Point of Sale Software

Here are some Articles from the Blog Subject - social media -

Why your facebook page is not as good as it was.

POS SOFTWARE

 

Facebook has been a ripper of a way for Australian businesses to connect with customers. However, over the years, changes have made it much harder for people to get the same value out of their Facebook pages without paying. Years ago, any business could just post away and reach almost all their fans for free. Today, it is different.

Firstly, you still need a Facebook page.

I recommend every business makes a Facebook page - it costs you nothing and gives you a web presence that is vital for organisations today. If you don't have one, I suggest making one now! An active Facebook page remains useful for branding and customer engagement, but it should not be relied on alone to reach people. Today, it is just one of many mediums.

Organic reach

Organic reach refers to how many people see your post without advertising.

Organic reach is declining.

A study found that organic reach has declined to 6% without paid advertising. So, if you have 1000 people following your Facebook page, only about 60 people see your content. It's better than nothing, but what is the same any more? 

Some reasons would be:

  • Facebook is trying to make more money: Facebook is like any business trying to make more money, and as its product becomes more important, it can charge more.
  • Increased competition: As more people like Pages, there are more Pages, so the competition for visibility on Facebook is more challenging.
  • Quality matters: Better quality content is available, which is what Facebook wants; you need to do a better job to get noticed.

Bottom line: Unless you pay, only a very small percentage of your fan base will see your content.  This makes achieving marketing goals very difficult without paying. As organic reach declines, businesses rely more on Facebook's paid options.

 

Owning your audience

One alternative is to focus more on building owned channels like an email marketing list. Email allows you to communicate directly with your customers. You control it yourself rather than relying on Facebook's platform.

Email marketing remains a very cost-effective way for local retailers to stay in touch with customers. 

Conclusion

It is more challenging for small businesses on Facebook to compete with larger companies that can afford big advertising budgets. Facebook would argue, correctly, I think, that its tools still help small retailers find customers cost-effectively. For no cost, you can get free advertising; what is wrong with that?

While Facebook offers exposure, retailers must adapt to limited organic reach. 

Postponing Our Social Media Marketing Webinar

POS SOFTWARE

social media certificate

A few people who wanted to attend our upcoming webinar on social media marketing tips have said they are currently too busy ramping up for the holiday sales season, so we've decided to postpone the webinar until early next year when things settle down. We know this time of year can be hectic for retailers now!

New Webinar Date

We have rescheduled the webinar for mid-February 2024. We'll send out reminders as it gets closer.

Why Social Media Matters for Your Store

Social media marketing can be a huge boost for local shops, and it's probably the most effective advertising today.

Here is what we cover:

Choosing the Right Platforms

We'll provide tips on prioritizing platforms like:

  • Facebook - By far the most prominent platform, essential for retailers
  • Instagram - Great for visually showcasing products & store culture
  • Google My Business - Vital for local search visibility

Setting Up Your Facebook Page

A good Facebook presence is invaluable, so we'll walk through crucial elements like:

  • Ensuring your business info/hours are accurate
  • Writing an engaging About section

Posting Content That Connects

We'll explore free content ideas centred around:

  • Seasonal offers and sales events
  • Using photos that quickly communicate what you offer
  • Local community happenings
  • User-generated content from customers

Monitoring Performance

You need to measure

You will never get very far in social media if you do not measure, so I will run you through a free social media analytics tool that integrates into our POS Software to help track your KPIs:

I will then run you through the most popular social media marketing KPIs.

Engagement rate is the percentage of your followers interacting with your social media posts.

Reach is the number of unique people who see your social media advertisements.

Impressions are the number of times your social media posts are seen, which shows both positives and negatives.

Understanding performance data lets you refine your strategy over time.

Conclusion

Please let us know if you have any other questions before mid-Feb 2024

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Small Business Marketing: Leveraging Social Media to Thrive

POS SOFTWARE

social media certificate

I have seen firsthand how a strong online presence can transform a company's reach and reputation and increase its bottom line. Social media provides invaluable marketing opportunities for small businesses. Since the pandemic, where almost everyone went online, social media is now deeply embedded in many people's routines; it has taken over as the leading advertising today.

The Rising Importance of Social Media

Social media has become a dominant force in marketing. Here are some compelling statistics:

Usage in Australia of Social Media Jan 2023

  • 6 in 10 Australians use Facebook
  • 1 in 2 Australians uses Facebook daily
  • 1 in 2 Australians use YouTube
  • 1 in 3 Australians use Instagram
  • 1 in 4 Australians use Snapchat

The average person will be on Facebook today in Australia for 2 hours.

 

Social Media Marketing Success Stories

The point is that it is often FREE!

Many my clients eg newsagents have implemented a social media strategy focused on the products they market. This boosted their brand awareness and engagement tremendously. It has driven traffic to their shop by connecting with their customers.

Tips to Promote Your Small Business on Social Media

Here are some best practices I recommend for utilising social media as part of your overall marketing strategy:

Create shareworthy content. Post photos, videos, Stories, Reels, and live videos that capture attention and interest. Entertain and educate your customers

Engage with your audience. Respond to comments, questions, and feedback. Show customers you care.

Promte your shop online. Social platforms provide many detailed targeting options. Promote posts and products to your ideal demographics.

Analyse your posts. Use analytics to see which content and strategies are most effective. Double down on what drives engagement and conversions.

Be consistent. Post regularly to stay top of mind. But focus on quality over quantity in your content.

Highlight your purpose. Showcase how your business positively impacts the community. Consumers align with brands that reflect their values.

My Social Media Marketing Webinar for Small Business

If enough are interested, I am happy to run another Webinar on showing you the potential of social media marketing?

  • How to set up and optimize social media profiles
  • Types of content that fuel engagement
  • How to get images and news to post
  • Using analytics to guide your approach
  • Building engagement and community
  • Driving sales through social platform

 

Let me know if you are interested.

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On your Facebook page, you are responsible for comments

POS SOFTWARE

 

The High Court has recently confirmed that if your business has a Facebook page, you are responsible for the libellous comments people make on your shop's Facebook page. 

The High Court stated here recently that

Fairfax could not be considered "passive and unwitting victims of Facebook's functionality" as they operated the Facebook page for their own commercial and financial interests, and invited users to leave comments on the Facebook page. Instead, the media organisations must "bear the legal consequences" of doing so.

This confirms our early remarks that if you have a business Facebook page, you must turn off comments, as many do, or actively monitor posts and comments by your Facebook users.

Here are some actionable tips if you decide to allow comments.

Go to your business page.

Then press Settings on the bottom left.

Now you will get a page with the settings.

Here are our suggestions.

Visitor Posts: - Only you can post.

Post and Story Sharing: - Disabled.

Tagging Ability: - Off

Content moderation: - add any problematic words. There is no point in making your problems worse. Besides, I doubt your customers will appreciate people using these words. Keep adding to the list as required.

Profanity filter: - Turn on.

Remember, if such comments appear, please go to your Facebook page ASAP and delete them.

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Why now you need to take business photos?

POS SOFTWARE

You could use an image like this in your POS Software, Staff would appreciate when searching for a stock item an image. 

However you need to promote your business. The fact is that the cheapest (it's free), most effective, quickest, and the best way today is online on Social Media. 

What about a picture of something interesting in your shop? Look at large companies. If you look at their Facebook pages, you will see much of it in pictures. 

Why?

Well, they know that they have a few seconds to grab a person's attention. Visually you can captivate someone very quickly. A picture can help that person to visualise the product and/or service offered immediately. If they like what they see, they may read the offer. What they want is an exciting image that will grab your attention. 

Social media today is an inherently visual medium.

So, where is this headed? You need to be active on social media to promote your business too!  Ideally, what you are doing is something on social media at least a few times a month. If once a week, you are looking at 50 images a year.  It does not have to be Earth-shaking images. Few of them we see are. Use a picture of a jigsaw puzzle that has just arrived in your shop,  a new dog for sale, a Christmas greeting card, some perfume, a book, etc. 

Often you can get professional images from your supplier. If not well, it does it have to be professionally made.  With a decent smartphone today, anyone can take a good picture. All you need is some basic photography skills.

A Tip: One advantage that an amateur photographer has is that they can take as many photos as they like whenever they like.  Professionals can only come at set times and rarely will go back. Use this advantage and take many pictures, up, down, around, left, right, etc. until you get it right. If none worked, try again, it cost nothing today to take heaps of photos.

Another tip: Check out a few youtubes on taking photographs with smartphones. For example, this guy explains it well. 

Knowing how to take a good photo today on a smartphone is a skill worth learning. 

 

Give it a shot, and I would like to see some of your examples.

 

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Learning Social Media marketing

POS SOFTWARE

If you have not yet, look into using Social Media marketing!

Today more then ever, every business needs social media marketing. Few are going to walk past your shop now. So many of our clients now every day do something on their Facebook company page. It is their main communication method. Today in business using social marketing has never been more important. Vital, I would say.

No business can ignore social media as part of its marketing mix.

Checkout statistics for social media in Australia

"85% of the eligible (age 13+) Australian population have active social media accounts and spend an average of 1 hour 47 minutes per day on social media."

 

I was shocked a couple of days ago when a client asked us for help in setting up a Facebook page. We did help him out but now the problem is that he does not know how to use it. I told him, that he better learn. There is no excuse if he cannot do it get someone to help him. Then I gave him a few pointers. What I advised him was that there are plenty of good online courses, that he does not need to pay a cent for them, to learn.

The two courses that I suggested was

Facebook Blueprint

And if he wanted something more detailed, Hubspot was pretty good.

If you know something better please let me know.

The fact is that every serious business and organisation today needs a web presence. Today the web is the major means of communication between business and their clients.

So I recommend you go to Facebook now. See what a few similar businesses to yours are doing there now. Check the ones you like and take a few notes about what your business needs. Note the words they say. Presumably, they have experimented and found that these work for them so why not for you?

If you are not there, I recommend you go to Facebook, see what a few similar businesses to yours are doing on Facebook now. Check the ones you like and take a few notes about what your business needs. Note the words they say too. Presumably, they have experimented and found that these work.

Items like Facebook are mainly free.

You can always experiment later with the paid services.

 

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Social media today

POS SOFTWARE

I have clients now that are on social media all day. Today any retail business that wants to reach a broader target audience and attract new customers needs to go on social media, particularly if it is not in a centre. A centre will drag people in for you.

That is why often you will see cashiers in small businesses on Facebook on the front counter typing away, answering customer enquires.

Today many of your clients are using social media sites like Facebook frequently throughout the day. If you connect with them on these social networks, you help keep them engaged and interested in your business while they are outside the shop. 

It also allows you to get real-time feedback from the people who are most interested in your goods and services. This is vital if only because of the damage now bad reviews can do to your business.  A nail parlour near me got a few bad reviews and was begging its customers to say something nice about them because they were losing business as people were reading bad reviews and then not coming. 

Getting involved is not hard, try by sharing some cool photos of new stock items, if you have 10 major suppliers they odds are you will get at least one new photo or news item from one of them a day for you to share, then there is also news to share, eg your support for a bushfire appeal, worst case you always have the weather, etc. 

This will result in you having a loyal, engaged audience.

If you are thinking of growing your social media presence, you are probably wondering which social network is the best for you. It depends on the specific products you sell, but I would say Facebook first and then ask your customers.

If you want to learn more, click here

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What is for you the best times to post to Facebook and Twitter

POS SOFTWARE

What I have noticed is many using social media like Facebook or twitter make is a common mistake of placing their advertisements and articles at the wrong dates and times. The point is not be post when it's convenient for the shop owner but when actually the customers of the shop will most likely to see the information. What is the point of posting if by the time their customers start to look, there are hundreds of items ahead of them, their message is lost and the opportunity, the effort and money they put into it is lost!

A useful trick is to examine similar companies to yours and see what they do. That will give you an idea.

Then once you get going you need to use some of the tools available to you to determine the correct days and times. This is not so easy to determine as everyone’s best times to advertise can be different. What you need to do is experiments to try to find the correct time.