CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve won a business award; the ultimate recognition of your hard work and dedication. Amongst the celebrations and high-fives, now is the time to let the rest of the world know too.

Let your customers share in your moment of glory. After all, they are partly responsible for your success, as without them you wouldn’t be in business for long!

So where do you start and how far should you go in spreading the news?

Here are our top ten ways to publicise your award:

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”– Erik Qualman author

Why should you care about social media? Because a whopping 78% of consumers say that companies’ social media posts impact what they buy (source).

In New Zealand, 3.5 million people are active social media users who spend 1 hour and 53 minutes using social every day. Social media is here to stay and if you are not using the platforms effectively, you could be doing your business more harm than good.

At Muritai Group, we are all about making sure your message is seen by the right people at the right time, keeping it on point and interesting. I recently gave a presentation at a local networking meeting on the mistakes that businesses often make with their social media marketing. The following is a distillation of my top tips for communicating online.

Over the last month or so, I have found myself at several informal networking events. The spring racing carnival followed by Christmas catch-ups and end of year functions have created many opportunities to meet new people, be merry and to broaden my network.

However, over the course of these events, something became abundantly clear. The one thing Kiwis hate more than an Aussie on a cricket pitch is a fellow Kiwi who is blowing their own trumpet. Kiwis are a humble, easy-going bunch who are fiercely independent and that translates into a hell of a lot of downplaying when it comes to answering that very tricky question “so, what do you do?”.

Make your profile stand out from the crowd with these five simple changes:

• Use your headline to its full potential

  Your headline gives you opportunity to describe who you are and what you do, but in just one line. This isn’t always easy so it’s not surprising that most people end up with their current job title as the default option. Read HubSpot’s 4 tips for an effective LinkedIn headline. 

In our blog about Retaining Customers, we discovered an existing customer is likely to spend on average 60% more* than a new customer. That’s a stat hard to ignore! Keeping your existing customers happy so they buy from you again and again is a key strategy for increasing profitable sales in any business.

One such strategy is to recognise your customers who repeat purchase with something they want and value. A great way of doing this is by creating a simple and straightforward rewards programme.

There is a reason why traditional stamp card loyalty schemes are in most coffee shops – they work! Now days we are starting to see how technology can improve loyalty programmes such as these with quality data. Designed with ease of use in mind, here are our top 2 loyalty apps for small business:

•  Goody

Goody gives small businesses a way to run a loyalty programme that connects with their customers’ instore and beyond, at a basic cost and it's very easy for customers to use.

Every time they make a purchase at your business, customers will earn and accumulate points that can be redeemed for rewards. Because you know them best, you can create goodies that you know your customers will love - and which work for your business too.

• The LittleMonkey Loyalty App

Based in Wellington, LittleMonkey have created a fully customisable app to suit your business’s needs. Unlike other options this one is branded to you and more importantly lists your company name in the app store, which means your customers are linked directly to you and not a third party.

Bonus tip – got heaps of loyalty cards in your wallet? Download the Stocard App and never have to go hunting in your wallet again! This free app securely stores your loyalty account numbers in one place, clearing up space in your wallet.

*Manta's and BIA/Kelsey's joint report "Achieving Big Customer Loyalty in a Small Business World"