Big companies are slowly being replaced by smaller businesses and entrepreneurs.  People are looking for personal customer service and they are willing to pay for it!  Look at how much Esty and Amazon Marketplace are growing!!  So if you are a small business or someone who makes hand-made goods, this blog is for you!

Over the last few weeks we have talked about how to up your social media marketing!  If you missed those blogs, stop reading and go back to this one from last week.   Today we are going to talk about making it personal.  People are much more willing to spend money and buy products if they know, like and feel connected to the company or person selling it.  Often they are even willing to spend MORE money if they know it is supporting a small business or friend.  They are also willing to spend more money if they know they will get better customer service.

When it comes to social media marketing, making it personal is a MUST!  Show your followers and potential customers who YOU are.  What you stand for.  What their money supports.  Are you a mom?  Show pictures of your family and kids.  It makes it personal.  People can relate.  Figure out what makes you, your business, your products and your brand unique and show that.  It will attract your tribe and therefore your ideal client.  Do you love coffee and donuts?  Show that!  Talk about what you love and what makes you tick.  I suggest that you make a list of 5-10 things that you LOVE and start talking about them.  Every 2-3 posts on Instagram or Facebook should be about YOU and what makes you unique and special.  Don’t even mention your business or your products.  In fact, probably less than half of your social media posts should be about what you sell.  People want to belong and believe in something.  So make them belong and believe in YOU and your company.

So much of what makes a social media post personal is the caption!  Captions are the hardest part.  What do I say?  Maybe tell them 2 truths and a lie and have people try to figure out which one isn’t true.  Tell about your favorite vacation spot or the top 5 places you have visited.  Tell your favorite joke or a funny story.  Ask for advice on a problem you are having.  Nothing makes you more relatable than when you are vulnerable.  If you are really struggling with captions, check out Stock Talk.  Each month I send you photos and Captions that can be personalized.  It takes the guess work out of what to post and helps get your brain started.  Because we have all been guilty of staring at our computer (or phone) screen for WAY too long trying to figure out what to post.  Here is a sample of one of the twenty photos/captions that I send out each month.

Make sure your face (or faces) are shown in your feed.  Hire a photographer (or enlist a friend or family member) to take some photos of you (check out this post on creating content for your feed).  If you get 10 pictures, then you have 10 weeks worth of pictures to post.  For Instagram, make sure that your face is in your 9 squares at all times.  Which means one out of every nine posts needs to feature YOU!  You can also check out this post on taking better photos if you need help with that.

Use your Instagram or Facebook (or Snapchat) stories to make it personal.  Hop on once or twice a week and show your face.  Talk about something you love or tell a funny story.  People love to be entertained by stories.  The best part about stories is that they GO AWAY after 24 hours.  Which means you don’t have to be perfect.  They even have filters if you don’t have makeup on or aren’t comfortable with the way you look.  Whenever I see friends/family/clients/followers while I am out and about I often get comments on a story I had recently done.  Mine are usually unscripted and off the cuff but if that is hard for you, then write down a little script.  If you mess up, delete it and try again.

My number one advice to good business and making it personal is CUSTOMER SERVICE.  Go above and beyond.  Under promise and over deliver.  For me, as a photographer, that means I tell someone their photos will be done in two weeks and then surprising them by having them done in less than one week (sometimes even in just a few short days).  People are always so happy to have their photos earlier than expected rather than having to track down their photographer after 2 weeks to ask for the photos only to be told it will be a few more days.  Send a little something extra in their order (even if it just a few candies), give them free shipping, give them a coupon for 20% off their next order.  It doesn’t have to be expensive, just a personal touch that goes the extra mile.  Also, answer your phone calls and emails quickly.  If someone is upset, take a deep breath, pull up your big girl pants and CALL THEM!  Sometimes things can get misconstrued over email or text.  It is always better to call them in person, apologize and see what you can do to make it right.

So there you go!!  I can’t wait to see how you are going to get personal with your followers in the next few weeks.  Do you have any questions about Social Media Marketing?  I would love to hear them and even write a blog about it.  Comment below!