The secrets of being social

social media presence

Little Birdy & Me was founded back in September of 2016 by me and my husband. Now almost two years old, I can step back and look at the parts of a (mostly) well-oiled machine with satisfaction, and marvel at just how far the business has come.

When we first launched, I was thrilled to finally be working in a creative capacity that I was not only good at, but also enjoyed doing. We were one of the few local, Tasmanian-made, laser cutting and engraving businesses, providing unique and personalised creations across Australia. However, the challenge came in building our brand, and securing not only once-off customers but repeat business over the months.

We soon realised that the most effective way to do so would be to create a strong social-media presence. We were competing against almost half of small businesses across Australia who were already engaging a carefully crafted social-media strategy. With almost two thirds of consumers more likely to trust a brand if they can interact with it in a positive way on social media, why not?

We quickly forged a presence on Instagram and Facebook, which attracted a large portion of would-be clients to our website. We utilised various digital tools to build our brand across social channels, as well as integrate our internal processes, allowing us to connect with customers via social media for a range of tasks other than just marketing our brand.

Brand

First, and in order to officially establish our name to ensure that all communications going forward were branded and professional, we needed to create a logo. Companies like 99designs grant you access to a vast pool of freelancers who can assist you with a logo design that establishes your legitimacy as a brand and fronts your social media presence going forward.

Organise

With a logo in place, we capitalised on our social accounts and ensured we were posting effective content with tools such as Hootsuite. Once we could schedule posts that were on-message, track metrics to measure the impact of our posts, and engage an overall long term strategy, we saw our stronger social media presence lead to more conversions for the business.

Communicate

After our customers had engaged with the Little Birdy & Me brand on social media and decided to utilise our services, we wanted to make the process as simple as possible for them. We use Invoice2go as it allows us to invoice clients via Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. As nine out of 10 customers prefer to communicate with businesses via text messages and messaging apps, having the ability to send our customers an invoice in the context of an existing conversation streamlined our workday. It also left a crystal clear communication trail and made way for more immediate payments.

Using social media increased our business exposure, generated leads and allowed us to build our brand over time. We were also able to stay in line, if not ahead, with our main competitors. From a client perspective, we could understand our audience and were better equipped to conduct business in a way that suited them. Once discovered, the secrets of being social were most definitely a key factor in the success of Little Birdy & Me.

Sarah Kaye, Founder, Little Birdy & Me