Navigating the maze of social media

Facebook, Twitter, and others…so many choices! We hear over and over how social media can supplement an electronic marketing strategy, but can they work effectively for home contractors?

I recently wrote about developing a strong email list of past, present and prospective clients and sending them a newsy, informative newsletter from time to time. That’s pretty basic marketing,

Overwhelmed with social media choices?
Focus on Facebook, then consider the others later

much like sending out flyers by mail back in the old days. Now it’s time to move into the 21st century and develop your communications further.

Your best first move is to filter your choices.

First stop is Facebook. You know about it, you might even have your own personal Facebook page. Or maybe you hate Facebook and don’t want to have anything to do with it. Here’s the thing: You have to think like your customers. They like Facebook! In fact, recent figures indicate that over 1.4 billion people are using Facebook! What’s more, studies confirm that Facebook is a great way to get referrals, second only to word-of-mouth

Setting up a Facebook page for your business is simple. Finding people to look at it involves telling everyone you’re there. That starts with your golden mailing list and continues by putting the Facebook logo on everything you send out. It builds from there.

The consumer speaks; word-of-mouth first, Facebook second

Are other social media worth the trouble?

Twitter, Linked-in and Google+ fall well behind in both marketing power and reach, plus will consume a lot of your time attempting to make an impact. Twitter is a popular, but with only 140 characters to each post, your message is very limited in length and life. Consider this:

The life-expectancy of a Facebook post is one day
The life-expectancy of a Twitter post is about two hours.

F-f-f-fade away!
Why the short life? It’s all about volume. All posts over time slide down the screen of your prospective customer. No one likes to scroll down very far. Therefore, making an impact on Twitter means you have to be posting more than once a day or you will get lost and forgotten.

What content is appropriate?
Your Facebook posts need to be interesting and include pictures of your projects, either complete or in process, and perhaps links to articles you’ve come across in other media. Do some basic research. Houzz is a great site to learn what people enjoy looking at and what they say about various elements in a house or interior design. Use this to direct your own content for your Facebook page, Twitter, and your website. Think like a customer, not like a seller! Be prepared to be surprised.

When is the best time to post?
The day of the week and hour of the day you look at Facebook or Twitter may not be the same as your customers. As a busy contractor, the best time to reach you through social media might be early in the morning before work starts, lunchtime, and again it in the evening.

However, studies suggest the highest ‘click-through’ rates on Facebook are between 1pm and 4pm, with Wednesday being the highest day of all.

For Twitter, it’s Monday to Thursday between 9am and 3pm.
(Yup, they’re supposed to be working, but there you go!)

The worst time to post? Weekends!

How can one post to Facebook or Twitter during these times? Use one of the many scheduling applications like Hootsuite (available for free). You can compose your posts anytime and then pick the time for posting. It’s automatic!

And what about ‘old-fashioned’ email?
Studies indicate that close to 25% of emails are opened within the first hour, so the key to being read at the start of each day is to be at the top of the inbox at the start of each day. Simple! Send (or schedule) your emails between 6am and 8:30am. And don’t ignore weekends. If you are dealing with a personal email address, remember that your recipient may have more time on the weekends to catch up with emails than during the week when they are at work.

The key ingredient that social media adds to your marketing mix is immediacy. Emails can sit in the inbox until opened. Facebook and Twitter posts disappear and may never get read unless your timing is right.

follow John on Twitter 

@john_bleasby