How to get new clients through social media – 5 simple steps

Managing your social media can be like swimming up stream at times. Just when you think you’ve cracked it; Facebook moves the goal posts and you feel like you’re back to square one. We hear you! We speak to business owners every week who are getting increasingly frustrated; they want to promote themselves online and do social media well, but they either don’t have the time or are finding it hard to get it right.

If you just don’t know what to do for the best, start with our 5 simple steps to getting it right online so new clients can find and get to know you.

1: Engaging social media posts

The best way to succeed on social media is to provide content that is valuable to your audience and makes them want to engage (i.e. makes them want to like, share or comment on the post). Make sure that everything you post is relevant, interesting, helpful or fun…and preferably something that they would want to share with their friends.

Get personal! After all, your audience is looking at your page because they want to find out more about you, your activity and your approach. So make sure your posts give them an insight into your practice, the team and how you can meet their needs; connecting with them on a personal level.

2: Advertise to reach new clients

Engaging posts on your page are the best way to engage your followers…but what if you don’t have many followers? You can have great, engaging content but if a potential new client hasn’t ‘Liked’ your Facebook page, they are unlikely to see it. If you are hoping to reach a wider audience and attract new followers, and potentially new patients, then advertising on Facebook and Instagram is the best way to do this.

It’s also worth remembering that Facebook’s algorithm will favour you if you spend money with them through appropriate and relevant advertising. So, if you don’t advertise with them at all, your organic reach will be significantly lower. You need to ‘feed the beast’ if you want your content to be seen!

3: Utilise the power of video

Every social media platform LOVES video. They can’t get enough of it! And if your business page features a good amount of video, which has achieved a good amount of engagement (i.e. people have liked, shared or commented on the post), then Facebook are more likely to show your post to a larger audience. From short videos about a new activity, through to longer promotional videos, client testimonials and ‘Live’ video posts, you will find that harnessing the power of video in your social media will not only engage and interest your audience, but also improve the success of your page.

4: Spreading smiles – Ask for reviews!

Reviews are a great way to reassure new clients that they are making the right choice with your business. New clients will often look at your reviews before picking up the phone to speak to you, so you need to make sure you have plenty of glowing reviews to recommend you and ensure they pick up the phone to make that all important call.

Start by creating a profile on the two most popular online review platforms – Google My Business and Facebook. Make sure you put as much information in your profile as you can, along with some great pictures of the business activity itself and information on how to find you.

Next, try to speak to one or two clients each day. Choose clients who you know well and who are positive about the service and their experiences with you…and ask them if they would be happy to leave a review. If you let your happy clients know that they would be helping you to improve the business and reassure other clients just like them, you will find that most are more than happy to help.

It’s worth considering that unless you ask for positive reviews, you may well only get them when a client is unhappy. Let’s be realistic, you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but at least if you do ever get a not-so-favourable review, you’ll have plenty of great reviews to off-set the bad. And remember, if you do get a negative review, ALWAYS post a reconciliatory reply.

5: Team work – get the team involved

Your team are a great asset when it comes to social media. They can help you in many ways, including liking your page and sharing posts with their friends. Your team can also be a great asset when it comes to encouraging clients to leave a review, ‘check-in’ at the activity or event or post a selfie of the before and after of the service you have provided with your business.

Social media is a powerful, yet cost effective way of attracting new clients to your business, but it can be a little daunting and time consuming when you’ve got a busy service to run. These 5 top tips should help to get you started, but if you feel you would like a little more advice or some help in getting in right, then Mdot’s social media management team can help. Get in touch to find out how we can help your practice 0115 987 0044 or click here and we’ll be in touch.