tools your customer is already using or used to. You want to be found where they are looking for you...So...where are your customers?

[VeritasCustom]

I post to my Facebook business page about 3 times per week. I have organically grown to 395 likes in about two years. I don't rely on it for leads and have only landed a few jobs from it which is why I only spend maybe an hour a week on it. I tend to stick the the "three P's"... Personal, Product, Promotion. A balance of all three seems to keep the page going as well as keep my company fresh in people's minds.

[eina26]

You should have a well established account on Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, LinkedIn, etc. You should have a good amount of followers that are interested on your business or the product you are selling. Post informative articles to keep your followers.

[v.conway222]

I think its important for your business to have a FB page, but not necessary to spend a large amount of time on it. Make sure it has your contact details and looks good - because its a local business you might find discounts and offers may do wonders for spreading the word about your business.

[krymson]

The downside is that wordpress is a pain to manage these days with all the hackers trying to break into those sites. You have to spend time hardening it, keeping it updated, etc.

It's a never ending fight, kind of like trying to prevent viruses on your computer. But that's anything and you'll run risks. John's idea is a great idea, especially for remodelers. But one thing you can do Huggy, this is what I recommend to my clients who do like plumbing and other "non-glamorous" where sometimes a picture cant pain a thousand words is video testimonials or video of before and video of the result. People are going to under stand a video explaining what you did vs a picture and they have to guess what you did and still not understand it.

[Fixed Sight Training]

I spent a lot of time getting likes and some money on FB ads. The ads are a waste of money. They don't market to the people you tell them to market to and just send you a message after a few days saying x thousand people saw my ad but with no corresponding rise in web traffic and the likes that come from it were people who should have no interest in my field. I don't believe a 13 year old girl on the east coast really cares about a firearms school in Colorado. I believe they have dummy accounts for the likes and just generate the report of how many people saw your ad out of thin air.

[Damon the Marketer]

You don't ever NEED social media. Treat it as a boost when you've got everything else in order.

In my opinion, 2-5 hours is too much!

[appointmentCare]

Social Media is a great tool that Small Businesses could leverage to connect with their customers and beat competition.

Here are some tips for creating unfair advantage over your competition on social media on a shoestring budget.

1. Listen

Understanding the pulse of your customers is central to engaging customers effectively on social media. Understanding the customer includes understanding what they like in your offering, what they do, their tastes, what they think of your competition, how they use your services, brickbats and bouquets, etc. You have to start by tuning in to your customer’s voices and listening to the conversations around your services, your competition, etc. The more you listen, the more you learn.

2. Crowdsource Content

For a small business owner, creating engaging content around his/her product, services, value to customers every day may be challenging. This requires a lot of dedicated time and effort, not to mention creativity as well. A way to make this work easier is by focussing on ways to crowdsource content from your customers for your social media posts. Examples of such include - asking customers to post selfies, running a contest where customers can participate and the content generated could be used, posting testimonials written by customers, promoting relevant news and tips around your services, etc.

3. Channels and Platforms

To figure out the relevant channels and platforms, start with spending time to find out more about your target audience. What kind of social media content do they prefer and respond to, what are their likes and dislikes, etc. This will help you select the right platforms and channels to market your product. For example, if you are using facebook, you may want to create simple contests like creating one liners and offering discounts for the best one liners to engage your customers.


4. Adapt and Amplify

Creating compelling and useful content, designed to provide value to your target audience can go a long way to increase traffic and grow your business. But while you create content, keep adapting to new situations and events around your services. For example, adapt your blog articles to create nuggets of information which can become individual posts in your facebook plan. You can then use various social media outreach strategies to amplify them to your target audience

5. Analyze and iterate

Getting your social media marketing strategy right involves a lot of learning, adaptation, evolution and iterations. For every kind of post and promotional strategy, keep analyzing its outreach strategy for desired effectiveness, reach and impact. Based on your analysis, you may need to change either the type of posts, or promotion strategy or outreach methods or continue to do what you were doing .

You dont need to hire any agency or consultants to market your business on social media channels. All you need is to spend some quality time to plan and execute the strategies outlined to create your social media presence for your small business on a shoestring budget to your target audience.

[lmmanpower]

You should post some great content regarding your business in major social medias.And also try to get interaction with your fans and try to collect genuine fans in the social media like FB,Twitter and G+.

[JayPack]

You can also hire someone who is an expert on internet marketing. There are people with specialized knowledge of SEO, creating leads through the internet, and general marketing. You don't have to do it yourself, and if you have no experience with it, it may not even be worth your time if you can get someone who is more experienced with this type of thing. My personal suggestion is to hire a part-time or a contract hire to have someone boost your business online.

[JustinSkinner]

Well I tried finding the study I read that backs what I'm about to say up but no such luck...

I'm a social media marketer for business small and large, and I primarily focus on Instagram. It turns out that social media networks are one of the worst converting mediums for getting sales. Email converts at a full 40% higher than social networks, and that makes sense if you think about it. It's easy for someone to scroll through their news feed on their preferred network and simply scroll over your post, totally ignoring you.

But email is a different story. Most of us have smartphones by now, and we get notifications when we get an email, which makes it pretty hard to ignore. Email requires a specific action from the recipient. They have to deal with it, whether they simply delete it or open it up, something has to be done for that notification to disappear.

What we've done is develop a process for companies to take advantage of this while still utilizing social media, because even though Facebook and Instagram aren't great for converting cold sales, it's actually pretty easy to generate email leads if done correctly.

What you do is create a resource, and give it away in exchange for the email. So for example, if you were a nutrition company selling some protein bars of some sort, you could create a free resource such as "The 3 Best Ab Exercises" or "16 Quick & Easy Smoothie Recipes". Once people opted into your email list, you could have an autoresponder series that warms the lead up by building a relationship with them, educating them, or simply emailing promotions to them.

Just something for you to think about, i'm seeing many businesses having great success with this lately.

[webdesignphx]

I think Social Media Marketing is important these days no matter what type of business you have. People like to Google companies before they hire them. I would recommend hiring someone that is professional, it will be a minimal expense. It should make the amount of money you spend monthly on it back if they are doing it correctly. If they are not then drop them and get someone who will do it right. Should gain your company exposure, and help you rank better organically in search engines by drawing traffic to your URL.

Good luck with it!

[rtglover]

Social media is a good way to build relationships with potential clients. Nobody's gonna jump on Twitter to find a plumber, but if you connect with people in your area and show interest in the community, people will see you as the "neighborhood" plumber. So, when they do have a problem, you'll be the first to come to mind. Be about the community first, plumbing second.

[Blessed]

Yea just make sure it's completed. Add a photo, details on the "About" section, your web address, email address, phone number.. and include a cover photo. Have it linked to your website/site linked to the page. It bothers me when people "do" setup a FB or social media account but leave it bare. Makes me think this company is out of business.

And I'll add - make sure you post on it at least a few times a week.... once a day would be better! A dead Facebook Page makes the company look out of business too. Of all the forms of Social Media, Facebook would seem to have the most promise for actually turning contacts into clients. Post plumbing tips, recommended maintenance, funny plumbing videos, talk about sprinklers and what kind of faucet is best - just keep it short and sweet, with pictures.

[Blessed]

Social media is a good way to build relationships with potential clients. Nobody's gonna jump on Twitter to find a plumber, but if you connect with people in your area and show interest in the community, people will see you as the "neighborhood" plumber. So, when they do have a problem, you'll be the first to come to mind. Be about the community first, plumbing second.

Twitter is a cocktail party on steroids... but it can be amusing!
I agree though - not the place to find clients, but another good spot to build relationships with potential clients - favorite their tweets, retweet their tweets, post specials, be human, post pictures of the cool car you saw at the car show... it's social media, be social!

[Blessed]

I spent a lot of time getting likes and some money on FB ads. The ads are a waste of money. They don't market to the people you tell them to market to and just send you a message after a few days saying x thousand people saw my ad but with no corresponding rise in web traffic and the likes that come from it were people who should have no interest in my field. I don't believe a 13 year old girl on the east coast really cares about a firearms school in Colorado. I believe they have dummy accounts for the likes and just generate the report of how many people saw your ad out of thin air.

I disagree, unfortunately.
I've been running Facebook Ad Campaigns for a client over the past month and we've seen measurable increases in foot traffic, web traffic and "I heard about you from Facebook" referrals.

We don't love the Facebook ad platform, but it's a place where our market is, so we reach out to them there.

[Blessed]

You don't ever NEED social media. Treat it as a boost when you've got everything else in order.

You also don't NEED friends, love or coffee - but they sure make life better.
Social Media is a great way to add a personal touch to your business - it's a pain in the rear sometimes, and I spend way more time developing my clients accounts than I would like... but it's where our market is, so it's where we need to be too.

[Yoav]

I think Social Media Marketing is important these days no matter what type of business you have. People like to Google companies before they hire them.

That's exactly the point. creating an online business and not affiliating it with one or more social network is like opening a regular shop and forgetting to put on a sign that says what it is.
Better example: if you open a business on the main road it gets traffic.But consider your online shop as standing in the middle of the desert. and you need people to find you and then buy from you.
neglecting the social network will harm you now and can doom you in the future.
So i strongly recommend focusing on one or two and hiring a professional to maintain it.

[Sarah - Dufferin Media]

Social Media Marketing is what I do all day long, and I'm so excited to help my business clients expand their reach to the online audience to help them grow their business.
Ignoring social media in my opinion is very dangerous, because clients or potential clients are going to search for your business online whether you like it or not, and if you are not in control of what they see you could be harming your business in the end.
Examples of things I've seen:
Google+ listing the wrong hours or a fax number instead of a phone number
Facebook Business Page name taken by a competitor

[NeilS]

I also don't think you can ignore Social Media unless you really think people who would buy from you don't use it. Which I don't think is the case given your business.

I can imagine being in your position, it's difficult to do something others are suggesting without seeing actual evidence. So I would recommend you checkout your competitors on Twitter for example, and see what they talk about, the conversations they have and amount of time they spend on there. If they are spending time doing something, then you can be sure they're doing it because they value it.

Another idea is to play the "I'm new to this industry, can I have some advice please" and speak directly to one of the more established competitors.

[JonV6]

Selling services through social media can be more difficult then selling products, there's no doubt about that. However, as a (I'm guessing) small local contractor a lot can be said for the power of social media. If you can get exposure to a local audience through it you can build a local customer base. Post regular updates about what you are up to and anything you are doing that would appeal to a local audience. Also maybe try outreaching to local groups on Facebook to get attention that way. You could also trying running an offer via Facebook.

[ryantc]

A great beginners guide to social media: Social Media: The Free Beginner's Guide from Moz (http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media). Overview, best practices, social media networks, etc.

[ChineseHerbs]

I like to use forums. I make good connection and honest kind of marketing with conversation. People see my comments all the time. I am Chinese Herbs distributor and when people need to learn about health they can learn from us in the forums. Now I join this business forum to learn how to promotion and gain new customers. I will not recommend my own website because I just join this forum and do not want to be spam. But soon I will have a signature that links to functional website. You can do the same and always when people come to this forum in future years they still find your helpful advice about product that interesting to them. Best wishes

[zetajenn]

As a customer, no matter the business I like to check out people before I do business with them, whether it be website or facebook. Also, in this day & age I would google "plumber in my area" before I'd even think about cracking open a phone book. So if you don't have a website, it is imperative that you have a facebook page or some sort of online presence so that people can find you online. Now if you don't have the time to spend online posting pictures or making announcements, you can now link your accounts so if you post on instagram, it will also post to twitter, and so forth. You can also schedule future posts which is what I love. When we are in our busy seasons is when I need the posts to go out but have the least time to do it so for instance in my situation we grow strawberries on our farm and our busy season is March-May. So in February or on weekends when I'm not busy I start working on things to post at my most popular times of day (facebook will report to you when the most people see your posts). I go ahead and schedule picture posts, recipes, and farm facts to keep us present online in people's minds when I know I won't have time to do it when it actually needs to go out. The scheduling ahead feature was genius!

With plumbing I know you don't have cute pics of kids picking strawberries like we do but you can post a picture of a job you feel is well done and talk about it. People like to see what they're getting they like to see that it is a real person they are dealing with. Or just schedule announcements, come up with cute sayings, post plumbing facts, anything to get your name out there. Join your chamber of commerce and use the resources they offer as well!

[MattPel]

I like Gary Vaynerchuck's view on how to do social media marketing the most. Basically, you need to provide good and continuous value to your community before asking for something in return. (i.e. buy my stuff)

[IrekJanek]

I love this thread, thanks haggytree, if you still listening. He left the conversation about a year ago but his thread got a life of its own and still kicking.
haggytree if you are listening, tell us what you did about the social media and how it worked for you, thanks.

[MKarp]

It really depends on what you're doing.

If your ideal clients and customers are hanging out on social media, then you should promote there.

But, you've got to test it out and see if your time might be better spent elsewhere. Social media is simply a tool to get your business in front of people's eyes and to connect with those people.

If that's something that your business will benefit from, by all means, use social media to help it grow. There's also tons of resources to help you out. I would check out Social Media Examiner (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/).

[DigiWizi]

First off, the social media platform you choose depends on your niche and your end goal. Are you attempting to gain conversions in the form of sales, build brand recognition or would you prefer to maintain relationships?

A lawyer may have better luck trying to build a practice on a site like LinkedIn while a pet groomer may work viral magic on Facebook with cat photos. If the Lawyer attempted Facebook though, he/she would find themselves struggling to find good, engaging content.

If that very same lawyer wanted to use Facebook then they would probably use it to keep close to existing clients, previous clients and connect to referrals rather than to expect new lead/conversion generation. Does that make sense? Cat photos are cute and funny, the target demographic of facebook is generally very personal and family oriented so these things are neutral to everyone they are shared with. LinkedIn is far more business-centric and someone like a corporate lawyer would probably find that vertical extremely powerful.

Long and short, understand your audience and understand your niche. Once you do that, research your demographic and your goals with said demographic.