3C Digital

Digital Marketing for Small Business

Community Management

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How to improve online engagement with customers

The dream for every small business is to have loyal followings who will spread the word about their products/services. You want customers who are invested in your small business on social media and not just click “Like” on your posts. Here are some ideas to improve engagement with your customers online.

Remember that engagement is more important than reach. Your aim should not be to have millions of followers on social media (although that would be nice, too). It may look great for your small business when you have heaps of followers, but it won’t help you if they’re not engaging with you or other potential customers.

We’re over at Inside Small Business writing about improving engagement. Go have a read!

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Why you should visit your local council

Why you should visit your local council

Running a small business is not an easy task. You need all the help you can get. Preferably for free. But where can you get help without having to fork out so much money?

Look to your local council. What a lot of small businesses don’t know is that there are actually a lot of things that your local council can help you with. Here we have listed the top three things you can get help from your local council. For the annual membership fee, you can get heaps of stuff back.

Free Business Advice

You may know a thing or two about starting a business and running one, but it won’t hurt getting some professional advice. Check your local council for sessions with a business advisor. It might just be a free initial consult or on a subsidised fee. Still, it is worth checking. There might be a point or two that you don’t know about. Maybe details on a new legislation or a way to maximise your opportunities.

Digital Marketing/Social media

A lot of small business owners today are grappling with social media. They don’t know how to start, where to start or how to sustain it. Some local councils provide free sessions and workshops for this topic. It is worth checking out the annual schedule of workshops to see if it’s part of the offering. Also, call them to know if they provide free consult.

Local council networking events

We can’t emphasise enough the importance of networking events. You will not only meet people who might become future customers but also people who might be able to provide you with a service. There are several networking events scheduled each year. Make sure you’re already a member of your local council business group to ensure you join the free events.

The Canterbury-Bankstown Business Advisory Service (CBBAS) has all these opportunities and more. 3C Digital is available every Thursday for free 45-minute sessions with small business owners. Make sure you register your interest.

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3 ways to improve engagement with your customers

3 ways to improve engagement with your customers

You need customers who are invested in your small business on social media, not just ones who clicked Like. So to help you, we’ve outlined three ways to improve engagement with your customers.

We want to emphasise that engagement is more important than reach. Gone are the days when you aim for more followers on social media. Although it does look great for your business when you have thousands of followers, the truth is it won’t help you if they’re not engaging.

We hope these tips will help you out.

Offer something of value

Everyone wants something for free. That’s just human nature. But it’s not really good for your small business if you keep giving something away. The good news is you don’t need to give away too much. For instance, it can be something small but useful like an ebook outlining advice and information useful to your customers. Maybe a recipe book if you’re in the food service industry. It can even be a free consult or a discount voucher for referrals. Whatever it is, your customers will appreciate it.

improve engagementAnswer questions

You are a subject matter expert even if you don’t think it yet. There are plenty of helpful information you can give out to your potential customers, and customers. Let them know that they can ask you a question relating to your industry. Answer them in a timely manner too. By answering them, it makes you look approachable. At the same time, the answer might help others who want to know the answer.

Reply with care

While opening up communication through social media is good, you also have to think about how to reply. Always make sure you are professional – all the time. There will be unhappy customers. Thus is the nature of the business world. But no matter how cruel they are online, you need to deal with it professionally. Don’t engage in a fight online. That’s the worse thing you can do. Know that this is just part of running a business in the digital age.

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3 Freebies you can give your customers

3 Freebies you can give your customers

Giving something free to your customers may sound counterintuitive but it has its merits. According to an article by Time magazine, there are several advantages to giving away freebies. There are scientific studies conducted why the freebies that businesses give away end up being good for the company.

For one, it will get your customers talking and it gives them a good feeling of getting something free. So what kind of things would you need to give away beyond the first free consultation? It depends what your business is. See below for some ideas.

Services

There was an instance when my mechanic came to the house to rescue my dead car. It took him under 10 minutes to figure it out. The best part was that he didn’t even charge me for it. I couldn’t believe it. He was polite, efficient and truly happy to help. After that, my husband and I kept going back to him for our car issues. He gained loyal customers by doing that small act of free service. Of course, it helped that he knew what he was doing. Even a small gesture goes a long way.

Items from your shop

For certain times in a year, you can pick and choose from your shop range on what is the best one to give away as a freebie. But make sure it’s part of a bigger campaign you’re doing for your business. Maybe give away something for mothers on Mother’s Day and dads on Father’s Day. Something as small as a free muffin will go a long way. Make a list of all the public holidays in your state and come up with a good freebie for that day. It doesn’t have to be a big expensive item. If you give it away with a sincere heart and a smile, your customers will appreciate the gesture.

Ebook

Do you have tips and guides that could help your customers with their business? Consider creating an ebook that you could give away online. Ebooks are not that hard to make these days. Free online tools like Canva can help you create beautiful ebooks without needing a degree in design. It doesn’t have to be super long. It can come in several volumes each year, too. Things like recipes, health tips, social media guide, marketing tips on the digital age and so on. Think about what knowledge you can give your customers and list down some ideas for an ebook.

Need a FREE consult on digital marketing? Contact us!

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3 Ways to start building your community

Ways to start building your community

  1. Know your people
  2. Focus on your audience
  3. Be a good source of info
  4. Respond to their inquiries online
  5. Participate in your local community

Building a community around your small business will not only attract new customers but also encourage long-time followers to your brand. There is something to be said about wanting a community, especially when the biggest of brands are doing it too.

The hard part, however, is starting. Here are three ways to help you start building your community today.

Know your people

No one else knows your business and what you can provide more than you. Have a think about what you stand for, what your business stands for and what kind of people you want to attract. Having a specific focus of audience will help you reach them more, instead of trying to reach too wide and ending up with the wrong type of followers. It is worth having a sit down with someone you can bounce ideas with to narrow down that target audience.

building your communityMake it worth their while

You are an expert in your small business, and because of this you are a great source of information for your area of expertise. Share this knowledge with your community via your blog and social media sites. Engage with your customers online or offline and make sure you respond to their queries in a reasonable timeframe. Reward your followers by giving them up-to-date information on your latest events, giveaways and promos. This will encourage them to share with their friends and invite more people into your brand.

Participate in your local community

Your small business belongs in a community so it’s good to be visible when it matters. Sponsor a sports team in your area, or maybe your local school fete. Have a booth when there’s an event, or reach out to your local council to see if you can be a resource speaker about a topic that would help other people. Investing in some community goodwill is always good. Your brand will be associated with the spirit of community, which will encourage long-term supporters of your business.

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3 Things you can do for your small business in the New Year

3 Things you can do for your small business in the New Year

It’s the new year soon so naturally resolutions come to mind. This is the right time for you to do the same for your business. Here are three things you can do for your small business in the New Year.

No matter how small, these things can make a huge difference in the long run. So give them a try. You can measure the difference they make each quarter.

Be more social

Have you been putting off doing your social media calendar and strategy? This is the best time to start fresh. Social media isn’t going anywhere. Like we said in our post, you need to be on Facebook. And you can’t be just on it once a month. You need a regular social media presence. But to do this, you need to have a plan. Start planning now. You need to be more engaged with your customers.

Work with your accountant

Accountants are not just for end of financial year tax requirements anymore. You want better cash flow and less headache during tax season? A strategy for the future of your business or a plan for when you retire? Find an accountant who can do these things for you. It is best to plan ahead instead of just putting out the fire when it comes. Better to be prepared.

Reassess your methods

Go through the results of your strategies the year before. Figure out which promos worked and which ones didn’t. Find out what was your most popular social media post and keep doing it. Go through the ‘suggestion box’ and see what you can do better. Businesses that keep changing with the times have more chances of surviving the future, and surviving well.