Relationship marketing is a fancy way of saying building strong relationships with your customers. And you’re probably already doing it every day.
Before we jump into the marketing piece, I want to stress that you’re not required to have a deep relationship to do business with your customers, but this form of marketing has stood the test of time and proven to be most rewarding. If you focus on personalized and engaging interactions, and not on the sale, the business and relationship will come naturally.
As a service provider, your customers want to get to know the person behind your business. They need to trust you. If they don’t, you have no chance for a deeper connection. So, how do we build trust? Enter your online presence and empathy.
People come to your social media profiles and immediately begin forming an opinion about you and your business. Are you happy with what they’ll find?
Everything from your profile photo, tone of voice, choice of words, and content will help them determine whether they like, respect, and relate to you. This is where empathy comes in. They want to know you’ve walked in their shoes, understand their needs, and will successfully help them accomplish their goals. If they decide to contact you, they already feel a connection to you.
Now the relationship building begins. Loyal customers are often your primary source of referrals and are likely to make repeat purchases. Much of your content should help your audience get more from your services. But posting is just the beginning of the conversation.
The engagement that comes along with it takes the awareness to a relationship level and if you supply your customers with truly valuable content regularly, they’ll develop a natural interest in your business.
Please share this post with any service provider who will benefit from the message.
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
A recent study by real estate website The Close found agents get 44% of their leads from posting on social media surpassing cold calling, buying leads, online advertising, and print advertising by at least 10%-30%. Which proves that posting on social media drives business if you’re consistent.
But If you’re spending most of your valuable time posting and hoping the social media Gods will grow your personal brand for you, you’re missing a critical element of growth, engagement. Your followers make a conscious decision to support your work, and you need to deepen that relationship by engaging them.
Think of posting as the beginning of a conversation.
When you use social media for business, you’re campaigning for trust and credibility with your audience. Your posts grab their attention and once you have it, that’s when the actual work begins. Now you have to keep them.
Basic engagement heightens brand awareness, but conversations build relationships. A more meaningful connection with your audience means you’ll stay top of their mind. If you’re like me, you want connections you interact with, not a collection of people to beef up your follower count. Less is more here. More followers affect people’s perception when they view your account, but that’s about it.
The Psychology:
Most conversations happen in the comments and direct messages.
Have you ever seen posts turn into a chat room? Those conversations are marketing gold for these reasons:
Inspiration for your content.
Meet and learn from new people.
People feel more connected to you and your business.
Discover questions you can answer and share your expertise.
When you build your reputation for frequent participation and enriching the community, people will take note and visit your profile. From there, it’s on to your other social platforms and website. The best part is you don’t have to sell yourself. Your thoughtful engagement will lead the way.
The Methodology:
Time block 30-60 minutes per day to respond and leave thoughtful comments on yours and other people’s posts. Approach this concept with a “how can I help” rather than “what can I get” mindset.
When you gain a new follower, check out their profile. Look for commonalities and conversation starters and send a message thanking them for following. This small touch shows you care and sets the tone for the relationship in the future.
Use social media to network, meet new people, and deepen relationships with your audience. Your goal is eventually moving that relationship offline and into coffee shops and other personal settings.
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
I’ve had a lot of real estate agent clients ask me if and how they should continue marketing their business during the global crisis.
The answer is yes. Continue to market your business, but your messaging and tone should change. We need to be sensitive to the times we’re in and meet our customers where they are.
But how do you know where they are? Pay attention to current events and what your customers are saying. Social media is buzzing with your customers sentiments. If you are in touch and tuned in, then you will have all of the information you need to succeed.
Refer to a traditional buyer’s journey for guidance. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this journey, it comprises a few stages. The first is awareness, the buyer becomes aware they have a problem. Second is a consideration, they look for a solution to their problem. And, the final stage is a decision, they are ready to purchase a solution.
Here’s what it looks like applying this journey to the global crisis:
Stage one – panic and uncertainty. Your messaging will be sympathetic. You will craft posts to help put people at ease. Whether it’s about food, working from home, hygiene, or how your industry is adapting to uncertain times.
Stage two – Finding balance working from home, homeschooling, productivity concerns, or curbside pickup for just about everything. Put adaptation in motion.
Stage three – Most people have adjusted to change and now want to know how they will ease back into civilian life. What will dining out look like? How will they buy and sell real estate or experience other in-person service-oriented industries? The future of schooling? Travel?
If you create content relevant to your customer and MEET them in the stage they’re in, you will lead with empathy and become a resource for inspirational and valuable information.
I feel the best thing any small business owner or real estate agent can do now is pick up the phone and just be a friend to their database. Ask them how they are doing. If they want to talk shop, share information that will benefit them.
For example, at the time of writing, mortgage rates are hovering around 3%, now is a good time to refinance their mortgage and reduce their monthly payment amount.
Please share this post with anyone you know in need of marketing guidance. Be well!
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
The holiday season is upon us, and that means you are probably buying someone in your life a gift. If that particular person is a small business owner, I recommend getting them something practical.
Small business owners wear many hats. We plan. Create. Post. Order. Sell. Design. Call. Email. Network. Provide customer support. And occasionally sleep. We don’t need more stuff. We need tools to help make our life easier.
I compiled a list of some life-changing items that help me function more efficiently as a business owner.
Every business has a story. But do they know how to tell it so customers will listen? Most companies intuitively make their story about them, but Donald delivers an easy to digest approach to making it about your customers. Essential reading.
I received this book as a gift last Christmas. It took me six months to pick it up (I was already reading two books at the time). If I had known how engaging and insightful it is before reading, I would have put down the other two books.
Ann has a way of speaking to you through her writing that makes you feel like you’re buddies from college. She simplifies the process of writing, anything. The chapters are short and packed with actionable items to take your content marketing from stagnant to stellar.
Read it. Practice. Become ridiculously good at marketing.
If you write anything online, the Hemingway app will be your new best friend. If you struggle with grammar, sentence structure, formatting, active and passive voice, or boring writing, You will love this editor!
Adobe Spark Post– Monthly subscription $9.99/month – Spark Post is an easy to use social media graphic, video, and single web page creation tool. They offer a free two-week trial so that you can check it out yourself. There are no long-term contracts.
What I love most about this tool is the ability to batch produce images or videos for sharing on social media. A mobile app is available, but I prefer the desktop version. The choice is yours.
We live in a mobile-first world, and if you are recording videos for your business, you probably use your phone. This lapel mic plugs into the microphone jack on your phone and makes your videos sound professional. If you have an iPhone 7 or newer, you’ll need an adapter for the headphone jack.
I picked up this one up for $11.00 on Amazon. Your total investment for the mic and adapter is $23.00.
Sticker Mule creates high-quality products and their customer service rocks! Orders typically ship within four days, for free. You can order samples to see what your finished product looks like before placing a large order.
Creative branding is everything and makes a lasting first impression.
I recently discovered this backpack while searching for a for a better fitting bag for my laptop. If you are tired of having your work bag hanging to one side and pulling on your shoulders, here is your solution.
This stylish bag hugs your body and has numerous sections and compartments. Did I mention it’s only $17.99?
This book series will change your business approach. Every business owner should read it and heed the message. What’s the message? If we shift our focus from getting to giving, consistently add value, and focus on relationships, we will thrive as business owners.
The story is powerful. The message is simple. You already possess the necessary tools. Now, Go Give.
I recommend reading the Go-Giver first and then Go-Givers Sell More. Want more? Check out The Go-Giver Leader and Influencer (not pictured).
If you could change the life of another person and help them succeed in business for under $30.00 wouldn’t that be the best gift ever?
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
Facebook ads are some of the most targeted forms of advertising your money can buy online. But before you spend your hard- earned money, there are a few things you should know about social advertising and choosing the right objective.
Almost every day someone asks me what the difference is between boosting a post and creating an ad through the Ads Manager. Some people don’t even know the Ads Manager exists.
Below I will explain the difference. We will walk through the essential elements of an ad and the best practices to make yours remarkable.
Every Facebook page admin or business owner should take a class on digital advertising before embarking on their first campaign.
Let me explain.
The Ads Manager is a sophisticated tool, and if you are new to using it, you can get lost very quickly. Having someone with experience guide you through it and the essential elements of an ad are well worth your time and money.
Facebook makes it very easy for you to click buttons and spend money. I want you to have an informed approach, so you don’t waste yours!
We’ll get to those essential elements in a minute.
Creating an ad campaign in Facebook Ads Manager:
This tool requires more skill and patience but opens you up to a world of greater possibilities with targeting, ad creative, objectives, placement, and insights. If you are comfortable with technology and the creative side of advertising, this is your best option.
You can access it by clicking the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner of your homepage. You will have to set up your account and add a credit card for future payment. Facebook will walk you through the process.
You are creating a campaign and should be clear who your target audience is and where they are in the buying process to choose the right objective. This process requires research and will help you make better decisions down the road.
Your ad account is connected to your business page so you will have the option to promote page posts here as well.
Boosting A Business Page Post:
Boosts are best for getting more eyeballs on your posts from people who already like/follow your page or a lookalike audience (similar people to the ones who currently like your page).
Your current followers have a direct interest in what you do because they chose to support you.
Pay particular attention to them before promoting your posts to their friends, who may not care about your business.
If you don’t have the patience for creating ads and want the easiest solution, this is your best option. The boost tools have improved over the past year. Experiment with different audiences to drive familiar and new traffic to your page.
Best Practice: You should only boost your best performing, informative content. Offers and sales are ok from time to time. When you create a new post, let Facebook distribute it for 24-48 hours to see what kind of engagement it receives. If it performs well, you know you have something interesting.
Social advertising is a campaign for trust and adding credibility to your business. Most people use social media to be social not to make purchases. Don’t expect customer conversions instantly. Especially with people who don’t know you or your business. Create a campaign that educates and inspires your audience before hitting them with an offer.
There is more to successful advertising than choosing a post you think is fantastic, targeting people you feel will be interested in and throwing a bunch of money at it. Yes, you can boost a post for as little as $5.00 but how far do you think that will take you?
You don’t need to spend a fortune but come up with a realistic monthly budget. Facebook is providing with you a direct road to your ideal customer based on their specific interests, job titles, and behaviors. What’s that worth to you?
Here are the necessary steps to take before creating your first campaign:
Determine your goal. Do you want to drive traffic to your website or build brand awareness?
Identify your target audience. What is their age? Interest and behaviors? Location? Needs and wants? Create 5-10 audience segments. what you advertise to someone int he awareness stage is different then those who are ready to buy.
Set a budget. – The more you spend the further your ads will go.
Choose relevant, thumb stopping visuals or content. What will resonate with your audience the most?
Be patient, open-minded, consistent, and experiment. There is a lesson to be learned in successful and unsuccessful ads. If they don’t work, you did something wrong.
There are many touch points in an ad, and all of them are there to get the viewer to take action, the first action. You are responsible for the following elements:
A catchy headline – research from Campaign tells us that 8 out of 10 people will read the headline, but only two will read the copy. Sell, don’t tell what’s in the ad.
Choose eye-catching, relevant visuals that will stop them in their tracks (or their thumb).
Writing persuasive ad copy that addresses your audience’s needs and speaks directly to them. You must plant seeds of curiosity and create a slippery slope. There are many books you can read about persuasive writing. One of my favorites is the Adweek Copywriting Handbook by the legendary Joseph Sugarman, andEverybody Writesby Ann Handley.
Adding a clear call-to-action to your ad. What action do you want the viewer to take and how? If you are creating ads on social media platforms your call to action should direct customers to your website or landing page with an email sign-up page.
Choosing the right audience – this is the one thing people get wrong more often than not. Sometimes the most obvious option is too broad. Facebook lets you narrow down or excludes people to create a hyper-focused audience. Create a custom audience by uploading your email list or installing the Facebook Conversion Pixel on your website. Here’s how to create and install it.
All of these elements will affect the relevance score that Facebook assigns each ad. According to Facebook: “Your relevance score estimates how well your ad is resonating with the people you want to reach. The higher your ad’s relevance score, the better it’s considered to be performing.”.
A lower score, 1-3 means your ad is deemed irrelevant to your audience and will impact the cost and deliverability of your ads. To learn more, visit theFacebook help section.
People who have voluntarily given you their email address and visited your website are your most valuable audience.
Best Practice: A/B split test your ads. Split tests are the process of creating two different versions of the same ad. You will create two different headlines, visuals, and ad copy to see which performs better. Facebook will distribute your budget between the two ads and report back with the results.
Conclusion
As a small business owner, you have a lot of choices to make. You have to create, sell, market, provide customer service, and advertising. If you choose to take these roles on and not outsource them, you should understand what goes into each task. You have enough information here to get started.
Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and experiment. Experimentation is the only constant in marketing and advertising. The education you will gain is invaluable.
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
Building a significant following on Instagram takes time and work. If you use it for business, you are going to have to commit to a strategy to build trust with your audience.
Just like Facebook and all the other social platforms, we are in the attention business. Once we get our target audiences attention, we have to keep it.
Gaining followers is the easy part. Attracting the RIGHT ones and keeping them takes work. There are followers, and there are the RIGHT followers. You want the latter.
The following tips are proven to work, but you have to be consistent. Don’t give up!
Here are my tips to build meaningful relationships on Instagram:
1. Create a compelling bio that depicts who you are as a person or business. Complete every detail and be creative. How do you want to be remembered?
2. Think about how you want your feed to look and how your audience will feel when they view it. Your photos and videos should tell a story and be visually appealing. Instagram users will decide in seconds if they want to follow you or not.
3. Post quality images or video consistently. You will have to find your sweet spot. Some people recommend 1-3 times daily or 5 times per week. Only you know your audience, and they will let you how you are doing by their actions.
4. Follow people your product or service can help, related to your field and whom you have a genuine interest. I recommend 5–10 per day.
5. Follow hashtags. This is a newer feature that many people do not even know about or use yet. You will see content from these tags in your feed and can meet people you might have interest in following.
6. Research hashtags carefully. The most popular ones tend to attract bots and your competitors. Make a list of tags that are relevant to your business and think about tags YOUR audience might search for. Use a variety of niche, industry, community, and branded tags.
7. Send direct messages to people. If someone follows you, message them and say thanks. Look at their profile for commonalities. Ask questions. Show interest. Not everyone will respond, but we do not know unless we try.
8. Use the Stories feature. Stories have grown tremendously in users and capabilities over the past year. They are a great way to gain additional exposure and allow people to experience you differently. Be careful not to over do it. If your stories aren’t entertaining you won’t get repeat viewers. Posting cool stories less often will probably get your more views.
9. Add thoughtful or helpful comments on posts from users you follow and others you find on the platform. I cannot tell you how many of my relationships began in the comments. Keep the conversation going!
10. Tag people when relevant. Add geotags to your posts.
11. Pay attention to your insights. This information will help shape your future decisions.
Experiment with the above suggestions. You have to be comfortable with whatever strategy you choose. What works for some may not work for others.
I feel it is more important to have meaningful connections rather than tons of people I do not engage. By growing your following organically, you will have users that choose to follow. That shows interest. The process may take more time but well worth it in the end.
Christopher is a Personal Branding and Productivity Coach empowering real estate agents and small business owners to stand out in the crowded marketplace and increase productivity. He’s developed his personal brand as a real estate broker in NY & ME, International DJ, and Coach. Everything he teaches revolves around real-world experience, not textbook advice.
Every business has a story. But do they know how to tell it so customers will listen? Most companies intuitively make their story about them, but Donald delivers an easy to digest approach to making it about your customers. Essential reading.
