Social media has become an essential tool for our businesses, and yet we are asked often in the Facebook group, how tradies like you, should be using social media. Advertising is not like it used to be, our clients have become very savvy in knowing what to look for, and time and time again it is shown that direct marketing just doesn’t work for anyone but the big players. So if you are like most of the tradies we know, join us as we take you through some of the steps to how to use social media as a tradie.
Post Regularly
Regardless of the platform you choose, social media is a machine that needs to be fed often. At least 3 times a week is great, but more often is better if you can manage. A daily post is ideal. You can schedule using apps like PLANN, Hootsuite, Loomly or Coschedule, alternatively you can schedule Facebook directly within the platform. Block yourself some time once a month and schedule posts for your timing target. (ie, 3 times weekly, daily etc)
Know, Like & Trust
The idea behind posting on social media should be to have your potential clients know, like and trust you because these elements are essential for a client to purchase from you. Keep this in mind when deciding what to post on social media. Give your followers the chance to get to know you as a business owner and a person, likewise your team. But don’t stop there, use this as an opportunity to share what your processes are like, pre-educate your clients on what it looks like to work with you. Your social media is a powerful tool for creating a genuine connection with your clients.
Encourage Commenting
People don’t only want to see you posting to social media, they want to engage with you. The simplest way to encourage that engagement is to comment on every comment that is left. As you do this, your engagement will grow which in turn encourages others to get involved. Time block out 15 minutes daily to drop by and answer as many comments or questions you can.
Be Available
Being available is challenging in a trade business, so outsource to a team member, partner or VA to ensure that you are always available to answer any questions your followers might have. Alternatively, set the expectations by setting up an automatic responder particularly on Facebook where it is simple to do so. Let your followers know that you’re likely to be busy on the tools, but their message is important and you’ll come back to them just as quickly as you can.
Don’t Direct Sell
As mentioned above our clients don’t want to be sold too. Instead, take them on a journey through your business, tell them who your business is, and show them how you do business. We’ve been conditioned to use social media for socialising, and you can contribute to this by providing content that is engaging, educational and fun.
Pro Tip, What seems boring to you, is likely to be truly fascinating to others
So often we forget that what we do every day is actually very interesting to those who don’t do it. I love learning about what our trades do onsite, but I also love learning the jargon that goes with it, like what is a noggin, or this is what happens in a rough-in. While boring to you, not only will you have a better-educated client if you share this, but you’ll also create interest for others wanting to learn.
In summary, social media is a MUST for your trade business and with some time locking and content ideas, you too can have an engaged following prepositioned and ready to buy from you.
As a special bonus, we’ve created 50 social media content ideas and we’d love to share it with you. Simply click on the link to claim yours now.
