Autopilot Your Business

Co-founder of digital marketing agency Autopilot Your Business, Heather Porter held a workshop at Salon Melbourne and advised business owners how to use social media to their business’ advantage. Here, she discusses the personality of each social media avenue and how it can be used to your business’ advantage.

With my work I thrive in the nonstop, always changing world of websites, social media, SEO and any other techniques designed to attract clients to your business online. I taught myself web design back in the mid-nineties and was secretly fascinated with what tools and strategies others were using to brand themselves and get clients from the internet. After years of running events for some of the world’s top speakers I have taken my knowledge of attracting fans offline and my knowledge of the internet to do the same online.

Fifty per cent of the world’s population is under 30, and they use social media and blogs to stay connected with each other, refer products and services and get their daily dose of news and gossip. People Google businesses and if they can’t be found easily online in a number of places they are seen as less credible. I like to say “If you are not using social media as a business you don’t exist in the eyes of your modern day consumer.”

There are over 100 social media sites that exist, but there are six I have found to get the most results. These include Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+.

Many social media experts say “people don’t want to shop where they socialise” and I tend to agree. So, why should businesses use social media? Well, with so much “noise” it is taking longer to convince people to buy from you and social media allows you to build the trust required for people to make a purchasing decision. Ultimately social media is social proof, and in a world where beauty businesses rely heavily on referrals think of it as your ultimate referral tool.

To get an idea about how the social mediums fit together and can help you grow your business let’s look at the personalities of each one:

Facebook is “The Entertainer”: It is designed to entertain your guests by inspiring them, sharing new ideas and offering samples or discounts of what you have to offer. Images of quotes, before and after photos, demonstrations of your products and educational tips work extremely well here. Did you know Facebook would be the third largest country in the world based on population?

Twitter is “The Gossiper”: The juiciest most intriguing tweets get noticed and passed on as retweets. You can comment on newsworthy trends or acknowledge other businesses or people doing amazing things. Twitter is also an incredibly powerful tool to do fast market research using features like Twilert, where you can get alerted each time people tweet about you, your competitors or ask questions and need your help. Twitter is now considered the most accessible and easiest way to get updates on current news stories.

YouTube is “The Teacher”: People go there to search for tutorials. Experts and businesses have had millions of views sharing makeup, hair, massage and skin care tips. This is your chance to grab a camera and teach something or show a demo. As the second largest search engine in the world after Google, there are too many people hanging out on there, learning things and being entertained, to let this one pass you by.

LinkedIn is “The Professional”: You can show off your CV, get recommendations and engage in groups by answering questions.

Pinterest is “The Stylist”: The fastest growing social site in the history of social media! It is the most popular place right now online to share photos and is a great way to see what people like for hair and makeup trends. Show how you can get results by showing off some professional shots of what you can do.

Google+ is “The Referrer”: It allows people to go surfing around the internet liking pages. If they are active online or have a following, their profile starts popping up in searches for keywords as an expert in that space. It is still the new kid on the block but overseas trends are proving it’s important for you to not only have a profile but get people in your industry to start liking your sites.

There will probably be accounts that shut down, pop up or change before our eyes (like our friends at Facebook did with the introduction of the timeline). The fundamentals will always apply. Be nice, be transparent, mingle with others, don’t try and hog the limelight and update your accounts frequently.

One thing is for sure…the world is going mobile and this means more apps will be used. With nearly one billion smart phones predicted to be distributed worldwide by 2015, your content must be easy to see from mobile devices or people will not find you. Social media is a really easy way to fit into this trend. On average the global internet user spends 15 hours per month online. Twenty-two per cent of that is spent using social media networks with approximately eight hours alone being spent on Facebook each month.

Visit www.autopilotyourbusiness.com to find out more.