RESIDENTIAL: Choose Your Social Media Platforms Wisely

Social media management benefits can go far beyond raising brand awareness and staying current on the latest HVAC industry trends. 

Social channels can be the keys to building more personal connections with target audiences, building brand trust and loyalty, according to Lauren Wattie, vice president, Vault Communications.

In the July/August issue of SMACNews, Wattie shared the benefits of using social media and suggested questions to ask yourself to get started with these platforms. 

Sure, you may want to try using social media more in your marketing efforts, but figuring out which channels to use and where to focus your limited time can be challenging. Here, we’re breaking down each of the top social media platforms to help you decide where to target your dollars and maximize your marketing efforts. 

Facebook
Facebook is a great platform for building overall awareness for your business and cultivating new audiences. It also acts as an extension of your website because you can include company and contact information, as well as share business updates, promotions and recent projects and communicate with customers via messages and comments. 

To maximize your presence on Facebook: 

• Include photos, videos, links and general information.
• Keep post copy short.
• Always include a visual.
• Watch Messenger comments; use it as a customer service platform. Response time is public. 
• Consider budgeting dollars to boost posts to reach a wider audience, increase business visibility, improve visibility on best posts, tap into detailed targeting options and drive more people to your website. While you can boost a post for as little as $1 per day, Wattie’s daily budget recommendation is $10 to $50, and monthly is $250 to $1,500.

Instagram
Instagram has a younger, millennial audience that seeks highly visual and authentic content. “This platform is great for brand awareness and gives you a chance to be creative when interacting with current and potential customers,” Wattie says. Lifestyle content thrives in this space. 

To maximize your presence on Instagram: 

• Don’t be afraid to use longer captions but include the important details in the first three to four lines. 
• Use a strong visual approach. 
• Balance photography with custom graphics to increase posting frequency. 
• Stay top-of-mind with current and potential customers with real-time stories.
• Use relevant hashtags and tag like-minded businesses. 
• Proactively engage by following relevant hashtags, commenting on related posts and following new users. 

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a hub for professional networking and B2B communication with superior targeting capabilities. This workforce development and networking tool enables you to share job/career opportunities, post about recent projects and behind-the scenes content ,and share longer form content on current trends or business announcements.

The platform continues to see record engagement driven by thought leadership. Users are actively looking to educate themselves and stay up-to-date on industry news. 

Opportunity exists for executives to lean into their own content strategy as a supplement to a strong company page strategy.

To maximize your presence on LinkedIn:

• Offer something unique. 
• Write and engage consistently.
• Build relationships beyond likes. 
• Remember that LinkedIn is more than just a recruitment platform; balance corporate content with posts that share professional development tips and tune into trending topics for content inspiration. 
• Use hashtags and tag relevant accounts for visibility. 
• Turn employees into brand advocates by defining a social media policy, training employees on how to use the platform and encouraging employees to create content.  

TikTok
TikTok is the fasted growing social network today. Users share niche video content that is served up through a strong platform. “Any video can organically ‘go viral’ no matter how many followers you have,” Wattie says. 

The audience demographics skews young but is growing among older millennials. In 2021, nearly 70 percent of users were between 10 and 39 years old. 

This platform is ideal for organic brand awareness growth, giving you a chance to be creative and reach a younger audience. 

To maximize your presence on TikTok: 

• Only use vertical videos.
• Use sounds and hashtags.
• Regularly engage with other users and content in the comments section to increase discoverability. 

Consistency is the Name of the Game
Once you decide which platforms to target your attention, layout a posting plan. 

When posting content on social media, aim for consistency over frequency, Wattie suggests.

Also focus on quality over quantity. To do this correctly, ask yourself the following questions before you post:

• What’s the point of this content? 
• How does this relate to our brand and message?
• What are users learning from this? 
• Is this interesting and will people enjoy this content?  

In the next issue, we’ll talk about the power of using videos on social media, as well as tips on branding, engaging with customers and driving business reviews.