Competition for your customers’ attention on Facebook is pretty fierce. Not only are you competing with other brands, you are also competing with their friends for space on the newsfeed. In our conversations with dealers, this is often something we talk about so that we can encourage more personal content from the store. As you know, we take care of 15-20 posts for you on social media, but any page would benefit from more personal posts from the store! The number one hesitation that we hear is dealers know they should, but they don’t have enough time. Well, we’re going to make it easy for you! You don’t have to post anything if you don’t want to, just send pictures with a sentence of what’s going on in the picture to your Marketing Specialist, and they will take care of it for you! Below is a simple checklist of things that would be great to post, you can print this out and keep it hanging in your store so it’s always top of mind.
Text tip: Did you know that if you take a picture with your cell phone you can email it from a text message? Simply create a new text message, attach the photo, and instead of putting a phone number in the To: line, you can put an email address! This is an easy way to stay connected with your Marketing Specialist and keep them up to date with what’s going on in the store.
Sending a few of these a month will help take your Facebook page to the next level! While some of the post suggestions may seem a little vague, here are specific ideas that could go along with each:
1. Make an effort for customers to become aware of sales/products going on in your store to encourage them to come in and shop
a. Product Testimonials – share success stories with your Facebook followers. If you have a customer who used products from your store and give you a raving review – post it on social media! Ask the customer to give a small testimonial or take a picture and email it to you so that you can post it. Customers frequently have similar questions or are looking for similar products each season, this is a great way to promote products in a non-sales way.
b. Sale displays – If you have a sale display set up in the store, take a picture of it and post it on Facebook! This helps bring awareness to the sale and helps drive traffic.c. New products/inventory – Take pictures of new products/inventory you are bringing in to keep customers in the loop and share some exclusive content for fans!
2. Support the community that your store is in
a. Local fundraisers – Have you helped to support any local fundraisers? Continue your support and create more awareness for the fundraiser by talking about/posting pictures on social media.
b. In-store events – If you are setting up for an in-store event, take a picture of the staff hard at work and post the picture to Facebook! Make sure to include a little post with the photo about the event to get the customers excited! Take a few pictures during the event and post them the following day to thank customers for attending.
c. Community involvement – Congratulating local business! Ex: “Congratulations Lindy’s Ice Cream Shop for 30 years of business”
d. Is there anything unique going on in the area? A Farmers market or a fundraiser for the local football team? If so, bring awareness to these to show you are involved with your local community.
3. Product driven post – Is there a huge storm coming? If so, advertise products that will help customers prepare for it. Post a picture of the products to go along with the post.
4. Give your customers an opportunity to connect with your staff. One of the (many) advantages that local businesses have over big box stores is their amazing staff! Customers will drive further to get to your store because they feel comfortable with the staff, know they can ask any questions, and benefit from the personal touch only a local business can provide. For those same reasons, you should be posting about your staff on social media!
a. Introduce your new staff – any time you make a new hire, post a picture and short bio on Facebook so your customers know the new face before they come in!
b. Regular photos of staff in the store – Take pictures of employees in action: Stocking shelves or setting up displays, etc.
c. Staff announcements outside of work – If one of your employees welcomes a new baby to the family, post a picture and share a brief post. Post pictures of your four legged friend to share with your followers, etc.
5. In-store photos of customers – this one may not come up as often as the others, but it still makes for a great post! Something like “Starting off this Monday morning with Bryan, who has been a loyal customer for 20 years! Thanks Bryan!! It’s going to be a great week!” with a photo of “Bryan” at the register would be a great post and creates an opportunity to recognize your customers.
The good news is, we are constantly posting on your Facebook page without any of the above content. But adding personal content from the store would definitely help your Facebook page stand out, especially if your competition isn’t doing these things! As always, if you need help, reach out to your Marketing Specialist for ideas!