#CustomerService - Know Your Niche & How You Serve

You spend a lot of time thinking about the products and services you offer and the customers you sell them to. But does your overall strategy have a strong focus? Are you trying to reach anyone and everyone or are you targeting a specific segment? It’s an important question because not even the biggest companies can be all things to all people. To be successful, you need to identify your niche and develop a strategy for serving it.

Before you can acquire a new customer, you must attract his or her attention. That means you need to know who your real customers are and what is important to them. But how do you go about that? Here are five ways you can learn more about your niche and the best way to serve it.

Talk to existing customers: Your customers are your best source for information on what makes them buy and what (and who) influences their decisions. The customers with whom you have established relationships want you to succeed. That means they’ll be happy to talk with you about what makes them tick.

Look at your competitors: If you are the top business in your niche find a competitor who is closing in fast and see what they are doing right. If you aren’t number one, take a look at who is. Your goal isn’t to duplicate their strategies, but to glean what works and what doesn’t.

Read reviews: Even if you don’t sell online, your customers may be posting online. What are they saying? Are you responding to reviews about you? These people want to talk, and they are a great source for learning more about your customers.

Participate in social media groups: There are hundreds (dare we say thousands) of special interest groups who spend time online talking about issues important to your market. Find them, join them, and become an active member. Groups can provide you with access to valuable information about your customers, your markets, and your competitors.

Look at keywords: Social marketers use keyword research to discover what terms people search for most often. Even if you don’t buy online advertising, you can use keyword research to see what customers are looking for when they go online. That can help you narrow down the features that are most important. 

With so much chatter, competition, and advertising out there today, it can be difficult to get your target market to hear your message. That’s why it’s important to understand what they are looking for. If you do your homework, you’ll be able to cut through the clutter and connect with your customer base.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#ShareTheLove - Does Your Audience Know How You Serve Them?

Growing a following on social media is usually a big goal for businesses. Business owners spend a lot of time and money creating social media accounts that look good, showcase their brands, and (hopefully) keep growing a following.  

In order to keep your audience, you need to make sure you’re serving them in a way that makes them feel valued.  So how do you better serve your audience? Here are some tips.

Know Your Audience

The best way to serve your audience is to have a good understanding of who they are. Start basic, with things like occupations, interests, and hobbies. Then think about your audience in terms of how they interact with your business. Why are they a follower of your profile? What does your business offer them that they need? What can you share that would get them excited?

If you’ve done your homework and know who your ideal customer is, this part should be easy!

Share Content that Nurtures Them

Once you know WHO you’re serving, you can make sure the content you’re sharing is something they’ll love. There are lots of ways to do this! You could share a news article with important industry-related updates. Or, you could offer free resources and helpful tips they can use in their lives or businesses. Think about WHO you’re serving, and then WHAT these people would value. That’s what you should be sharing.

Connect with Them

It’s not enough to just schedule content anymore. You need to connect with your audience! Consider hopping on a live video and chatting with your followers. Host a Q&A on your page so you can answer their questions. These are great ways to form connections.

Be Responsive

When people post comments, tag you in posts, or send messages, make sure you are responding. This is especially important if someone is asking you a question. If you have a system for monitoring tags, comments and questions, your audience will feel like you are engaged and that you care about them.

See What’s Working

It’s not enough to post things you think your audience will love. You need to take the extra step to monitor engagement after you post. If engagement is high when you post helpful tips, for example, that means your audience likes that kind of content, and you should be creating more of it. Listening to your audience and sharing more of what they love is one of the best ways to make them feel valued.

If you respect your audience and show them that you value their engagement with your social profiles, they’ll want to stick around. Using these tips will help you maintain a loyal following that will ultimately turn into loyal customers.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#KindnessIsAwesome - Being a Brand Advocate for Your Audience

In 1974, Elvis Costello sang so brilliantly “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and, Understanding.”  This song is quite timely right now when it seems like our social media feeds are often consumed with negativity.

This is exactly why #SociallyKind Project has been developed to encourage awareness about spreading kindness through social media. 

As a business owner, leading by example is a great way to encourage kindness in social media feeds. This is also a great opportunity to be a brand advocate for your audience and spread a little kindness.

Don’t feed into negative behaviors online

Take a moment and look at your social media accounts.  How many of these posts from friends and family members set your blood pressure boiling?  Are they posting political issues or depressing and controversial stories that add to the environment of negativity? You can’t control the behaviors of others, but you can set an example by not feeding into the negativity you see. YOU control your social media feeds. Utilize all the privacy options and settings available to you to train the algorithm to display things you are interested in (and not show you all the garbage that you aren't). And while you’re at it, why not share something positive on your profile to add a little kindness in the newsfeeds of your friends and family?

How can you use social media to spread kindness? 

This is such an easy way to share kindness on your social media: follow your business connections online to create a network of linked businesses.  Even more importantly, pay attention to what they are posting about.  Just like in everyday conversations, if you pay attention to what other people are talking about and show an interest, then you are showing them kindness and courtesy.  If you know that an associate is interested in environmental issues and “going green,” for instance, you can post articles and stories that may appeal to that associate to help build a friendship and online connection with your brand.

Show them how it's done

If you want your audience to spend time getting to know, like and trust you by liking, commenting and sharing your content - then show them how to do that. Interact and engage with them in social media. People  feel a need to reciprocate and may not understand how social algorithms work. If you want them to see more of your content, they need to engage with your stuff. If you want them to like your posts, start liking theirs first. Set aside time each day to go through your feed(s) and engage with your clients, power partners, influencers and leads. This will teach your followers, by example, and convert them from lurkers to online brand advocates.

Ultimately, when you are being a brand advocate on social media, stick to the idea of being authentic and original.  If you do that, and show a legitimate interest in your connections and their areas of concentrations, then you are going to create a real conversation and emphasize kindness in your work. Just another great way to #BeAwesome with your online presence. 

Have you been thinking about incorporating social media strategy into your marketing for 2018 but don't know where to start? Set up a FREE 15-min discovery phone call with me to talk about where your social could go next year.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars