Six years ago, our woman-owned small business invested in a new form of marketing: a Social Media Specialist was hired to the Avcomm team. Carey McCoy was brought onboard and tasked with these missions:

1. Introduce Avcomm Solutions to key social media platforms by creating a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

2. Create a blog full of updated, original, and user-friendly content that will provide value.

3. Increase the number of visitors to the Avcomm Solutions web site and boost SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

4. Be seen as a leading reseller in the headset market.

Ultimately, these tasks together have built the Avcomm Solutions brand, increased customer base, and provided valuable knowledge of our products, solutions to common workplace issues, and more. For these reasons, we recommend that all small businesses dive into social media immediately!

If you don't know where to start (or, are afraid to begin), keep reading! The worst thing you can do is wait. Social media is here to stay, and most people today have social media accounts. Research confirms that Google is the #1 way consumers resolve issues, answer questions, and research products before purchase. This has been true for Avcomm Solutions, as visitors to our web site are searching for answers to questions that only we (as experts in our devices) can answer.

Some Advice as You Build Out Your Company's Social Media Presence:

1. Don't expect immediate results. Building a brand and gaining followers takes time. Give yourself permission to build a solid foundation of content and relationships.

2. Try new things. Maybe the social media sites that we've listed above aren't quite right for your business. Try Instagram; TikTok; Pinterest; or other platforms that will reach your specific customer set. Think about where and who you turn to, when you have questions about your products and services. Do your research, and also check out your competitors: what makes their accounts interesting? appealing? successful? Then get your accounts set up.

3. Keep the content coming. The very worst thing you can do is to start social media accounts (or a blog), post a couple of times, and then either sporadically post content, or abandon the accounts altogether. Think of social media as building a relationship; it's hard to count on someone when they are not frequent contributors to the conversation. We’d recommend using a social media management platform that allows you to manage content and schedule posts ahead of time and gives you one dashboard view into all of your company’s social media activities. Even if we're out of the office for a day (or a week!), scheduling posts ahead of time is a snap, and keeps the conversation going with our followers.

4. Hire experts. Take a look at our YouTube channel, and you will see the evolution of our videos. The first videos were self-filmed; most recent videos have been filmed by professional videographers. When we made the decision this year to focus on creating more content for our YouTube channel, we really wanted to find a company within close proximity to our office, who would also provide value beyond just the video quality. After exploring options, we decided to go with a local, up-and-coming small business who could bring our vision, words and products to life, in a professional way. We encourage you to seek out local companies in your area for the filming and editing of your videos. By letting the professionals handle the videography, it allows our staff to focus on content creation and messaging.

While this is most definitely not a comprehensive list, it does provide a quick overview of what we believe are the most important takeaways in six years of social media marketing at a small business. Our advice: Start now. Don't wait. Everyone else is doing it and reaping the rewards.

With 2019 now firmly established, we took this opportunity to look with fresh eyes at our business, our customers, and our thoughts about what we resolve to do in this new year.

Let's dive in:

1. We resolve to continue to provide stellar customer service.
Our Customer Care team is committed to our customers. We anticipate customers' needs and have product on hand and ready to ship. Sample units are sent when customers are unsure of what they need; and our 30-day money-back guarantee makes sure our customers are happy with the products that they purchased.

2. We resolve to give our customers more than they ask for.
We know which promotions give customers the best deals, making those budgets stretch farther. In working closely with our brands, our headset experts are aware of new product releases and features that help customers work smarter. We provide information via our blog and YouTube channel that adds value to our product offerings.

3. We resolve to answer all questions quickly and completely.
Whether you connect with us through the Internet, by phone, in person, or through email, our goal has always been to help customers through each purchase, tech support question, or warranty issue. Pre-sales support is mission critical, and customers receive what they need so they are able to open the box and use products immediately. What's a quick disconnect cord? Which headset works best with my phone? Why is my wireless headset making a beeping noise? Can I use a headset with my hearing aid? These questions are common, and our goal is to provide useful, comprehensive answers.

4. We resolve to tell our customers what they need to hear, and not just what they want to hear.
If we don't have the product on hand, we will let you know that delivery will be delayed. If we don't know the answer, we will tell you. (And then, we will research until we find the answer.) If we made a mistake, we will admit it. Our guiding principle at Avcomm Solutions is integrity.

5. We resolve to provide information that is essential to business productivity.
We share what we know. While some experts say "Leave it to us" we say "Let us share our knowledge with you." The Avcomm Solutions blog, YouTube channel, and social media sites Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, are updated continuously with valuable information that benefits our customers. Information such as, how to change a battery in a wireless headset to which Active Noise Canceling headsets are available for office environments, headsets are our focus and specialty, and we love to talk about them!

Do you make resolutions each year? Are they personal or professional (or both)? Share your resolutions on the Comments tab, above.

We are grateful for your business, and your trust in us! Here's to another successful year!