September is
Digital (Online) Marketing at Trader Connect!
SBMS
Business Mentors working with QVM Traders have found this is THE hot topic that traders keep asking
about.
Hence,
we will be running a Digital Marketing Workshop in conjunction with the Trader
Connect Launchon Tuesday 18th September at 3pm at the Traders Lounge.
Here
you’ll learn more about this increasingly important aspect of business &marketing. Find our more or register at this link –https://www.sbms.org.au/events/view/1433/SBMS_Trader_Connect_Social_Media_Marketing_Workshop
We’ll
also be postingsome topical articles asbackground information on what this is
all about plus tips on how you can utilise Social Media platforms to market
your business.
Why
should your business be online?
90%
of your customers go online to find information about the things they want to
buy. We all want more customers, but most businesses (possibly you) are not
promoting in the space customers go for information.
An
online presence is your most powerful and cost-effective marketing and
communication tool.
According
to a Harris Interactivesurvey, average growth of e-commerce is around 25% per
year. The online world is not
just for the big players.Done well, it can be and should be a powerful andeffective
avenue for any small business as well.
Why
social media marketing is great:
1.
Opportunities for Growth
2.
Low initial investment
3.
Low cost of operation
4.
Helps to build a company profile
Social Media marketing is definitely great for businesses
that have an online store, however even if you don’t, Social Media can still be
used effectively to attract new customers, and in some instances, even replace
the need for a website.
Lets look at
the major players in the Social Media space.
The
list of Digital Marketing tool keeps growing, currently the main ones are:
·
Facebook
·
Instagram
·
Youtube
·
Pinterest
·
LinkedIn
·
SnapChat
·
Twitter
·
Google
Plus
All
have very specific purposes and audiences. Some traders could utilise them all
whilst others might benefit from using just one and doing it really well.
All
these platforms are free to use and set-up. Paid advertising is usually the
only additional cost.
Facebook
www.facebook.com
What is it?
- an
online portal to connect with friends, join various news and topical interest
groups. Users can post and share text, photos and videos.
For
businesses it provides an opportunity to post free content about the business,
as well as create ads that are only seen by very specific customers/groups
selected by you.
If
you are interested in the stats about users and age groups read this article - https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-june-2018/
Currently
around 65% of Australian population are users and 50% of the country is logging
in once per day. Globally 2 billion people use Facebook monthly.
Facebook Demographics in Australia
Age Bracket Number
of Users*
13 – 17
940,000
18 – 25
3,500,000
25 – 39
6,100,000
40 – 55
4,100,000
55 – 64
1,600,000
65+
1,200,000
What is it
good for?
·
Good
way to stay connected with your fans,
especially if you are not using email marketing to keep in touch with your
clients.
·
See
it as a directory listing,
equivalent to what Yellow Pages or White Pages used to be. Facebook Business
Pages provide an opportunity for potential clients to be able to find out more
about your business and stay connected with it. Posts on Facebook show your
clients your business is active and engaging.
·
Customers
can leave testimonials about your
business on your Facebook page.
·
Alternative
for a website.
Having a website for your business is always best, but if you don’t want one, a
Facebook Business Page is the next best thing. Good for Search Engine
Optimisation – Google will list it at the top of the searches for your
business. Though it cannot replace online stores, just information/business
card websites.
·
Great
for targeted advertising, so you don’t
waste money marketing to people that are not your customers. You can choose to
advertise to local area users, and encourage them to come to see you at the
market, or if you have an online store, your advertising would be targeted
specifically to your ideal customer. Facebook knows a lot about everyone!
·
Creating
communities
– if you have a product that is topical (e.g. Hand-made products, art,
photography)you can either join a Group or create your own – Focus must be on
creating a community not just advertising your product to the group.
·
Facebook
Market Place,
lets you sell product for free (usually used by people selling second-hand
goods, but there opportunities to sell new products too)
·
Cross-promotion with other
businesses to reach more customers, by sharing other’s posts!
The
negatives
·
Unfortunately
fans will only see 5% of your posts, unless you pay
·
Used
to be a really great tool to talk to you customers, but it’s now all about paid
posts. (Though really engaged users, and users that choose to take the extra
step to ‘Follow’ your page, not just ‘Like’ your page will see more of your
posts)
·
Users
do not care about seeing specials and product posts;it’s all about engaging
with your fans as you would with friends, by sharing pictures and amusing info.
Instagram
www.instagram.com
What is it?
- A
very popular platform (second to Facebook) particularly with the under 40s age
groups.This is the only platform that is mainly a smart phone app, everything
is done via the app. Pages can be viewed on the computer, but cannot be edited.
The main purpose is to post good images with a short message and follow users
that post images you like. Using the hashtag # symbol allocates the images to
topics, and users can find more images by searching for this topic - e.g.
#queenvictoriamarket
500
million users worldwide / 9 million Australian monthly users.59% of users
checking the app every day.
The
number of Instagram followers now often measures celebrity popularity. The word
“Influencers” is now a commonly used term to describe individuals with
successful instagram accounts who charge businesses to advertise their brands
to their large follower base.
What is it
good for?
·
Instagram
is probably best utilized as a brand-building
tool – by posting beautiful, interesting and engaging images or videos, a
business can build a decent following.
·
A
lot of individuals have found success by posting images of themselves. Coining
the term “Instafamous”. Some instagram celebrities have millions of followers
and charge $ millions per post to advertise products.
·
Instagram
recently introduced paid advertising,
which is linked with Facebook so you can advertise on both platforms at the
same time - proving very effective targeted advertising.
The
negatives
·
Followers
and post ‘likes’ can be bought, so to some extent it is a fake economy.
Influencers and marketing agencies will often pay to make posts look more
successful than they are. (There are tools that are available to check if the
engagement is genuine)
·
Algorithm
changes to the way posts are shown mean that your fans are limited to how many
posts they see from you
·
Users
are less likely to follow a business page unless they really love it. As a
general rule it is looked down up on to ‘follow’ more users than ‘follow’ you,
or accounts with low number of followers are less likely to attract new
followers, making it increasingly difficult for businesses to build a
satisfactory fan base.
·
Marketing
on Instagram is becoming increasingly expensive, especially when engaging
Influencers to promote your product.
·
The
images have to be highly curated, and a true reflection of your brand, its all
about the visual user experience.
Youtube
What is it?
- A
platform for sharing videos. Anyone can post any sort of video they want on
their own “Channel”. Everything from funny dog videos, to news, to cooking
tips, and personal opinions.
15
million Australians use Youtube monthly. Globally the number is 1 billion
users.
Vloggers
(Video Bloggers), i.e people who post blog like video articles where they talk
about various topics, have also become a type of celebrity with millions of
global followers and highly paid lucrative advertising deals.
Musician
popularity is often quoted in Youtube view numbers.
What is it
good for?
·
Great
tool if you have tips to share, or your product tells a story.
·
You
can use these videos on your website and social media to either promote the
product or educate customers on how to use it.
·
Can
pay to have ads shown before other people’s videos, or if your videos are
really popular, you can make advertising income.
·
You
can essentially create your own equivalent to a TV channel and create video
using your smart phone.
The
negatives
·
Creating
videos is a lot more effort than posting an image. Even if using your phone, it
has to be interesting and clever.
·
Video’s
can go un-noticed, it can be challenging to build a following, and requires a
lot of effort in promoting it.
Further
reading - https://startupnation.com/start-your-business/market-your-business/12-tips-for-using-youtube-to-promote-your-business/
Pinterest
www.pinterest.com
What is it?
- a Platform
to share beautiful images and save them to your page. As the name suggests you
“Pin your interest” Unlike Instagram and Facebook, the images keep circulating,
and are saved by users into pin boards they create on their favourite topics, e.g.
Fashion, Craft, Recipes, Décor etc.
What is it
good for?
·
Though
there are only 270,000 users in Australia, and 200 million worldwide, it is the
go to platform for people looking for inspiration, so if your product is not
seasonal and limited edition, but more of a craft, décor or timeless fashion,
it is a great platform to inspire potential customers, with no time limit.
·
Most
users are female 25-60, so if you are marketing to women, this is a very
relevant platform for you.
The
negatives
·
Requires
really good quality images, otherwise they will not be shared.
·
Really
need a website with the featured products listed and linked back to Pinterest
as it can take months for potential customers to take action after seeing and
pinning something they like on Pinterest.
The following
platforms are popular globally but are less relevant to market traders, although
still worth a mention because (depending on your business and marketing
ingenuity) you might be able to implement these platforms as part of your
digital marketing plan.
LinkedIn
Mainly
used for professional connections, job seeking and building your personal
profile. Not so relevant in a market context.
Snapchat
Only
really used by teens to early 20s.
Sharing
short videos that disappear once watched
Business
create a news feed of videos and can record live.
Instagram
has implemented this feature so Instgram users are now less likely to use
Snapchat as well.
If
you are interested in marketing with Snapchat here is a good article - https://oursocialtimes.com/11-must-knows-for-marketing-your-business-on-snapchat/
Twitter
Allows you
to post messages of up to 280 characters. Essentially blasting
messages,
sharing articles and your opinion. Popular with high profile
individuals
and users wishing to comment and discuss current news or
television
shows.
twitter-for-marketing
Google Plus
Not
really popular with users, but good for Search Engine Optimisation.
Further
reading: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/google-plus-marketing/introduction-marketing-google/
If
you have read this far, well done! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry -
SBMS is here to help!
Join
us for our workshop on the 18th September to learn more about how to
use the major platforms mentioned above in your business.
If
you can’t make it to the workshop, but still want help - get in touch with
Katya Ellis, QVM’s Business Mentor in residence to discuss your options for
learning more about developing your social media marketing plan and getting
some practical how-to step-by-step user training.
