Posted by The following excerpt is from Dan S. Kennedy’s book No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Apple Books
No doubt you can find information on how to set up any social media network out there. But here are a few things you’ll want to do no matter what platform(s) you choose to market your business on.
1. Fill out all your information across all of your social media accounts. Affluents search for businesses on social media. Make it convenient for them to get all the information they need without having to go dig for it or click a bunch of times. Your contact info, hours, website, all of your locations, popular times to visit and so on should be listed (Some profiles have limited space, so be concise).
2. Make sure your information is consistent across all platforms. Affluents are keen on detail. Keep an eye out and make sure your business name, address, phone number, website, hours, payment options, parking info and so on are the same on every social site you join. If your hours or some other piece of information differs from one social media site to the next, you’ll not just lose trust, you could lose visitors altogether.
3. Optimize for search and filters. For every profile you create (or listing on a review site), use the categories provided. For some sites, you can add multiple categories and attributes, such as payment options. This will help you get your business included in searches and filters.
Related: Making Loyal Customers Out of Self-Made Millionaires
4. Invest in quality photos, content and video. It pays to create attractive, well-composed photos. Pay attention to your videos, too. I’m often surprised when a business that characterizes itself as high-quality posts something with a junky background or one inconsistent with its message or brand. Recently, I saw a high-end, high-priced publicist post a live video of an event she’d been hired to promote. Not only was the video poor quality, but it looked like no one was there. Post good, quality content consistent with your message and what your audience wants to see.
5. Use personality. There are a number of things affluent consumers find annoying on social media and not having any personality is one of them. Other things you’ll want to stay away from are posting too many promotions, using slang or jargon and trying to be funny when you’re not.
6. Reply to comments and messages. This should be obvious; however, it’s surprising how many businesspeople don’t answer people on social networks. You have an opportunity to start or build a relationship with people. Don’t just “like” a comment — reply to it. Check your messages and answer them. Pay attention to who’s sharing your posts. If they share it, go make a comment on the shared post on their page. Unless you’re getting hundreds of shares, this should be manageable. Part of your time allocated for social media should include engaging in conversation with people. Realize affluents don’t like to be ignored. If you don’t reply to people, you’re not just missing an opportunity to build a relationship, you risk losing them altogether.
Related: The 21st Century Affluent Woman and Her Marketing Needs
7. Claim and manage your listings. People are changing the way they search for things. It’s no longer just looking up your business on Google. They’re using their mobile phone to do searches on social media and review sites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor and FourSquare. For many review sites, customers can create a listing for you. The problem with this is that when a consumer creates the listing, you don’t have control over it. In order to update and control the information on your listing, you need to claim your listing.
8. Research the best time to post each day of the week. Rather than choosing one set time to post or looking at your analytics alone, do your research to determine how your affluent customers interact with your product and service as well as look at industry research for your category and the social network you’re using. Sprout Social has done research on this subject and found, for instance, that with the introduction of Instagram shopping, the best time for consumer goods to post was on Saturdays between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and the safest times every day of the week were between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. But on Facebook it was different. The best time to post for consumer goods on Facebook is Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and Friday at 11:00 a.m. The safest times of the week are between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Related: The 3 Types of Freedom Affluent Shoppers Are Craving
9. Find out what your audience wants to see. One of the best ways to get people to engage with your page is to ask your best customers, clients or patients — those that fit your target audience — what they want to see on your social media pages.
10. Develop a plan. Don’t post on a whim or try to figure out daily what you’ll post. A well-thought-out plan with objectives for each post will help you tell your story, which will create an engaged audience. Plus, it’ll be much easier to post consistently good content.