Social media has certainly proved itself to be more than a passing trend – and it shows no signs of slowing down either. Growing by 10% between January 2015 and 2016, the number of active social media users has now passed 2.3 billion (WeAreSocial).
Whilst traditional marketing methods such as print advertising and direct mail still have their place and purpose in the current marketing landscape:
To ignore social media would be disastrous for businesses of any size operating in the digital age
Why should my business get social?
Get to know your customers – find out what interests your audience, how they behave online and gain important insights that you can use to better serve their needs.
Grow your business by reaching a wider audience – You can not only use social media to engage and nurture relationships with existing clients but also reach out to new audiences.
Improve customer service – consumers are now using social media to communicate with brands and failing to engage with your customers on their preferred platform could result in missed opportunities to convert or to handle complaints before they get out of control.
Create brand awareness – Social media offers another great platform to help develop the online visibility of your brand, as well as position yourself within your industry.
Develop brand personality – Social media platforms, such as Twitter or Instagram, can be great tools for giving a voice, image and personality to your brand. By choosing your tone and style of communication, consumers can gain a better understanding of your brand.
Social media is a great business tool, and it’s likely that your customers are already engaging online – but do you know which platforms they are using, or the best ways to communicate with them?
How can I locate and engage with my audience effectively?
Understand your target audience - Before you start posting everywhere, it’s important to think about the demographics of your audience. Develop a clear understanding of who is using your business by picking out a set of specific qualities and characteristics (such as age, gender, location and occupation). This information can help you determine where they’re likely to be engaging online and the type of content that will interest them.
Establish profiles – Your business doesn’t need to be present on every social media platform, just those that will specifically benefit your customers and business. Once you’ve decided on the most relevant social media platforms, ensure your profiles maintain a consistent online identity. This could involve choosing relevant usernames, including important contact information and ensuring appropriate use of branding.
Get involved – What is your audience talking about? If there is important news, key trends or hot topics within your industry then you’ve got the perfect opportunity to get involved with discussions that are already happening. Search for keywords or hashtags on your chosen platform and try to add value to the conversation.
Social listening - Take time to review how people are already using social media in relation to your business. You can use this information to plan your social media activities moving forward. Social listening should be a regular activity as it will allow you to respond to customer queries, comments, feedback and complaints in a timely and effective manner.
Encourage conversation – Once you have developed your social media platforms, make sure your customers know where they can engage with you For example, you could include social media buttons in your email marketing, create your own hashtag or encourage customers to share their thoughts, feedback and photos with you on social. This is a great way to develop customer relationships and make good use of user-generated content.