Social Media, Blogging Pay Off Over Time for Payroll Providers

If your business is helping other businesses with their payroll, there is a good chance you will in fact be in business for some time to come.

As you might expect, payroll providers are a reasonably proven commodity, especially in a day and age where small business owners have more than enough work on their plate to keep them busy. Given that fact, it isn’t uncommon for small business owners to reach out to payroll provider companies, letting them handle the very important task of making sure millions of employees nationwide get paid on time.

According to industry analyst firm IDC, nearly one-fourth of U.S. businesses use a payroll preparation company, with that percentage forecast to rise in the next few years.

For those payroll providers who have yet to explore all their promotional opportunities, there are some that they should focus more on going forward, including:

* Social media – Given the relative minimal expense of using social media, payroll providers should make sure that they are actively using social networking, not sitting on the sidelines. If your company does not already have social media traction, take action this year to institute a presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and more. Make sure you are not only on the top sites, but also that you are engaging folks (businesses needing payroll services). Your social media activities should involve tweeting, sharing, pinning, etc. anything that is of interest to businesses needing payroll services, trends in the industry, links to interesting articles about the field, and more;

* Blogging – If you have yet to put in place a payroll provider blog for your company, what are you waiting for? Much like social media, this is another great tool to potentially draw more customers to your company. The blog should be geared towards businesses needing payroll services, what sets you apart from the competition, how you provide second-to-none customer service, and examples of some of the clients you have helped over the years. If you have the chance, make sure you guest blog on other sites, allowing you to pull traffic back to your website. By deploying some search engine optimization (SEO) techniques such as keyword links, you can target specific pages on your home site that you would prefer visitors see when they click on the link in your guest post. Make sure any keyword terminology you use is search engine friendly, and is void of keyword stuffing;

* Conversation – Another advantage for payroll providers in using social media is they can keep track of what is being said about them online. As a B2B company, it is important to know if there is any negative chatter online about your payroll services, who is saying it, and why it is being said. You should also periodically monitor online forums, along with placing your company name into a Google search. If there are negative comments about how you have serviced other businesses out there, better to know what is being said and react then let it go unnoticed;

*  Promotion – Last but not least, make sure you promote your payroll services as much as possible. Include your main social media address or addresses in all your advertising literature, along with business cards, letters and any email blasts that you do. Also have your web address and primary social media links in any advertising you do, including magazines, newspapers, and television. The more your business name gets out there, the better it can pay off for you.