Let's face it, if we want to grow our business we must get involved in social media marketing. Yes, even process servers need to go this route.
In the 21st century print ads are dead, and no one watches commercials. Client referrals are great because word of mouth will remain "king". However, when it comes to receiving assignments from other private process servers and private investigators in other regions of the country, social media is definitely where it is at.
But first, here's the don't's regarding writing social media content to promote your process service business:
Don't post a commercial or ad about your business or your service ... at least not right away or often.
Don't post your prices or try to hard sell.
Don't try to soft sell, either.
People (and that includes your clients) don't like to be sold to when they get on social media. They want to engage in conversation and be entertained. Why do you think videos of cats playing the piano are so popular on Facebook?
I've found I get more interaction and involvement (hence more views and likes on all my social media platforms -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) when I post funny memes rather than serious ones. And then as people start to follow me for the funny stuff, I pepper in other content promoting my services. But I don't put up what is tantamount to an ad. Instead, I post helpful content. For example, this blog post. In the business to business arena, a short helpful blog post lends credibility, encourages conversation, and builds rapport with future business to business clients (other process servers both local and nationally).
Here's the do's regarding social media content:
Post on all your social media platforms in a way that is natural to each particular platform. For example, you're not going to post a written article on Instagram. Instagram is image driven, it is visual. Same thing for Twitter, as it is more like texting a message. You can put images on Twitter, but it is better to present an interesting question or provide a link to something informative along with an image when it comes to Twitter.
Provide useful content (as opposed to cats playing the piano). The content can be anything related to process serving or the legal profession as a whole. Even content that provides, for example, "Ten Ways to Improve Time Management for Legal Assistants (or Process Servers, or Private Detectives, etc.) is helpful. You don't have to sell on the posts, just demonstrate that you are helpful and you want to engage in building relationships.
Use sharp images to go along with your posts on no matter what social media platform you use. The trends on social media are leaning more and more toward the visual and less toward "words". In fact, certain platforms, like Facebook, will limit your exposure if there are no images. If you have video content, that is even better as the experts in social media have already predicted that video will soon far outweigh still images.
What sort of social media platforms do you currently use for your process serving business, as I would be interested to know. There are scores of outlets, many of which, even I have not heard about, so I would love to hear about them.
In my next post I will be sharing the "The Ten Commandments For Social Media Posting". In the meantime, keep serving your clients and for your clients!
