I see a lot of people discredit social media outlets for small businesses including PI agencies. This is a grave mistake.
What can social media do for your business?
I have done a fair bit of research and have gained a bit of knowledge but I admit I’m not the best resource for FB, Twitter or any form of social media. However, I’ve seen the direct impact to my business from these sources. You’re probably wondering how can they can possibly increase revenue or marketing for your business (pi or otherwise).
Here is the truth from my perspective:
1) It’s free – Free marketing is the best form of marketing. Especially on the internet. Yes, to get a lot of likes or followers you either need to send a lot of messages or pay (it’s somewhat cheap) them to market for you. Either way, it’s getting your business exposure.
2) Traffic – Currently Facebook(FB) is the number two site on the internet for traffic and the number one social media outlet. More traffic = greater exposure. With the growth of the internet you need to understand that all walks of earth are going to this website. It also helps ranking higher on search engines.
3) Cases and Business – I have personally gotten paying cases off of FB. I get questions (publicly and privately) on a weekly basis. Either way, you are talking to potential customers.
4) Promoting your blog – Whenever you make a blog post you can let your followers know of what’s happening. You never know, you may find the right person to hire you.
5) Deals and Coupons – PI agencies don’t usually run deals and mine haven’t been entirely successful due to the nature of this but I have gotten a few inquiries. Either way it can’t hurt.
6) Networking – I get likes and inquiries from other PI / security companies. Meeting new business connections is never a bad thing. Vendors constantly look for new customers and I’ve gained a few using social media.
How do I get new likes and how many does it take to impact your business?
1) Invite your friends – Close friends will jump at the opportunity to help. The others may need a bit of work. You should also enlist friends to help invite their friends. Most people don’t like spam but honestly if you care about your business you will do this. The ones who don’t support you probably aren’t friends to begin with and you have lost nothing. To own a successful business means you need to be aggressive.
2) Pay for likes – For a small fee you can target certain topics and demographics. I have done this and have gotten cases from it. You don’t want to spend a ton but it’s definitely a sure fire way to get a small following and more likes.
As for how many, I can’t say. My current status on FB is 510 but this changes daily. What I can say is it’s free and any small business who isn’t running a current and updated social media network is doing something wrong.
I have been a bit busy recently but I’m going back into the blog sector now that I have some time. I hope everyone had a good Easter.
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