Communication channels are changing and digital interactions on various platforms are becoming more and more popular. For many consumers, their first interactions are no longer face-to-face. They prefer to research the products they’re interested in through social networks, making it a vital resource for many businesses. By these standards, creating and maintaining your social networks is one of the best ways you can increase and sustain business for your firm.
How To Choose The Right Channels
With so many varying social media sites, you may be wondering which is the best to use for your tax firm. For the everyday consumer, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook rank amongst the highest used platforms for purchasing and consumer interactions. Especially during times like these, it is imperative that your firm is using these platforms for quality content that is attractive to new clients.
Not only is the content you post important, so is engagement. By adding trending and relevant hashtags and tagging and interacting with others, you increase engagement and reach. Social media posts are also a great way to drive traffic back to your website, giving potential clients more information and thus making them more likely to choose you over your competitors.
Building Your Social Media Presence
The first step to social selling is preparing social media pages that attract potential clients. Remember, your social media page should be representative of your business and its values. Next, you should be tuned into what’s going on online. Pay attention to what your customers are sharing, liking, retweeting, etc. Learn what they are interested in and what might be a good approach to get them engaged.
That leads us into the third step: Engagement. Be a part of the relevant conversation. In addition to creating posts that share thought leadership and service offerings, create posts that ask for opinions. Be sure to reply to comments, and share content from other sites as well as from your own. Show your customers that you care about them and their interests.
Refining Your Profile
Your firm’s social media pages are just as important as your website. Make sure your profile pictures represent your brand (using your logo is a best practice). In addition to the company pages, you should also button up your personal LinkedIn page and ensure that employees have theirs buttoned up as well. Check profile pictures to ensure they are professional, customize LinkedIn headers with something relevant to what you do, be sure that your profiles are completely filled out and link to the company LinkedIn page, and make your description catchy with how you help customers and plenty of keywords to increase searchability.
Engaging People Online
Once you are all set-up, it’s time to dig in and let the selling begin. Beyond creating content for your company profiles, you should be RTing and commenting on Twitter, and engaging your networks on LinkedIn. Comment on posts, identify and follow influencers, and find relevant conversations to be a part of. You should also be connecting with everyone you meet and sending personal notes in the connection requests. Think of LinkedIn as your digital networking event and rolodex of contacts.
It’s important that your tax preparers are engaging on LinkedIn, adding connections, and sharing the company updates/blogs. In this digital world we are navigating, this is the only networking option we have right now. Want to know how you’re doing on LinkedIn? You can check out your Social Selling Index to see.
Sure, the big tax firms have the buying power to fund media campaigns and spend money on ads, but as a small business owner, all it takes is a little diligence to build personal connections online to help your community navigate the world of taxes. The world wants to help small business owners like you right now. This is why it’s important to cultivate and maintain platforms that showcase who you are, what you do, and how you can help.