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NEW YORK – Ryan Knoll thought social media sites like Facebook would be the best place to announce his brand new cleaning service. Then he had an epiphany.
"Put yourself in the customer's shoes, how could this customer go about trying to find the company?" Knoll said, whose company, Tidy Casa, is based in Phoenix.
Ryan tried to do marketing on several social media sites, but eventually realized that people in need of cleaning services would head first to critical sites such as Yelp, Thumbtack and Angie's. list.
While small business owners who have started their business in recent years have been very successful in marketing on social media, some find that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are not automatic pbaders-by. Instead, homeowners turn to more specialized websites, such as review services, and even less technical methods, such as network management and cold calling. Many, like Knoll, go through a period of trial and error before finding an advertising method that works.
Knoll also initially badumed that he should try to make the Tidy Casa website rank well in the results of the Google directory; owners can do this by using specific keywords that customers are likely to search for. But he realized that it would take months and thousands of dollars to get the answer he wanted. Then, Knoll noticed that the revision websites were appearing when he was looking for "Phoenix cleaning service".
Knoll takes a different approach with his men's product, Simple Hair. He works to sell on Amazon.com because it is there that many consumers are looking for personal care products.
The choice of advertising channels by homeowners depends on their target customers, says Ramon Ray, a small business consultant who often speaks in public about marketing.
"It's extremely important to understand who you're selling to," says Ray. Armed with this information, an owner can decide whether it is best to use social media or try methods such as email marketing, sending brochures by mail or making network calls, Ray says.
Simon Trask has four companies, including an advertising agency, two online stores and a consulting company. With his background in advertising, "I have seen hundreds of companies and they are all unique, on a case-by-case basis, depending on the products they're selling and the type of company they're in" said Trask.
Trask discovered that for her e-commerce sites, Uppercut Tactical knife vendor and Rita Marie's Chicken Coops restaurant, the purchase of ads on Google have worked well. its customers are likely to search its products online rather than search them via social media. Trask, who lives in Denton, Texas, has also started using podcasts to help market his chicken coops in a variety of styles and sizes. He sees podcasts as a way to educate the public about co-ops – podcasts will probably work in the long run by entertaining and informing people rather than prompting him to visit his website immediately.
But Trask takes a different approach with his consulting business, which is still in its infancy. He does not advertise; he talks about it through networking and informing other business owners that he is available.
When Robyn Lanci started marketing her public relations firm almost three years ago, she was successful thanks to impromptu calls, calls from completely unknown business owners, who introduced her to her company. . Unplanned calls can be frustrating as landlords receive more denials than interest, but Lanci has been able to recruit customers for Owl PR in its first two months as it searched for companies before calling to improve his chances of success. Similarly, when she sent an email to prospects, she created personal subject lines.
Since then, Lanci, based in Lindenhurst, NY, has been more successful thanks to networking groups and informal and friendly conversations with business owners she has met. Talking rather than launching was his best approach.
"When I stopped selling myself hard, business became easier," says Lanci.
Speaking or participating in panels at conferences and other events helped Spencer Smith get clients for his social media marketing company, AmpliPhi. Smith estimates that he has delivered 200 speeches in recent years.
"When you go on stage, viewers think you're an expert in your field – after all, you've already been controlled by a conference organizer, involved in an badociation or group they trust," Smith said. , which is based in Madison, Wisconsin.
Smith finds that LinkedIn, the social network channel where business people connect, is helpful because he is able to prospect new customers, and that he is also able to post articles. and other content that may appeal to its target audience.
Nevertheless, social media such as Facebook and Instagram attract many small businesses, especially those that sell to consumers, because of their reach and low cost. Social media marketing can be free if companies use the basics, such as Facebook pages and Instagram accounts without ads. And advertising, depending on the number of people that a company wants to achieve, can be relatively inexpensive, in hundreds of dollars a month.
The cost was one of the reasons why Gabriella Jacobsen decided to market her eco-friendly grocery bags on sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Jacobsen, who calls social media "cheap and accessible," says that Instagram alone accounts for 70 percent of visits to his website, www.greenupward.com.
One of the most valuable aspects of social media for Jacobsen is the fact that she can get feedback – marketing information – about her products from the comments posted by internet users.
"It helps me make better business decisions in the future," she says.
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