How to use Social Media to Grow Traffic and Sales
Published: 09th March 2020
In the first part of our Hurst social media blog guide, we explained what door installers have to gain by making their business visible on social media platforms. That doesn’t mean you need to rush out and set up your business on as many different platforms as possible, though. It’s important to take the time to understand the individual benefits of each platform and how these will help you reach customers.
More importantly, you need to consider where your ideal customers are spending their time online. This will help make sure the effort you put into creating and managing your social media accounts – which will include everything from directly engaging with customers to regularly posting content – is worth the time investment.
In this blog post, we’ll run through four of the most popular platforms and some of the ways they can be used to help you reach new customers and grow your sales.
Google My Business
Technically, this isn’t a social media platform, but setting up a Google My Business page is one of the easiest ways to make your business more discoverable on Google for customers searching for your business or their nearest door installer.
Google My Business is free and simple to use. Once you’ve registered and verified your business you’ll be able to create your own business profile, which you can update with the most important information about your business, from your contact details and opening hours to any unique selling points.
This means whenever people search for your business directly on Google, your Google My Business profile will pop up at the top of the page.
Customers will also be able to leave you reviews and share photos, which you can respond to and acknowledge using your Google My Business profile. Think of this as the online version of the Yellow Pages for your business.
Great for:
- Making your business easily discoverable on Google
- Listing your key contact information
- Easily generating customer enquiries
Create your own profile by…
Visiting this link and following the step-by-step guide: Google My Business
Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms and many of your customers will use Facebook as their primary way of searching for news, products and businesses.
Everybody’s Facebook timeline is different depending on what you follow, but many people’s timelines will show when their friends have commented on a post or liked other pages.
That means if you have a Facebook business page and you’re interacting with your customers, there’s a good chance that your post will appear in your customer’s friends’ timelines, organically increasing the visibility of your business with very little effort.
Make sure you’re posting regular updates to engage with your customers. These updates could reference new product launches and any discounts or deals, or you could take photos of newly installed doors and share these to showcase your product range.
Setting up a Facebook business page is a straightforward process that only requires a Facebook profile. It’s free to use but you can take advantage of other additional features such as paid advertising, which can target very specific demographics with adverts.
Great for:
- Tapping into a network of new customers
- Posting regular updates on your business
- Taking control of your own paid marketing
Create your own profile by…
Visiting this link and following the step-by-step guide.
Twitter is unique in the sense that updates posted on the platform are limited to 280 characters or less. There are six main parts to setting up a Twitter profile: you’ll need to create a Twitter handle and username (usually your business name), a profile picture, bio (business description), header image and a tweet to pin to the top of your profile.
One of the best things about Twitter is it gives you instant access to what’s happening in your industry, allowing you keep up-to-date with the latest news, product releases and trends. You do this by following other accounts and once you’ve followed these, their updates will occasionally appear on your timeline. Make sure this is one of the first things you do when you set up a profile.
The short character count and instantaneous nature of Twitter means it’s a fantastic social media platform for quickly dealing with customer enquiries. It’s also a great way of building your business’s reputation amongst the most commonly read installer and fenestration magazines by regularly posting updates.
Follow and interact with local businesses where appropriate to raise awareness of the products you’re able to offer. You never know when somebody will need a new door and it always helps if your business is the first name that springs to mind.
Great for:
- Fast and efficient communications with customers
- Making sure you never miss the latest industry news
- Maintaining relationships with important industry contacts
Create your own profile by…
There’s no difference between a business profile and a normal profile on Twitter, so just click this link and follow the instructions to create your own Twitter account.
Creating an account on Instagram is free and just as simple to set-up as it is on other social media platforms, the only difference is that all of the posts are accompanied by images or video content. This makes Instagram perfect for business owners that consider themselves to have more of a creative streak, or if you have lots of images from customers you can share – just make sure you get their permission first.
Once you’ve created an account, you’re ready to start sharing images and photos. You can accompany these with captions and hashtags, which will make your posts discoverable by people all over the world. Some of the most popular door hashtags on Instagram are:
#door #doors #doorsandwindows #architecture #doorsofinstagram #design #porte #interiordesign #home #window #porta #travel #interior #house #homedecor #windows #doorsoftheworld #puerta #love #doorlovers #doorlove
One of the biggest benefits of having a business profile set up on Instagram is it means your customers can tag you in their posts, which will instantly direct followers to your own business profile. Once you’ve installed a lovely new composite or PVC-U door, your customers can utilise their own photography or video skills to showcase it for you to all of their followers.
Be sure to like and comment on any photos you’re tagged in and make a habit of taking photos (or encouraging staff to take photos) of any doors you install yourself. Make sure the quality of any photos you take is consistent as this will help maintain the professionalism of your brand.
Great for:
- Creative businesses who want to showcase their products
- Tapping into hashtags to reach new customers
- Following other installers for new product ideas
Create your own profile by…
Clicking this sign-up link here and following the instructions.
Consider the benefits of each social media platform carefully and remember that the more social media accounts you have for your business, the more of your time it will take to manage.
We hope this two-part guide has been useful. If you’re a Hurst trade partner, remember that many of the marketing materials on the Hurst website (such as brochures) can be shared on your own social media feeds to showcase your product offering.
