Clever Content:

Social media started as a platform that was all about connecting and sharing - now it is one of the most marketing powerful tools. One of the top reasons businesses have such success on social media is because of the targeted advertising feature. This means you can run a campaign (which might be a competition or a special or even just a rock-solid effort to move some stock super fast) and choose exactly which types of people in which areas can see your campaigns. While paid advertising is incredibly powerful, you can turn social media visitors into customers at your store using a variety of tactics. Here are four ways to use social media to attract customers into your establishment: 

1. Have a Competition

Everyone loves freebies and that is why corporate gifts and giveaways on social media always attract visitors. Facebook timelines are filled with different competitions which include requests such as ‘Like Our Page’ or ‘Tag a Friend’. Think outside the box to make yours different. 

2. Run A Special 

Much like a competition, specials are bound to attract attention. There are two ways to go about this: select a slow-selling product and mark it down or advertise a product specifically towards your ideal customer. This may take some research, as you will need to build a picture of this person, including appearance, age, habits, and what makes them love your store. Building this profile is a great way to learn about your ideal customer and their habits to attract them. 

3. Enter the Charity Circuit

Find a charitable cause that you love and make your store a drop-off point for donation. Make a point of connecting with the charity on social media and sharing all of their content. Create frequent posts encouraging locals to donate old blankets or animal food at your store. This, along with the public Thank You from the charity, will give you positive exposure, and the charitable organization is likely to thank you publicly which will also give you exceptionally positive exposure. Secondly, you're building a positive association between your business and the concept of giving. People will warm up to your company because they see you as empathetic and kind which builds trust. As you gain visitors into your store, you’re likely to make more customers. 

4. Paid Ads

Learn how to create and run your own social media ad campaigns (it’s easier to learn than you think). The digital world offers target marketing, which means based on your previous research into understanding your ideal client, you can create powerful ads that appeal to your target customers. The best part? You don't pay for your ads until someone views them or interacts with them. There are so many different campaigns to choose from, based on whether you are selling a service or a product and what kind of audience you are targeting. Attracting customers into your store is as simple as running ads listing your sale items and selecting the region so that the ads only appear on the mobile phones of people in your area. 

Social Media and Business Success

More and more small businesses are using the community element of digital marketing and social media to grow and attract new customers to their real-life stores. With the addition of social media to your digital strategy, the public is able to share your content, enabling your message to spread further and reach a greater number of new potential clients and fans than ever before.