Social Media – Are you doing it right?
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ to name but a few. Social media can be an absolute minefield, but how do you know which are the right ones to interact with for your business, If any? There is no easy way to find this out, but if you think you are missing out on leads via Social Media, chances are, you’re probably right.
As the world continues to become more digitalised, social media marketing is more crucial than ever. The internet has replaced traditional advertising methods, such as newspapers ads, with Facebook business pages and Instagram posts. Social media should be used to give your business a voice, and help to start conversations with customers. Those conversations will then become visible across the web to previously untapped potential customers, as your content is liked and shared increasing brand awareness, website traffic and which in turn should increase sales.
According to recent statistics, businesses which use social media strategically, are more satisfied with the results than ad hoc users, who are more sceptical about the value of social media. Something sound a bit off here? Well it is. If you post a tweet every 6 weeks, you are hardly captivating your audience now are you? And it’s most likely that you fall into the category of people who don’t see the value of using social media for their business. However, on the other hand, posting too much can have a negative effect. You begin to irritate your followers (which is never a good thing) the trick is to find the right balance.
People will follow/like/interact with brands who post relevant information to them. Have a look back at your social media feeds. What content are you giving them which warrants them taking time out of their day to read it? If people aren’t interacting with you, then you’re doing it wrong. Not everything you post needs to be a sales pitch. You want to engage your audience, if you’re constantly on their newsfeeds doing the hard sell, they are going to quickly lose interest. This is about brand awareness, and simply having a presence on their newsfeed is half the battle.
Finally, your social media pages need to be standardised in terms of images, posts and tone of voice. This is key to ensuring that you portray yourself as a reputable business. If the company Facebook and twitter pages have 2 different logos on them, how does your customer know which one is right? If your twitter is showing ‘hilarious’ staff selfies, yet your Instagram page is showing off the great piece of work you just did, how does that look to a potential customer? Some people fall into the trap of being overly informal on Social Media, you are still a business, and if you wouldn’t put it on your website, don’t put it on Social Media.
Now before you run off to burn your marketing strategy in favour of posting statuses all day, it’s good to point out that Social media should not be used as an end unto itself. It needs to be integrated with all of your other marketing and PR initiatives, and complement them. Now, Post, Post, Post!
To enquire about social media strategies, call us on 01204 478202