You can brag about and promote your business until you’re blue in the face, but nobody can influence your future customers like your satisfied customers.
Social Proof…this is a very powerful marketing device. Social proof is when you demonstrate people are using, liking and enjoying your business, product or service. Testimonials are an example of social proof.
Social Proof as a Strategy on Social Media
A Like or a Share of a Facebook fan page post is a form of social proof. Read on to learn a few powerful and far-reaching tactics. I can almost guarantee you have never heard of this first one before. This can be used in any business which has a website. You don’t need to have a physical location so it’ll work for Service Businesses and Online/Ecommerce Businesses, as well as Restaurants, Retailers, Chiropractors, Dentists…any business with a Facebook Fan Page and a website.
The following video demonstrates one of the 3 tactics scroll down below the video to read the remainder of the post.
Strategy #1: Sponsored Posts
Now, for $5-$7, you can Boost a post or create an ad which is certain to reach between 400-1200 people.
For this small amount of money, you can create a target audience based upon a range of their ages, (33-62, for example), income, marital status, education level and any number of interests such as types of food they like, activities and hobbies they enjoy PLUS a distance radius around your location or service area. You can reach people around the country, the world or just 10 miles around your zip code.
Whether you do you social media posts in-house or you have a service provider, the average posts is costing you about $6.00-$8.00. This begs the question:
Is it better to pay $7.00 for an add to reach 500-1000 people who are strong prospects or to spend $6.00 to reach 50-100 people who already know you?
Strategy #2
Get your customers to do the work for you!
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When customers visit your location, give them an incentive to Check-In on their Facebook app. When they check in, lots of their Facebook friends will see this in their news feed. This is delivers your business name, location AND Social Proof which is like your customer’s testimonial about your place. This method works better when a photo is included with the post. A small bribe such as a Free Dessert or a $10 Gift Certificate is well worth the promotional value you get from this kind of exposure.
Strategy #3
This strategy can be used in businesses where people come in to your place, order over the phone, online transactions and service businesses too.
Make it easy for your customers to help you. Create a dedicated page on your website which has one image on it (could be your logo or an image depicting your service in action for example). Add wording to the page such as: “I recently {visited, purchased, used services of} ABC Business. I was very pleased with the {name the product or service} so I thought I would share this with my friends.”
Give your customers a pre-printed card or send an email with the website address (URL) for this page with the instructions to copy and paste it as a Facebook post. The very act of someone electing to cooperate is a powerful testimonial. The reach and impact could be significant. The setup isn’t very difficult and it can be used over and over.
Andrew Mazer, Founder of Mazer Wholesale, Inc. established since 1986. In 1996, I began marketing my wholesale business online. In 2009, I began helping other business owners market THEIR business online. I am the author of The Business Owner's Guide to Marketing Online, The Groupon Solution, and The One Good Idea Newsletter. Contact me at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org