Get with the program, use social media

By Marcelle Dibrell

Pool and spa service is, for the most part, isolated work. It’s an industry where workers largely work for and by themselves. And even those of us who have employees send them off to their accounts alone, one per truck.

So, when the pandemic hit and the new normal of social distancing began just 18 months ago, the actual job of pool and spa service didn’t really change. Sure, we wore masks and disinfected surfaces. Many of us were mindful about keeping our distance from curious customers who came out to ask questions or shoot the breeze. But working alone, outside, and with bleach seemed like as nearly safe a job as could be found.

That part of a service tech’s life didn’t substantially change.

Our social lives were another story.

We eschewed bars and restaurants. Hugs and kisses were verboten. Conversations with friends and family were had on Skype. Association and employee meetings moved to Zoom. Trade shows convened online.

And Facebook, the world’s largest social network, saw more action than ever before. With everyone online, it should come as little surprise that Facebook’s revenue soared during the pandemic. According to Reuters, “a surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic when consumers shopped online, along with higher ad prices, helped Facebook revenue surge 48%.”

Facebook use is still up all around, with more than 1.84 billion people using its main social network at least once a day in December 2020, an 11% year-overyear increase, according to The Verge. Small businesses seeking to expand their reach were wise to take advantage of all that increased screen time.

With the broad-spread availability of the now FDA-approved vaccine, a lot of America’s workers are back in their offices, assembly lines, and retail jobs. But news that the exceptionally virulent delta variant can infect and sicken even the vaccinated has sent many scurrying back to their homes, returned to donning masks when they emerge.

Further, a lot of the country’s workers never returned to in-person work, learning that their jobs can be done as easily at home as in the office.

That means it’s not too late to take advantage of the role digital marketing can play in increasing awareness for your brand of service and converting Facebook users into customers.

There are a lot of reasons small businesses should consider advertising on Facebook.

For one thing, the ads are affordable, easy to set up, and they work. Advertising can cost as much as you want, although the higher your budget, the more users you can reach. For another thing, your audience is on Facebook, according to some estimates spending an average of 40 minutes per day on the platform, and it allows you to target specific users by age, gender, location, industry, interests, and more. You can also retarget that audience by users who visited your website or gave you their email address. Further, the platform provides useful analytics, allowing you to measure the success of your ads, with data about impressions, reach, likes, shares, comments, click- through rates, and more.

And now, Facebook offers video ads, because most users prefer watching videos to reading content.

For all of these reasons, it’s a good idea to consider advertising on Facebook. But advertising is only one of myriad business advantages that Facebook offers.

This special issue of Service Industry News looks into how pool and spa service professionals can use Facebook to network, share knowledge, find answers, and so much more from pool service professionals across the globe.