Is Social Media the Silent Killer of Your Company?

In the past few years, many landscape companies have jumped on the social media bandwagon. Redesigning their web presence, creating inbound marketing platforms using blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, newsletters, whitepapers, SEO and other forms of content marketing, which serve to bring customers in closer to their brand.

The big question is; are you building your brand or killing your opportunity for market presence.

The reason I am writing this blog today is; this past weekend I did a relatively simple survey. I looked at the websites of 10-landscape companies pulled from a simple google search in various states using the key words, ‘landscape companies’. Here is what I found; out of the first 10 searched, seven, of the 10 had outdated blog posts or company news sections.

Therefore, what did I learn, something I already knew, the landscape industry is ‘seasonal’. Trends show that just prior to season start up; or during slow periods like winter months, social media activity is more active and content is more current. In the busy season, keeping your blog fresh is not always at the top of your mind and not always the easiest chore to check off your list and therefore becomes stagnant. For a smaller percent of companies, this is not true, I found several companies that are on their game. Up-to-date content and frequent engagement through their social media platform.

“If you really want to make an impact on your brand, you have to keep your social media platform updated regularly to keep visitors interested and engaged”

To be successful using inbound marketing strategies, it requires a company to provide relevant, helpful and up-to-date content. An up-to-date and informative blog is also an essential tool in your social media arsenal. If you keep your blog current, you will never run out of useful tips, insights and relevant information to share with potential clients. Blogging is also a great way to get your audience to engage with your business, and of course, a great way to drive traffic that you would not normally get to your website.

Do not let social media be the silent killer of your company’s ability to build your brand or your market presence…

Here are 6 simple steps to build and maintain your social media presence

1- Build a platform that works best for you; do not base it on what others are doing. Write within your means; keep it informative and relatively brief.

2- Get your ideas from your customers. Listen to what people say and use that as an opportunity to address their pain points with your expertise.

3- See what others are doing, related industry news, company news are great ways to share your viewpoint by putting your unique spin on it.

4- Why not feature willing customers? What they do, why they use you, real simple stuff. What about your team? Do you have any quirky characters or rock star employees that your customers love – showcase them so that your readers can get to know the people behind the business!

5- Feedback and comment do not shortcut what customers can say about your business, simply put, comments are another way for readers to interact with you and each other. Do not disable them, and be sure to monitor them for SPAM, etc.

6- Continually tell your ‘story; were you’ve been, where you are at, and where you are going. Customers love to hear about company history, your purpose and your mission.

It is best that you develop an editorial calendar. This is an absolute must and can really make the process of writing much easier because you do all the planning. Use a simple spreadsheet or calendar to schedule your blogs. While quarterly plans are good, I suggest a monthly plan.

Remember, you do not need to post any more than one or two blogs per week but having an editorial calendar can help you formulate your ideas in advance. Your calendar should identify your topic, describe the angle you are going to take, and assign an author and a due date. Be sure to check for any industry or market updates that might affect the angle your blog takes. Then, when you are ready to write the blog, you can hit the ground running.

Keep it focused on Business; The number one golden rule of business blogging: never veer into personal musings on how fast your kids are growing up or what the dog got up to at the park. Yes, you can add your personal wit and humor to the tone of your blog, but do keep it focused on your business interests and not your personal life.

Now let us GROW that business through Social Media strategy and consistency!

Looking for a good book on the subject, suggested reading;

• The Visionary Leader: How to inspire success from the top down.
• Susan Bagyura (Author), Michael E. Gerber (Foreword), Fiona Dempsey (Illustrator)