This is a long post, but bear with me so I can share my 5 ingredients to cook up a successful social media presence to bring your business to life! Because let's face it, entrepreneurs, we can all use a little help in this ever-so-fast changing world. This blog post is part of the speech that Melanie delivered on stage at EyeInnovate San Francisco last month. Therefore, it's focused on the world of optics. But, replace the optics with any other retail branch, we are all in this together and this post is relevant for all local retailers...
First, allow me to take you back in time
It’s 1984. Picture a little girl. Blond, with a typical old-fashioned (very) embarrassing haircut. She’s about 1,5 years old. The words that keep coming from her mouth are zelf doen. Dutch words for 'I want to do it myself'. This little girl is me. My mom told me I always had issues with authority. These first words, 'zelf doen', were a pretty good precursor I guess. I just really wanted to do things my own way. I had always been a bit different. I didn’t really fit in. Being different during your childhood is often synonymous with being bullied, feeling lonely and betraying your identity in an attempt to fit in.
Growing up, I learned to appreciate my being different, and more and more I felt the need to break free from the gray, boring (to me), monotonous crowd. That’s when, at the age of 14, I tricked my parents into ‘spending a year abroad’. By the age of 15 I was living with a host family in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, USA, for one year. The move definitely wasn’t mainstream and I was certainly different from my fellow Black Diamonds at Sallisaw High.
After a year, I returned to The Netherlands. I finished grammar school and instead of going to one of the top-notch universities in The Netherlands, I decided to go to the Military Academy and to join the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Again a decision that did not quite fit the picture. You need to know, The Netherlands is left and liberal-minded. Pursuing a career in the military was - and is - not mainstream, especially not for an honors high school student!
I was really doing things my own way. But boy oh boy, did I oversee the authority part of a military career. I am terrible at following orders. I served for 10 years and left the service as a captain after many military exercises, a short visit to Afghanistan and really getting a good hang of the special comradery in the armed forces.
Why am I telling you this? This is a blog post for (local) entrepreneurs, right?
Well, it’s about the uniform. I had to take it off. Quite literally. Uniformity wasn’t for me. My whole life, starting with those first words 'zelf doen', had been about living life, my own way. Embracing ‘being different’.
Looking back, I was always meant to be an entrepreneur. Growing up, I discovered that autonomy is my middle name. I need to trust my gut. I dare to take bold decisions. All I want is to break free from tradition. I am a doer. I keep going where others stop. I dare to take risks. You might even call me a trail breaker, an optimist. I create my own opportunities and seize them. And, nobody tells me what to do. My independence is my greatest asset. I go my own way.
I was born an entrepreneur. And you can probably relate? No surprise here, as the characteristics I just mentioned are all entrepreneurial skills. And entrepreneurs can’t be caged. They don’t fit the uniform. They crave independence. And although ‘not fitting in’ is often painful, it is so powerful to stand out. Especially when you are an independent entrepreneur!! But being all that, it takes a certain toughness.
Rough and tough disruption of retail
And well, to be honest, it is getting tough out there. Especially for independent retail entrepreneurs. The world is changing rapidly. Digital transformations have disrupted and completely changed the music and photo industry years ago. Digitalization has disrupted the travel industry, the print media, and television industry. And digital transformations are currently disrupting the retail industry. Retail is being disrupted. There is no way we can deny it. The vacant storefronts, deserted malls, and empty shopping centers. Retail is changing. One thing you must have already noticed, and that’s the fact that you no longer have exclusive contact with the end consumer. Your suppliers now sell directly to them via social media! They offer extra perks, like personalized engravings or design-your-unique-frame-stuff in their own online webshops.
Why would people buy from you and not directly through them? Good question, and you can’t ask yourself this enough times. Keep checking: ‘are we doing the right things?’ Now I can imagine you thinking: Well, they’ll always need what we sell, let’s say an eye exam if you are an Eye Care Professional. Yes, eye exams will remain necessary. And yes, the need for eyewear will stay. But there will be different industry moguls supplying them to your customers. So the question is, what can YOU do to make sure your store will still be around 10 years from now? And what should you do to have your store not only ‘be around, but be thriving’ in 10 years?
The answer lies in bringing your business to life. And this requires you to stand out. To not fit in. To be different. To lead, not follow. How? It’s about Craft - Man - Ship. It’s easy to remember, harder to execute on, but we’ve got you covered.
CRAFT
First of all, bringing your business to life requires you embracing your craft. You know there are millions of companies that sell stuff. But there aren’t that many craftsmen. Sure, we can buy (almost) everything online. But I don’t want to buy everything online. Why? Because sometimes I need high-quality advice and that requires trust. I trust my flesh-and-blood Eye Care Professional more than an online retailer like Ace & Tate, Charlie Temple or Warby Parker. Especially when my eyes require extra care or special lenses. I trust the craftsmanship of my optician or optometrist more than a random blog post that I can easily find on this subject on one of the websites of online hipster brands. So flaunt it! Your craft instills trust. Therefore, make your craft stand out, it is your big asset! Create an experience around it. Don’t fit in, stand out!
(WO)MAN
YOU are your second biggest asset. You are a human being and you are capable of building real relationships with people. You can connect with me, your customer, and share a human-to-human relation. Your ability to build a relationship with me, from one human being to another human being, differentiates you from online shops, Amazon or any other online big box store.
Your personal passion got your business started in the first place. Your personality gives your shop its identity. The success of your company is based on your personal talents. Your business breaths you. Simple copycats or franchise stores are not distinct nor independent. You are you. Online stores have to send me emails to connect to me. But you, you can make honest real-life connections. It makes all the difference. And brings hope too, because research shows us that younger generations don’t relate to products. They don’t really care WHAT you sell, what matters is WHY and HOW you sell it. They care about what the message is that goes with your products. The younger generation relates to the values of your brand. They relate to your values. And they can relate to the lifestyle that your brand and store breath.
So bringing your business to life is also about YOU, your personal story, your store and team and the story of the brand(s) you’re selling.
SHIP
Nobody will know how incredible you and your products are if they haven’t heard about you. A story can only be good once it’s told. Therefore, bringing your business to life means investing in communication. You’ll need to ship your story. A study conducted among more than 3500 local entrepreneurs in the US (2017) showed that the use of social media is seen as the most effective form of local advertising, out of 30 options! Without social media, you do not exist. The younger peeps will check out your Insta and Facebook before they even visit your store! People want to see what you stand for, who you are and how people review your craft, products and the service you’re providing. Half of the sale is done before setting a foot in your store. Without a story on social media, you’re done. Ship that story!
Great knowing all this. Now what?
In short, let me share these 5 ingredients to cook up a successful social media presence:
- I know. Talk on social media about your Expertise, your craftsmanship. Quite obvious you might think, but this is what distinguishes you from online players and technological eye exam solutions that might pop up in the next few years. Highlight this even more by actively asking people to review your expertise on your social channels.
- I am. Show yourself and your team on social media. Your personality, your identity sets you apart from other eye doctors or optical stores. Be sure to communicate your values because they define who you are and why you do what you do. And, very important to remember: as I said before, the younger generations don’t buy WHAT you sell, but HOW and WHY you sell it.
- I belong. Highlight your connection and personal relations to the local community on social media. Show your collaborations with other local entrepreneurs. Share the announcement of the Christmas market that will be held in your mall. Post about the marathon that literally runs through your street. Mention the local clubs or good causes that you chose to sponsor this year and explain why they matter to you, and to your mission. If you are a member of the local Ladies Circle, Lions Club or Rotary Club, mention how you help your local community. You are a part of the local community. Showcase it. People obviously appreciate to see that you care, and they might return a ‘simple favor’ by shopping local.
- I sell. Of course, you also communicate the brands you sell. But it’s extra smart if you don’t only show what you sell, but also explain what the values are behind the brands you’re selling. Do they match your values? If you are an optician with a green heart, we can imagine you sell sustainable eyewear brands like Monkeyglasses or EoE. They both have such a compelling story. If their story matches with your story, be sure to communicate it. Make people want your products, because of the story!
- I smile. Don’t forget to have fun. Share inspiring quotes, wish people a happy holiday or happy vacay. Spice things up a bit. Be informal yet classy. But be out there, and be there consistently. You need to post regularly, say at least 3 times a week. And you’ll want to post different things on the available different social platforms. In short, loosely citing Vicki Molina, Facebook and Instagram are like white and red wine. I love both kinds of wine, but there are times when I choose one over the other. They fulfill my needs in a different way. And there’s more out there… you might need a different platform for your store. Remember though, Facebook is still the number ONE platform when it comes to advertising on social. Remember that social platforms are mostly about relaxing, scrolling, funny posts. Have fun doing it, stand out and make people want to share your latest post!
So in short: bringing your business to life requires being skilled. It requires you to connect and to stand out through your personality. And you need to ship your story, you need to spread the word. It’s all about crafts(wo)manship.
Isn’t this too much work?
This all sure sounds like a lot of work and to be honest, heck yeah, it is. But no matter how good your products are and how experienced you are, if you don’t ship your story, you don’t exist. You really need to bring your business to life and you need social storytelling to do so. There are ways and means to this though. For example, you could outsource your social storytelling. As long as you don’t forget that YOU have to stand out. Your personality has to stand out. You could ask your marketer to incorporate you into the storytelling mix. Or, you could use Embrosa…
A-ha!! You were waiting for Embrosa’s place in all this?
Well, our business is SHIPPING your story! We do 90% of the work for you but require that last 10% from you to make a story YOUR story. How do we do this, you ask? Under the hood, we have a massively smart content logistics system. We gather visuals and videos from brands and marketing agencies and we distribute them straight from the brands' headquarters to every retailer across the globe. Their branded visuals become part of your story. We deliver them to you just in time, in your own language. You only see the visuals of the brands that you sell, so only relevant content. All you have to do to ship your story is to open our app!
So, are you a local entrepreneur that doesn’t have a marketing department? We’ve got you covered, you too can be Embrosa-powered. Our app (App Store / Google Play) is filled with lots and lots of general content, from quotes to just beautiful pictures, to dedicated ‘photo albums’ for special days of the year. Our ready-made stories allow you to stand out! You only need to personalize them a bit, give them your finishing touch, making them recognizable to your own audience, your community.
We celebrate your independence. We are with you on this adventure, entrepreneurs. At Embrosa we believe in the importance of diversity that is brought to our streets by (independent) local retailers. We are not going to be able to change the tide, but we can help you catch that wave!
