Customer Engagement today has become more important than ever, check out 3 easy tactics that can help you in driving high-value engagement by Darcy Bicham from SOCi
If your local social media marketing efforts are falling flat or you are not getting the engagement your business needs there may be some actions you can take now to turn them around. In today’s fast-paced digital world, high-valued engagement is hard to come by, but it’s not impossible. All the following tactics are easy to implement, and the effort you put into them will pay off with new leads and sales
Increase Number of Locations Posting on Social
Ideally, your multi-location business should strive to have 100 percent of your business locations posting on both Facebook and Google My Business (GMB). If all your business locations are posting locally on social media, you increase your opportunities for high-valued engagement.
Similarly, consumers will recognize that your business is taking the time and effort to engage locally and often return the favor with high-valued engagement.
Data from the 3rd Annual Localized Marketing Benchmark Report found that many marketers miss the localized social mark when it comes to the number of their locations posting on social. An average of 49 percent of business locations post on Facebook, while only 17 percent turn to Google My Business (GMB) for posts. Both numbers have significant room for improvement.
If getting all locations on a posting schedule is not feasible, you should at least be meeting that industry average while striving to get as many sites posting as possible. Try working within groups of locations or make a goal to add locations over time to make the task less daunting. Finding social media and content management systems to fit your strategy and size is key for businesses looking to scale.
Invest In Reputation Management
Today, reviews are the top factor consumers consider when making a purchase decision. If your business can increase the number of reviews you receive, you can likely increase your high valued engagement and ultimately drive more sales. Your business is likely receiving ratings and reviews on Facebook and GMB, but what are you doing with them? Is there room for you to increase your volume of reviews as well? On average, multi-location businesses only receive four new reviews on GMB a month and less than one recent review on Facebook.
While you should never ask for reviews outright, your business can gain genuine reviews. Consider the following:
- Make it easy for consumers to leave reviews by sharing links to review sites on your website or social media.
- Add a review option on surveys or other digital interactions with consumers.
- Use events as an opportunity for consumers to leave reviews. Provide a tablet or QR code to capture customers in the moment.
- Ask for reviews from consumers without incentivizing them. Add a CTA on receipts or other printouts for consumers to leave a review.
Once you increase the number of reviews your business receives, ensure you respond to them in a timely and personalized manner. Currently, companies are responding to reviews on Facebook in an average of 93 days and on GMB in 41 days. This response time is way too high. Your business should aim to acknowledge ratings and reviews as quickly as possible. When consumers see your business is taking the time to reply to reviews, they will remember your business when it comes time to make a purchase. This means responding to both positive and negative reviews.
Test More Localized Content
Finally, businesses can drive high-valued engagement through localized content If your multi-location business is posting corporate-level social content consistently, you could be missing out on the opportunity to build a – Consumers crave a local connection more than ever before, and localized content satisfies this need.
To fully harness the power of posting, businesses should have all local social pages claimed. After claiming your local pages, your multi-location business should start thinking about how you can interact with your consumers through localized content.
The way you address your target audience in a small town in Kansas might differ from how you speak to an audience in New York City. Similarly, there may be location-specific events or newsworthy things going on in specific locations that your business can address. Your messaging must align with your consumer base. You can share various types of local level content, including:
- Special promotions or discounts that are happening at your business location.
- Positive customer reviews from local consumers. User-generated content can go a long way
- Pictures of live or virtual events happening at your local store.
- Current events that are happening in your local area. Is there a snowstorm headed your way? Did your city’s sports team win a big game?
- Ways your local business is giving back to the community. Are you hosting a supply drive for the local school? Are your employees volunteering at a local food bank?
Increasing the volume of localized content your business locations post will drive engagement. Consumers will be more likely to interact with localized content relevant to them rather than generic corporate content. Not to say that your multi-location business should never post corporate content, but there should be a balance between the two.
If your business follows all the tactics covered above, you should start seeing improvement in high-value engagement. If your multi-location business wants to distinguish itself from its competitors and lead the industry in sales, a solid local social presence and reputation management strategy are critical.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darcy Bicham
Darcy Bickham is a graduate from Texas A&M University and has worked in education related fields for the past four years. Over the years she has developed experience writing on a variety of topics including business, local politics, transportation, and both primary and higher education.