Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, these three tips from social-media marketing instructor Holli Moncrieff will help you improve your online marketing:

1. Have some fun.
   Like its name suggests, social media is designed to be social. The goal is to build relationships with your customers and clients, not sell them a product. Ask them to share a photo of their pets. Or their best tips for surviving Mondays. If you sell a scented product, ask them what their favourite scents are. Even though it might not feel like marketing, it is—it builds trust and people are more apt to buy from companies they like. And, the better you know your customer, the easier it will be to offer the products and services they want in the future.
2. Content is key.
   The number-one goal of any social-marketing campaign is to drive people to your website, and the best way to do that is with great content. What need do your customers have that you can fill? If you’re a museum, you can write a post of ten fun things to do on a rainy day. If you’re an auto-body shop, a list of spring maintenance must-dos would be helpful. By creating fabulous content for your website and sharing it on social media, you will attract customers to your site. Be sure to share others’ content on your social-media accounts as well.
3. Tread carefully.
   So you’ve gotten a bad review or a very public complaint from an unhappy customer. The lastthing you want to do is defend yourself, no matter how unjustified you think the complaint is. I’ve seen companies get defensive time and time again, and it always makes them look argumentative, unfriendly, and angry, no matter how carefully they word their rebuttal. If someone complains about your establishment, apologize. Offer a discounted or free service to lure them back. Your other customers will see this and appreciate how you handled a difficult situation. They might even speak up to defend you, and that’s what you want—your customers should be the ones discrediting negative reviews. Never, ever do it yourself. You can’t please everyone, and once you’ve posted a snarky rebuttal online, it’s out there forever.

Learn more about social media marketing with Holli: Beyond Hashtags

This spring, she will be teaching Beyond Hashtags, a social-media marketing course that goes far beyond the basics. Register today to make your online marketing skills sharper this summer.

About Holli:

For over two decades, Holli has been helping businesses

and non-profits navigate the choppy waters of social media. She is accredited with the Canadian Public Relations Society, and specializes in online relationship building and crisis management. Under the name J.H. Moncrieff, she’s also a bestselling horror and suspense writer.