Proven Hacks for Social Media Marketing

At the ALA Conference in Lake Tahoe, social media maven Crystal Vilkaitis of Crystal Media, dropped some impressive stats. “A person picks up their phone 1,500 times a week – that’s once every 5 ½ minutes – and Gen Z spends over 6 hours a day on their phones,” she shared. “Gen Z has buying power. They’re here, they’re scrolling, and their phone is where their attention is being spent.” 

This presents tremendous marketing potential for business owners. “We have the ability to reach our customers every single day. We get the opportunity to get into bed with them. They’re going to bed scrolling, and they’re waking up scrolling. As a marketer, it’s so easy to connect with our customers,” she said.

For some showroom owners, posting on social media might feel daunting and overwhelming. “There can be many frustrations with it, but it is the channel for us to connect every single day, multiple times a day, with our customers. It’s powerful,” she emphasized. 

Especially when marketing dollars are tight in a challenging economy, allocating the time and energy on a social media plan can be money well-spent. “Think about when we didn’t have cell phones. You had to pay attention to what your customers might be reading or where they’re driving, or what they’re listening to – and some of that still applies today – but with social media, we have such an incredible opportunity to show up where they’re spending their time,” she explained. 

Like many other marketing approaches, seeing results from a social media plan isn’t immediate. “You have to commit to social media for it to work,” Vilkaitis stated. “You’re not going to post one reel, and all of a sudden you will have a flood of [followers] from that one reel. Social media is a place where we have to continuously show up and commit.”

What Makes Good Content

Business owners wear many hats. “I want you to think of having a ‘content creator’ hat. You have to think of yourself as a content creator in today’s marketing world,” Vilkaitis advised. “I want you to make this your favorite hat because it gives us that opportunity to connect with our customers. We’re going to create content that resonates with them and makes them stop that scroll — and that makes you memorable.”

Everything is content, as unbelievable as that may sound. “Even your experience at Conference is content: the travel you did to get here, the resort venue, what you’re learning, the meetings you’ve had, the questions being asked — all of that is a way to connect with our audience.  Your lighting showrooms are beautiful, and that alone provides so much content. Don’t get hung up on ‘I don’t know what to post.’ Show some behind-the-scenes of your showroom. People love that,” she said. 

The key in social media marketing is the “social” part. “We get so caught up with, ‘I need to promote to make sales,’ or ‘I need to create traffic,’ that we don’t have conversations with our audience. We’re not asking questions or engaging like we would when they are walking into our showroom and having a conversation with them. Showing [employees’] faces and humanizing the content is what gets people to stay on a post a little bit longer versus scrolling right past faceless brands,” Vilkaitis noted, adding, “Faceless brands are really hard to build and connect with on social media.”

To humanize that experience even further, whoever from your company is responding to a question or comment should provide their first name. “We want them to know who they’re talking to,” Vilkaitis stated. “It’s a benefit when we’re a small business and can say, ‘Hey this is Jill’ when responding on Facebook or Instagram. Then, all of a sudden, that customer comes in and says, ‘I’ve been talking to Jill on Instagram…she’s so great.’ You’ve created a relationship before they’ve even come into the showroom just by showing faces, adding names, and having conversations,” she said.

Need some icebreakers to get a conversation started? Crystal has provided 80 minutes of free training for ALA members here, where she shares proven social media hooks and hacks that work for any retail business.

Looking for more business content like this? Join us at ALA Conference in Plam Beach, Fla., Sept. 22-24, 2024. Register by Nov. 30, 2023, to enter our drawing for a free spa treatment and room upgrade.