Reviewing Your Social Media Strategy
Social media has been so looked up to that the high expectation leads big or small business into disappointment. Let’s not be all mournful.
To avoid being overly idealistic, here are some suggestions for you.
1. Are You Using the Right Platform?
There are many social media platforms to consider when designing an online campaign. Twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube are some of the biggest and most important. While all the social sites should be examined, blindly signing up for accounts can be a mistake. To start, educate yourself on each platform and how they can enhance your brand. When launching a Facebook presence, consider the various platforms within this medium; Pages, Groups and now Communities. Each have different purposes, tools and limitations. Do some research before making the commitment.
If you want to do promotion on Facebook, make sure you land on the right platform. Groups? Communities? Or pages? Each of these functions differently. So do some study and choose wisely.
Twitter is the best place to announce news about your company. It is also an excellent source of followers’ feedback. Since Twitter is highly capricious, you’d better stick to their updates and stay informed.
Don’t underestimate the power of a blog. If you regularly update your blog, you can actually optimize the search engine and feed your consumers with the latest information about your company. Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr are some desirable options.
Each social platform has its own “job,” and they can all be used simultaneously to boost success. “Jamie has pages on Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube - people tend to use their own favorite social networking sites, so it’s a good idea to be on all the major ones,” said Saldanha.
2. Say What They Want To Hear
In the 21st century, hard selling is out of the question. They aren’t machines taking your oder. They are humans for Christ’s sake! Craig Engler (manager and vice president of SyFy Digital) embraces this belief. That’s why he has been educating his viewers about the production of a TV show.
Discounts and giveaways can be useful but shouldn’t be all you do. Consider providing interesting facts on topics that coincide with your brand. “I explain how the TV business works so viewers understand why things happen, why do we put that show Fridays at 10 p.m. or why didn’t we pick up that canceled show from another network,” said Engler.
3. Speak Less, Listen More
Listening to consumers is as important as sharing messages with them. Dunkin’ Donuts makes this a priority on their Facebook Page: “Because we have over 1.4 million fans on Facebook, we keep several sets of eyes on our Page throughout the day. We make sure our fans are clear on common confusions by selecting important questions posted to our Facebook Page to answer. We can’t respond to everything, but by hand picking those that are representative of common questions we show we’re there, listening and engaging with our fans,” said Ben Smith, their interactive marketing manager.
For Twitter users, get some help from TweetDeck. Just set a new column for @mentions. Then you will see all columns at the same time.
For Facebook users, the wall is the playground. Be extra attentive there and change the setting of your e-mail notifications to receive updated messages.
For Facebook, the wall is the key. Read it closely and change the setting of e-mail notifications for your own need. Similarly, you want to be alerted when there are new comments posted on your YouTube channel or blog so that you can get back to them ASAP!
4. Let Them Speak
As put by Saldanha, Jamie Oliver’s The US Food Revolution shows how setting up a place for selfless sharing in the community brings success to a brand promotion. You have to make your people feel appreciated to retain their respect and continuing love.
5. Loosen Up
You are not asking you to be a clown. But it doesn’t hurt to loosen up a bit. Like Dunkin’ Donuts who has created a cartoon character Maurice on its Facebook page, you may also give lives to your products. The marketing of today is nothing serious. It is about having fun and being uplifting. Let your product or service speaks for itself, not you mumbling about it.
Online media promotion deserves the same amount of effort as offline one. Decision makers have to be creative and smart enough to choose the right platform. As said by Engler, they millions of people within your social media network are those who bring the good name of your company. So give them the best treatment as you can.
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