It may feel overwhelming for you as a business owner to have a blank canvas to update your followers, friends, and competitors. You might feel as if you don’t have time to post a photo of your growing seedlings that will be available in 6 weeks at the market. It might feel like a waste of time captioning photos and explaining your daily routine as a florist, brew master, or yogi.
On the other side of the spectrum, it may feel exciting for you as a business owner to have a blank, digital canvas. You might have files full of high-resolution photos ready to post at a scheduled time. Your business partner might regularly use Canva to design graphics for campaigns.
Regardless of how social media makes you feel, having a digital presence is an investment in your business and platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are free. Here are 4 business examples to use as inspiration to develop your digital strategy for sustainability.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Since its inception in 2014, Red Collar Brewing’s been consistent with using #redcollarbrewing instead of bouncing between #redcollar, #rcb, #redcollarbrews, and other hashtags online. As of April 2020, #redcollarbrewing has been used 2,600 times publicly on Instagram. This helps gauge digital reach over time, builds brand awareness, and strengthens the (beer and wider Kamloops) community.
Keep your posts easy to read and use relevant hashtags to your business, community, and industry.
Be Authentic & Honest
Art Knapp is a local nursery tucked behind the Halston Connector that’s opene year-round with gardening supplies and more.
Their team has been honest online about sharing their website glitches, overwhelming call volume, and inventory supply numbers. Sharing that “we are doing the best we can, as fast as we can” is honest and relatable. If your delivery times are longer than usual – regardless if the reasons are in or out of your control- simply explain it in a social media post. Authenticity and honesty builds trust with your followers.
Share What You’re Doing in the Community
Dawson Construction is a transportation and construction business based out of Kamloops. Their firm is one of many participating in the Amber Light Tribute, an evening parade at 7:00pm to thank healthcare workers at Royal Inland Hospital.
Dawson Construction shared their participation on their company’s Facebook page recently and explained how and why they did. It’s not about the dollar amount or total volunteer hours that your team has provided to the community. It’s being present through the means that you have.
Communication is a Two-Way Street
KSPIN Indoor Cycling Studio may have temporarily closed their doors in mid-March; but, their team has pivoted accordingly and kept their customers in the loop throughout the entire process by responding to comments, throwing emojis out like high-fives, and more.
Having a presence on Facebook or Instagram is more than just posting about your community involvement and new inventory. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and questions on your posts in a timely manner. If the comments are critical, take the conversation off the post, and ask the individual to directly message you to sort through the matter.
You might feel like commenting, posting updates, and sharing tidbits about your business is awkward. However, people are curious and may not know the struggles and successes that your business has had to face. Be proud of your businesses fabric and share it by opening the conversation, responding to comments, using hashtags appropriately, and being authentic to your brand.
