In this week’s edition of Wash Wisdom, discover marketing opportunities for this summer season, four quick tips for boosting your employee management approach and social media strategies for small businesses.

4 summer marketing strategies for small businesses

Summer is officially here and with this hot season brings more road trips and vacations, kids out of school and fun-filled days enjoyed outside. Featured on Inc.’s website, contributor Rohit Arora shares four marketing opportunities for small businesses this summer in the article “Four Small-Business Marketing Management Tips for Summer 2016.”

• Summer specials and promotions. Why not take advantage of the array of opportunities available during the warmer months of the year. Offer promotions throughout this summer season, and also make sure to consider the Fourth of July and any national themes, such as National Ice Cream Day on July 17.
• Host events. Are there any events you can run this summer? For example, consider offering an “event” at your car care business aimed at enticing more people to frequent your wash —whether a summer fun day, a “night out” for a certain group or even just early bird/late night discounts and/or specials on certain days of the week.
• Community outreach. Use this summer season as a way to reach your community. Host more fundraisers and charity events with local nonprofits, organizations and groups. Likewise, why not offer special donation promotions to certain local charities/causes?
• Finance management. Make sure to keep in mind how seasons impact your revenue and expenses. If summer is a busy and profitable season, consider saving some of these profits to help cushion slower times of the year. If summer is slower, take this time to reassess your business plan to make sure it aligns with any new and existing goals. Work on ways to improve your business.

Read the entire article here.

How to enhance your employee management approach

In the article “4 Steps to a Better Management Technique,” featured on Entrepreneur’s website, contributors Dog and Polly White offer for simple steps to improve your employee management strategy.

• Set solid goals. Setting goals helps employees prioritize tasks and boosts their focus. When establishing goals, make sure they are SMART (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistically high, time and resource bound),” and specify any rewards and consequences.
• Develop a game plan. Once the goals are set, craft an action plan to achieve them. Help them break down any projects, tasks and goals into actionable steps, and offer deadlines and feedback.
• Empower your staff. To encourage employees to achieve their goals, you must empower them. Make sure to provide proper training to effectively perform the necessary tasks, motivate them by offering “rewards” for their successes — but also make sure there are consequences for failures — and make sure their path for success is clear by providing the right tools and information.
• Assess employee performance. After following the three steps already discussed, make sure to assess your employees’ performance and make any adjustments when needed. When and how you assess performance may vary, but make sure to offer feedback and encouragement when applicable.

You can find the article here.

Social media strategies for small businesses

Featured on Business 2 Community’s website, contributor Julie Chomiak discusses how to make the most out of social media in the article “Your Step-by-Step Guide to Social Media for Small Business.”

• Choose the right platform(s). Find out where your target audience is on social media, and be there. Additionally, make sure to match your brand’s identity to the right social media outlets. In the article, Chomiak references a social breakdown provided by Entrepreneur:
  • Facebook is the ideal platform for promoting brand awareness.
  • Instagram is a great option for businesses/brands that rely heavily on images.
  • Consider Google Plus to reach men in technology-driven fields, because two-thirds of this platform’s users are men in engineering or other technical professions.
  • Pinterest is a good network to reach more women.
  • LinkedIn is a good chose for B2B businesses and for promoting business-related content and connecting with other industry professionals.
• Build a consistent presence. Make sure to have consistent profiles across all social media platforms you have chosen for your brand. Being in sync, notes Chomiak in the article, portrays a “reputable, trustworthy entity to the public.” Tips to stay consistent include: having the same username across all platforms; using the same image for profile pictures; keeping fonts, colors and imagery consistent; maintaining the same voice; and including a bio and link back to your website.
• Be relevant. Make sure to publish and share relevant content to engage with your audience.
• Listen. Engage with your followers, respond to comments and listen to feedback. Make sure to monitor any conversations.
• Have a well-run website. Having a social presence is essentially useless if your business does not have a professional website for your social followers to access.

Check out the entire article here.