Tips for Social Media Marketing

While social media have been around for a few years, they're still the new frontier in marketing. Because the medium is so new, keeping up with social media marketing tactics isn't easy. Check out these helpful tips for a successful social media presence:

• Use images to amplify your social media posts. Let's face it: people like pretty pictures. If you're not getting the amount of engagement that you're looking for out of your social media audience, you can often attract more attention by posting pictures rather than just text updates. Look into free stock photography, or snap some pics of your own.
• Choose the right image. A picture is worth a thousand words, and images can help to grab attention and clarify a message. Unfortunately, images are open to interpretation. Before you select an image for a social media update, make sure it communicates what you want it to. Text overlays can be added quickly and easily with online image editing tools such as PicMonkey or Pixlr. A few words can make the difference between your content being overlooked and attracting your target audience.
• Go deep, not broad, with social media. When it comes to social media, businesses should go deep, not broad. It's better to become a master of one or two channels of communication than to waste your efforts on many. Presently, the two most popular platforms are Facebook and Twitter. But if photos or videos are your thing, you might consider options such as Instagram or YouTube. There's no harm in having more than one social media outlet, of course. But make sure whatever you're using is appropriate to your wants and needs.
• Focus on the platforms your customers use. While you need to play to your strengths, consider also where your clients are. Find out where your customers are hanging out online, choose a platform or two that you enjoy and that align with your interests, and then focus deeply on those platforms. Setting up Google Alerts for your business name, industry, and/or topics of interest can give you insight into where your customers are interacting online.
• Build online influence. Influence is the secret ingredient for social media success. By focusing on becoming a person of influence in your industry, you'll build trust and loyalty; people will know that you're sincere and that you truly care about helping them. This is a long-term investment that involves constant enthusiasm and professionalism. But keep up the hard work—it's worth it in the long run.

The use of social media in marketing can cause anxiety because of it's newness. But a comforting thought is that no one really knows yet what's certain to work. Have fun and try some experiments and see what works for you. You might just pick up some customers along the way!

Marketing Initiatives: Trackers and Coupons

Completion Trackers: Upgrading the Upgrade

For some time now, you have been able to offer to your students the "Completion Tracker" service upgrade from Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc. (TSC). This beneficial service for students provides traffic violator school (TVS) course graduates with a notification that the court with jurisdiction over their case has viewed their TVS completion report via the Department of Motor Vehicles' computer system. While this sort of confirmation is valuable, processing times at the courts can, unfortunately, delay peace of mind by days or even weeks after the student's completion.

At the request of our students, we have developed a supplemental product that enhances our existing Completion Tracker program. The new Proof of DMV Submission service delivers to students an email that includes the date, time, and sequence number of their completion that was posted successfully to the DMV's Traffic Violator Course Completion (TVCC) database. For the low price of $8.95, students will receive their Proof of DMV Submission notification immediately upon the successful submission of their completion; this service has been rolled into the Completion Tracker product, and students will receive a second email when the report of their completion is viewed by their court.

The addition of the Proof of Submission service requires no work or effort on your part; it will be implemented as part of your existing Completion Tracker offering. Best of all, it should cut down on the number of customer service calls you need to field from students who are concerned about whether or not their completion was reported. (Affiliates will get an additional $0.50 credit on their account statements for the new Proof of Submission.)

This is yet another example of TSC's constant striving to improve the product offerings that we license to our affiliates, and we hope that your students enjoy the advanced customer service experience that this functionality provides.

Coupons

Years of experience in the traffic school industry has taught TSC that repeat and referral business are primary sources of customers. We are, therefore, extending to affiliates a highly successful marketing program that we have been experimenting with at the corporate level.

A student's congratulatory e-mail (the e-mail that is generated automatically upon a student's successful completion of an Internet TVS course) now includes a coupon code that they may redeem the next time they attend traffic school, or that they can pass along to friends and family members who may need traffic school. This encourages graduates to return, or to refer others, to your school, rather than to go to the list of approved schools to randomly select a provider.

The coupon code is "SAVE3," and can be redeemed for $3 off the price of tuition for traffic school.

This coupon marketing initiative, like the Proof of Submission service, requires no action on your part. Both of these programs will be implemented starting December 1, 2013.