Organic growth on social media

MCS Influencer Emily Marshall says the best way that somebody can utilize social media marketing is by keeping it simple.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with MCS Influencer Emily Marshall. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: Hello, I'm Alex Tolle with MetalCoffeeShop.com and I'm here with the one and only Mrs. Post Frame. Emily Marshall, how are you? 

Emily Marshall: I'm doing great today. Thanks for asking, Alex. How are you doing? 

Alex Tolle: Good, good. And this is your first influencer interview, so we're excited to have you here as a Metal Influencer. And today we're talking about social media. So how can you effectively use social media marketing to grow your brand, reach new clients and engage with your community? 

Emily Marshall: Sure. Yeah. I feel like this topic is really very applicable to us because we started our company on social media in 2019, and that's been the primary way that we've grown, that we've gained customers. And the primary thing that we focus on really in our business is social media. So using social media marketing for your business is something that you've probably heard is essential. So everybody's going to tell you that you have to have it and all of that sort of thing. We're obviously in a special position that that's actually a essential part of our business is being on social media. But what do you do if a business, if you're like, "That's not really my job. My job is actually to go put on a metal roofing. But I've been told by everybody I need to be on social media. How do I balance that?" 

So the best way that somebody can utilize social media marketing is by keeping it simple. So you don't want to get too overwhelmed. If you're really a newbie to social media marketing, I encourage people to use... Just start with one platform at a time so you don't have to feel like you have to be engaging on all platforms, posting all kinds of different content and different things like that. You can really start very simply. And some of that can be directed based on who your target audience is, who you're trying to get in front of and things like that. We have found that the audiences on Instagram, on Facebook, on TikTok and on YouTube, really they have different goals. So your people on Instagram, they do a little bit more of a polished look. They like to have things that are very curated and put together and things like that. 

Your audience on Facebook, that's going to be a great demographic if you're trying to reach those 40, 50, 60-year old age group and because they might be the audience that can afford your services, especially in the housing industry. And then your TikTok, that's if you feel like your personality and what you want to accomplish can be just very raw, off the cuff, that kind of audience. And then YouTube is a great audience if you are trying to also incorporate some education because people are going there and they're looking for some tips and things like that. So yeah, that's kind of a rundown on it of how you could choose your platform. But then how do you actually use it? How can you bring it into your business life? 

Some of the simplest ways can be to film yourself what you're going to do, talk about what are you going to do for the day. You could be on your way... We have special phone holders in all of our vehicles that you can just pop your device on and you can just film a quick chat with your audience on your way to a job site. You can talk about different things that you've been experiencing, things like that. That really connects with a lot of people because they feel like they're getting to know you. So then when they go to decide to make a purchase or want that service, they might feel like they're a little bit more personally connected with you. 

Another simple way is to just take some quick photographs with your cellphone at job sites before you start a project, when you finish a project, especially in the metal roofing industry, there's some pretty dramatic changes when you get to see the difference, especially when somebody is going from a non-metal application to a metal application. It's can be very beautiful in terms of the transformation. So just snapping those pictures. Getting maybe some of those details. So if you want to pride yourself on being the person that offers a high-level, high-quality product, if you're snapping some of those details and saying that this is the kind of a step above that you offer, that can really resonate with your audience as well, if that's what they're looking for to say, "Oh, I want it to be absolute perfection, so that's who I'm going to call." 

So those are some things that you can do that really don't take extra time. They don't require you to have extra people in your staff, things like that, which can be very important because social media marketing, while it's important, you also... Not everybody has the ability to add people to their roster to help them execute everything. And then just keeping it simple with the equipment you're using. I've mentioned using your phone because that really is the best way. Make sure that you keep your device upgraded so that you have good camera quality and things like that. And that's really all you're going to need. So if that's what you're starting out. 

If you're a little bit more advanced and you're like, "I'm doing all of that, I'm already engaging in all of that and I want to take it to the next level." And then you can do fun things like adding in a GoPro to your lineup. We have all kinds of different attachments and harnesses and things like that. So you can attach the GoPro camera to anywhere on your body and you can be showing people a little bit more close up of what you're doing. So those are my tips on using a platform, how to actually... Some tips on making some content and stuff. But you absolutely do want to be on social media at some level. I heard a statistic the other day that 70% of people who make purchases, they're already following you on social media before they make the purchase from you. 

So being that top of mind, always being in front of the people that will eventually engage with you and eventually buy from you, that's a huge benefit, because everybody doesn't need... In this industry, everybody doesn't need your services every day, but most people will eventually need your service. So you can't just wait until they need it to get in front of them. You have to be engaging with them all along the way, knowing that this is part of my long-term business plan is that my audience is going to eventually use me, but it could be five years from now. It could be a long time from now before they need you, or it could be tomorrow. 

They might stumble across your page because you have been consistently posting, you've been consistently engaging with your audience and then they come across you and they're like, "Oh, perfect, I needed some." And then they look through your content and they say, "Oh, they actually share quite a bit. They're sharing once a week, they're sharing every day. They're sharing three times a week." Whatever. Some sort of consistency, not, "Oh, they haven't posted anything on here for the last three years. So that means if I message them, probably nobody's going to answer." 

If they see activity at some frequent level and it's been really recent, then they can be like, "Oh, I'm going to go ahead and message them. I'm going to see if they're available in my area." I know some of those social media platforms even have the ability to incorporate booking into it. So if your service or your product has the ability to, you can set meetings, set consultation times, set site visits, things like that, you can get people to just book right from there, which does definitely reduce that barrier to them using your service. 

Alex Tolle: Yeah, absolutely. I think the most important thing is starting small and just easing your way into it. If you're scared to do it, then that's okay. There's so many resources. There's social media accounts out there on how to start social media accounts, but just start small and then you can build on it and just keep that consistency. I know there's different markets for different social media platforms, but you can still kind of cross post on a lot of that. So there's going to be some content that you post on Instagram that's going to be great on TikTok and Facebook too. So just start small and build your way up, and then you can start adding in all those extra things that you kept talking about, like adding a booking link onto there. And yeah, I love it. 

Emily Marshall: Yeah, we do a lot of cross posting. We'll create pieces of content and then we'll use them in multiple spots because that is obviously easier and things like that. And the other thing I always assure people, guess what? When you first open up your account, nobody's that great. Very few people, unless you have a professional background in something like that, your first content is not going to be that great. You're going to kind of stumble through it. But let me assure you, people don't typically go back and watch the entire history of your account. 

So if you are posting every day, every week, multiple times a week, it's not going to be long before there's enough content. But if you're like, "Oh, my first few posts were so terrible," it won't be long before those are really hidden and people really aren't going to go back in time and look at everything. So be assured that your first post when you're just trying to figure it out and navigate it, that's when your audience will likely be the smallest. And so you can just be, "Very few people will know how bad I was at the beginning." 

Alex Tolle: Right. 

Emily Marshall: So yeah. 

Alex Tolle: You got to start somewhere. I mean, look at your own personal Instagram and look at... When Instagram came out in what, 2012, it's embarrassing some of the pictures we posted, but they've gotten better with time. 

Emily Marshall: Oh, yeah. 

Alex Tolle: We've gotten better cameras, we got better quality, we've learned. So yeah, for anybody, look at... If you want to make yourself feel better, you can go back and look at those big accounts and they probably have some low quality photos or videos and you're like, "Okay, that makes me feel better. They've grown. I can do that too." 

Emily Marshall: Oh yeah. I mean, I started out back in 2012 when I got my Instagram account, I thought it was like a photo editing mechanism. I didn't even realize what this was, that it was some app that was kind of like Facebook, but completely different. I mean, I had no idea. And so yeah, I was posting pictures of my shoes and just random stuff and then I realized, I was like, "Oh my goodness, people can actually see this. There's a world out there that can actually follow me." So yeah. So yeah, don't be afraid. It's not that scary. It's not that bad and stuff. And it's a great tool. 

Just as a testimony to what social media marketing can do for a company, is that as barndominium builders, that's the way, social media is the only way that we got customers. So we did not... I mean, we're a little bit in a unique position, but we actually that was the sum total of how we got build clients was through social media. We weren't running any other types of marketing campaigns or anything like that. And so there is a lot of potential using social media. 

Alex Tolle: And even before I even knew about barndominiums, I was seeing them on my TikTok and on my Instagram. I'm like, "I don't think I can afford one of those right now. But those are cool. I want one at some point." So I probably saw you before I even knew who you were. 

Emily Marshall: Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yes, yes. And again, it's sometimes the long game. Just because five years ago you weren't in the for a barndominium doesn't mean that five years from now you won't be in the market. And if you continue to see my content, then you're going to be more likely to engage me for whatever I can offer you when that time comes. And that's the same thing with anybody who's watching this. People are going to be more likely to engage with you over some random person that they see when they do a search online looking for somebody. 

They're going to be like, "If that contractor can work with me, I would prefer that because I like their personality or I see their stuff. Their name is familiar to me." Sometimes that is all that it takes in certain industries is that it's like, "Well, I saw their name like 50 times, so they must be legitimate. They must be okay. They must be good at what they do if they're posting on social media all the time." 

Alex Tolle: Yeah, totally. Well, Emily Marshall, thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time. This has been a great conversation, and we will see you on the next influencer. 

Emily Marshall Awesome. Thanks, Alex.