In the latest study conducted by the Pew Research Center, they found out that over 72% of adults in the US say they use at least one social media site. Of this number, 81% use Youtube and 69% go to Facebook. These people use social media for at least two hours and 25 minutes a day, according to a 2021 study by DataReportal.
On the business side of things, Buffer conducted a study among marketers and found out that more than 70% of them believe marketing in social media is "somewhat effective" or "very effective." This is probably because more than half of customers (54%) go to their favorite social media platform to research products they want to buy.
It's undeniable. Businesses should learn to leverage social media to reach their audience in the modern online world. But should companies such as veterinary practices focus on client acquisition alone on social media?
Client Acquisition vs. Client Retention on Social Media
In marketing, the first thing that you do for a business is to get new clients. That's fine. That's the right thing to do. If you have a business, you have to get people coming through the door first. However, some make the mistake of focusing only on acquiring new clients. What happens is that they do get new clients, but none come back because the customers feel no reason to do so.
That is why implementing a client retention strategy well into your acquisition plan is always a wise choice. A business should have both an acquisition and retention plan in place on social media. This ensures that the brand builds a relationship with said customers as they get new clients, becoming loyal clients. The two, client acquisition and client retention, should work in any good marketing plan.
However, client acquisition is much easier to do on social media. While you may need to shell out a budget to get people to notice your brand, client retention can get more complicated.
The good news is that there are multiple ways for a business to convert regular clients into loyal customers.. Do note that some of the practices we will mention might not apply to your business, and that's fine. Let's start!
4 Ways You Can Retain Customers Through Social Media
Marrying Modern with Traditional
Some business make the mistake of thinking just because your social media accounts are "online," then promotion for it should be done online as well. Fortunately, this is not the case. An intelligent way to turn your new clients into social media followers is by making them aware of your social media channels during their visit. You can also put up signs in the lobby showcasing your latest contests and events on social media. This will make looking up your social media accounts while waiting for second nature to your visitors. Also, save your customer a few seconds of typing by ensuring you have QR codes they can quickly scan to go directly to your pages.
Customizing Their Welcome Email With Social Links
If you regularly ask your customers for their emails so you can keep in touch, maybe you should start sending them welcome emails with your social links. However, don't just put in links to your social media accounts. Instead, be creative, so they are more likely to click on the links. You can also update them on your latest contests or promotions, so they get motivated to follow through with the click.
Post Relevant Content On Social Media
Once your customers follow you on your social media accounts, the next step is to ensure they stay. To do that, you need to be consistent in your posts. This ensures that you show up in their feeds regularly, and they don't forget about you. But posting just about anything without a plan can turn off the majority of your followers. This means you need to be a bit smart about what you post.
There are four different types of content that people love on social media. These are:
- Learning posts
- Inspiration - Everybody loves a good inspirational story now and then. Don't be afraid to share stories that you find inspiring. You need your followers to see the emotions behind what you do.
- Entertainment - Many people go to social media to be entertained - so why not capitalize on that? Post funny videos, memes, or jokes , and you are sure to get a lot of reactions from people.
- Reminders - As a standard, 80-90% of your posts on social media should be either one of the three types mentioned above. The remaining 10% should be used for posts regarding your services. Just don't forget that over-promoting your practice might not be a good idea, to be as creative as possible.
Don't Hesitate to Engage.
Social media is not a one-way street. If you want to create loyal customers from your regular clients, you need to foster a relationship with them. You can do this on social media by engaging with them. Create channels for people to talk to each other by creating polls or asking questions in your posts. Respond to comments when you can and help out those who have queries. Your customers spent time commenting or asking questions, so you should also allocate a few minutes of your time to engage with them. These few seconds and minutes will mean a lot to your followers, especially when they had a pleasant time engaging with you.
Low or No Cost Marketing Strategies For Your Business
Social Media
Do this quick game. Try to remember some businesses that you encounter daily. About 3-5 should be enough. After finalizing your list, please go and check their social media accounts. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok. Chances are, the ones with an active social media presence are the ones that have a consistent flow of traffic through their front door.
This is no coincidence. According to studies, about 54% of the population uses social media to research products and services. Of this number, 71% are more likely to buy a product based on what they see on social media.
This means that if you are not on social media, then you are missing out. Social media is not all about boosting posts and creating ads. A low or zero-cost approach to social media is to cultivate a presence - a unique one at that.
You don't have to sell your business on social media. If people like your presence, they will go and seek you out. That's how much social media can influence people.
Email Marketing
Email is another marketing channel that most businesses.. However, it is true that compared to the other options out there, it is pretty archaic.
Fortunately, there's a reason why email is still here to stay. People still use their emails daily, and it is a communication channel that is prevalent across age groups. Millennials are more likely to check their emails than other age groups.
If your business is not collecting emails from your customers, you are wasting precious data you can use for low-cost marketing. By collecting emails and adding them to an email list, you can plan an email marketing campaign. A lot of email marketing services such as Mailchimp are easy to use and can come cheap.
Just don't forget that your emails should not always be promotional. Send reminders, information on specials, dates of events, so your emails don't stay unopened.
Create a Referral Program
Word of mouth marketing is still one of the best ways to gain new customers. This is because we are hard-wired to rely on a trusted person's feedback of service to form a decision.
Creating a referral program gives people an incentive to spread the good word about your business. A basic referral program will reward a person every time they send a friend of theirs your way. They can earn discounts, points, or cash they can spend on your clinic.
Create a Rewards Program
The best customers are always the ones you already have. So why not reward them for being loyal?
A rewards program is a simple way for you to "give back" to customers that support your business. A lot of mobile apps are available out there that can help you out.
Remember that you should learn to balance the value of the rewards and the difficulty of attaining them. You may provide grand prizes, but people are less likely to participate if they seem impossible to achieve.
Learn to Upsell
You have many clients who have had the chance to avail of your services but do you even upsell other services?
Upselling is suggesting additional services on top of what they are currently availing. For example, if you have a customer who goes in for quarterly checkups, you might want to suggest adding a routine dental exam in the mix. Your front desk staff can also share your latest promotions on products you sell upon checkout.
There are a ton of opportunities for you to upsell. You have to learn to know when.
Updating Your Website
A lot of businesses assume that websites are a one-and-done kind of thing. As soon as you have it set up, then it's good for the next ten years.
And no, updating your website does not mean having to go through a pricey redesign. Minor updates on images, blogs, and other content on your site should be done. Posting information about a recent event should be a good start. After all, you wouldn't want your prospective customers to see that the last promotion you have on your site ended a year ago, right?
