Kassie Thompson- Social Media Consultant

Hi, my name is Kassie Thompson and FootSteps has brought me in to help their clients with their Social Media plans. I am currently the Marketing Director for 4 Ace Hardware stores in Colorado. I have had great success marketing the stores on facebook and I want to share my knowledge with the group.

With 550 million users around the world, and counting, Facebook is one of today’s leading destinations influencing online identity, entertainment, and content distribution. It’s no longer about engaging with your friends anymore it’s about communicating with your customers, prospects, and vendors. If you don’t have a Facebook page for your business, now is the time to get started and discover what Facebook can do for your business. It’s a cost effective way to build your brand, communicate with  your customers, and gain credibility as an expert in your field.

6 Most Important Things for Businesses to know about Facebook:
1. Create a facebook page.
Your facebook page should be the hub of your facebook marketing presence. With a facebook page, users become “fans” of your store.  When that happens your name and logo will appear on their profile page and then it shows up in their friends newsfeeds. This is how your page grows virally. Facebook pages also rank very highly in google search results boosting your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking.

2. Create Targeted Pay-Per-Click ads.
Facebooks social ads platform make it easy to target gender, age and geographic audience. This fuels the flames of a “natural” viral growth. You can easily create ads, set a daily budget and review your stats to see your progress.

3. Create Facebook events for promotions.
Create regular facebook events for promotions you are running. For example: Create an event for the National Bag sale and invite all your facebook fans a week prior.

4. Create facebook only deals and contests.
People love fun ways of engaging and feeling like they are a part of your business. I created a contest on facebook this week where I took a picture of a huge heart made out of Hershey Kisses and uploaded it to our pages and had the fans guess how many kisses there were. The closest guess will get a $50 gift certificate and will be announced on Valentine’s Day.

5. Publish fresh photos, videos, and updates to your facebook page.
Facebook pages are not “set it and forget it”. They require regular updates with new content that is authentic and community generated- by you and your staff, the experts! It is important to upload interesting content and not just promotions. Be in tune with the weather, holidays, and current local events and share your knowledge with your fans.

6. Talk to your Customers.
Facebook is made up of people, and people want to talk to you. If you don’t enter the conversation, they invite you to, they will quickly stop paying attention to you. When you start your facebook presence you will need someone “to man the wheel” by allocating staff to participate in questions, comments or concerns from your fans. When customers discover there are real people there, their appreciation for you will grow- as will their willingness to let others know that you are the go to person for advice.

Keep in mind that facebook marketing is powerful and Social Media should become part of your store’s marketing strategy. Participating in the facebook eco-system requires consistent participation and willingness to engage your customers. There’s a good chance that you will find it more rewarding that you think.

Footsteps can help you get started on your Social Media plan. Our plan includes:

1 hour-Page set up
2 hours-Content building and Social Media Plan
1 month of weekly postings
2 hours online personal training
Regular Price: $300.00

To begin your Social Media Plan or if you have questions please contact Pat Curry.

To view Kassie’s presentation on the February Best Practices call click here.