Social media has billions of users. No, that’s not hyperbole. Research shows that in 2020, there were over 2.7 billion users on outlets like Facebook and Instagram right now. That’s a large demographic with some gold for you as a business owner. To keep your service business successful, tap into marketing to that audience. We’ve painstakingly collected the best tips on how to utilize this massive pot of gold to connect with your audience and present them with more opportunities to purchase your services.
Here are seven ways to dominate social media with your service business in 2022:
- Set Your Profile Up for Success
When users land on your profile, hook them right away with a profile that is set up effectively. What, exactly, does that mean?
Each social media outlet has different standards for setting up a well-crafted profile. What is common across all platforms is that you need to have these three elements in your bio:
- An opt-in to your mailing list
- A clear, strong unique selling proposition so that they know what you do within three seconds of landing on your profile
- Direct them to your website to get information on your business
No matter which platform you choose, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or YouTube… you need those three things in your bio.
- Create a Content Calendar
This is a crucial step. When planning out your social strategy, do not skip this.
A content calendar keeps you on track for what to post each day. Don’t assume that you’ll remember what you want to post on which days.
Let’s say that you’re planning the launch of a new product or service. Using social media to get the word out is a great way to do that, but if you don’t have a content calendar planned out, then you will end up posting items at random and it will not serve you well and will lead to lower sales for that new product or service.
Creating a Content calendar is a tedious process, but it is one that you need to set aside at least one or two hours for to create it and then at least 30 minutes every week to update it.
Keep in mind that your content calendar won’t always look like another service business’ content calendar. That’s okay! Use what works for you and it will help you stay on track with posting the right content, on the right days, so that you can attract more sales and leads online.
- Use Captions that Convert
Now that you have your calendar planned out, it’s time to create captions that will wow your target audience.
This is where you need to spend the most time planning out your social strategy to get clients for your service business.
Do not–I repeat do not–skimp on your captions.
- Create captions that are at least 50 words long.
- Tell a story
- Use power words; words that hook people and convert them to engaged leads.
These three tips alone will give you more likes, clicks, and shares on your content. The key is, watch for growth within one to two weeks. Seeing a change overnight is a great story, but it’s not the norm.
Make sure you are tracking your analytics to see what captions are working best for you for your target audience. This tells you how to communicate exactly what they want to hear from your business.
- Don’t Skimp on the Photos
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” That is even more true on your social profiles.
Make sure that the photos you’re sharing accurately and compellingly represent you and your service business.
Your photos don’t have to look super polished, airbrushed, or like the fancy destination trips that have now become the norm for marketing from business owners, especially solopreneurs.
You don’t need a fancy photoshoot. You don’t need a fresh set of flowers. You don’t need to go sit by the beach with your laptop, smile, and type away in the sand.
All of those things are good and have their place and time. For you, however, your audience will be more engaged when you share the real nitty-gritty photos of your service business.
Sharing your process makes you more relatable to your target audience. Be real. Stay authentic and you will be rewarded with loyal followers and new clients. Use every chance you get to do so with a photo.
Almost anything that happens in the daily life of your business is a shareable moment.
Share photos of your wins and photos of your process. For example, a photo to share could be right after you sign a new client. If you have a certain ritual that you do afterward, like drinking some tea, show your tea mug in a photo and share that you have signed this new client.
If you’re really hard pressed for photos, choose free stock photo resources that have the same look and feel as your business and select photos to share from there. Don’t worry about being perceived as a fraud or a copycat. The resources are there to keep your business successful.
- Hashtags, Hashtags, Hashtags
In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. On social outlets, it’s all about hashtags, hashtags, hashtags.
Hashtags are a way for people to find you more easily and get to know your business if they are not familiar with it already. Hashtags are important because they connect you to a broader audience and help you get in front of people who you can have as clients or people that you can partner with.
Remember to create a specific hashtag for your business. This helps you with branding your business in a professional way and it will also help you when you’re looking through your post and seeing what has been re-shared. After you’ve created a business-specific hashtag, focus on hashtags that your target market is searching for on social media.
Don’t just copy someone else’s hashtags. Find hashtags specific to each of your posts, save those in a file for later, and switch them up every other post so that your social profiles have a variety for each post. In addition to the fact that your audience will appreciate this, the algorithm that evaluates your social profile will love you for this as well. In no time, and with some luck, you’ll be able to hit the Explore page on Instagram! (That’s a huge win if you can do that).
- Tastefully Tag
Along with accurate hashtags, tagging profiles who are similar to yours is a good option as well.
The key is tastefully tagging. Do not tag at random. This does not help your business and it can also get your account shut down. No one wants that.
If you have recently worked with a media outlet, an influencer, or another brand, it’s a good idea to tag them within your next one to three posts.
If you’re trying to gain the attention of an outlet, influencer, or brand, and get new clients, tag them, but do it as a shout out where you’re talking about how you admired something that they do in business. That is a tasteful tag.
- Don’t Sell in Every Post
Getting clients on social media really comes down to not selling every single post.
Build relationships with your target audience. Get to know them, ask them questions about their life, their business, their kids, their pets. Don’t get so caught up in the fact that you want them as a client that you forget to see them as a person.
To get clients on social media for your service business, the best way to do that is to use the 80/20 rule. That rule says that 80% of your post should be focused on your audience or providing value to your audience. Then 20% of your post should be presenting a way for them to work with you or buy your product.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you set yourself up for success to get clients from social media for your business. Go over each one carefully and refer back to the list often. This is the key to get clients from your social profiles for your service business.
Do you crush it on social media? Leave a comment and let us know!
Like this article? You’ll love our guide on how to generate leads for service businesses in 2022, and of course our Frustrations with Square article!
