Five Reasons Your Business Should Embrace Social Media

If you’re a door installer and aren’t utilising social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, it’s time to think about the value they could add to your business. The fenestration industry is fiercely competitive and as more and more businesses embrace a digital future, investing the time to learn more about social media could help you stand out amongst your competitors and generate a lot of extra trade in the process.

If you don’t consider yourself tech-savvy or the concept of social media is completely alien to you, there’s no need to worry. Learning how to set up and use these platforms is a relatively simple process that we’ll be covering in our handy guide to social media, part one of which you’re reading now.

For those of you still wondering if social media is worth your time, let’s jump straight in with the most important part: the benefits that social media can add to your business.

1. Social media helps you connect with new customers

One of the biggest benefits social media can offer to your business is instant exposure to customers that you normally wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise. If your business is already performing well with inbound sales calls, think about how much better it could perform with a new strategy aligned with social media. There’s a new generation of customers who would rather visit Google or Facebook than pick up a copy of the Yellow Pages.

Social media sites are used by more than two thirds of internet users and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the three most popular social networking sites in the UK. You can use sites like these to promote your services for free and make sure your business is easily reachable. Your social media pages act as a digital storefront for your business. You don’t need to be active on every platform, but make sure you’re on at least one!

 

2. Social media helps you to build your business’s brand

Social media is a fantastic way of communicating the most important values of your business through clear and consistent messaging that enforces your brand. If your business prides itself on the quality of its customer service, use social media instantly respond to customer enquiries and demonstrate your responsiveness. Alternatively, use it as a platform to build a bank of positive reviews that can be shared to generate new leads.

If your business prides itself on the expertise and friendliness of your team, use social media to share pictures of newly-installed doors alongside happy customers, or post industry opinion editorials on professional platforms like LinkedIn to position your staff as thought leaders.

Have a clear vision for the direction of your brand and use social media as a way to emphasise the elements of your business that you’re most proud of.

 

3. Social media grows word of mouth

When customers are impressed with the quality of the products or service they receive, it’s only natural that most of them will want to say thank you. The easiest way for them to share their praise is usually by reviewing your business on social media, whether that’s Facebook or Google Business. If you haven’t done so already, setting up a Google Business page for your installation business is one of the most important things you can do, as it’s the first thing that will appear when people Google your business.

One of the first things that customers do before deciding on a new product or service is look at online reviews for the business offering them. It’s only natural that people want to buy from businesses that they can trust. Having your business visible on Google Business and Facebook is an easy way to ensure your customers can leave reviews which will help spread positive word of mouth about your business.

 

4. Social media helps you grow long-lasting relationships with customers

The instantaneous and conversational nature of social media is perfect for businesses that take great pride in the quality of their customer service as platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide plenty of opportunities to create long-lasting relationships with customers.

Being active on social media, from sharing the latest customer reviews, newest products and installation techniques for customers seeking a supply-only service, is a great way to encourage constant dialogue with your customers, which will increase the chances of your business popping up in other people’s social media feeds.

 

5. Social media allows you to keep track on the latest industry developments

Social media is a fantastic way to keep up to date with the latest fenestration news and developments by following leading trade publications such as Glass Times, Windows Active and GGP etc.

You can also follow suppliers to be updated when they release new products or hold competitions. Following these pages and accounts will often give you new ideas for content that you can post off your own pages.

 

Whilst the process of setting up your business on social media may seem slightly daunting for business owners who don’t have much online experience, the process is relatively simple.

One of the most important things you’ll need to consider is which social media platforms are best for your business. Keeping up-to-date with multiple accounts can be quite time intensive so most door installers prefer to choose one (usually Facebook as it’s the largest) and stick with it.

Part two of the Hurst social media guide for installers will give you a run-through of the different social media platforms are out there and help you to decide which platforms are best for your business, whether that’s LinkedIn and Twitter or Facebook and Instagram.