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ocial media is a new way to reach a large audience of consumers. Customers want to be connected and technology makes that more possible every day, from smartphones to netbooks, eReaders to tablets. And while people are becoming more connected via social media, companies need to capitalize on that focus and make themselves more accessible in the same ways. Startups have unique needs and focuses. Here are seven essential tips for using social media successfully.
Develop Your Strategy
Don’t start claiming space on social media before you’ve developed a strategy to advertise yourself via this platform. Starting before you know what you want your image to be could create a disjointed, incomprehensible and off-putting image, and that’s the last thing you want. When you decide to use social media as part of your advertisement and brand image, focus on your strategy first. Know what kind of presence you want and what kind of presence your target audience will want. You have to craft a cohesive presence no matter what you choose so, if you want to be fun and carefree, you wouldn’t use the same strategies as if you want to appeal to a strictly professional audience. Knowing this before you start cuts down on the startup clutter and increases your sophistication, no matter the feel you’re going for.
Choose Your Sites
There are dozens of social media sites up on the internet today and more are popping up all the time. While consumers often use two or more of these platforms for their own social networking, you need to be aware of where your target audience spends most of their social time so you can avoiding wasting resources on a platform that won’t serve you with the exposure you need to make your company successful. What image you want to present will also effect what sites you choose, so you should carefully examine your options before beginning to build your presence. Choosing your sites based on your ability to tailor your presence and make it unique for your customers is also important. Social Media Page Design by Designhill offers customized designs to make your customer experience stand out from the crowd, and sites that allow this level of customization allow Designhill one more level of tailoring your presence to your consumer expectation.
Listen To Feedback
Social media is all about sharing, from opinions to reviews; it’s not just worth it, but vital to your presence online, to listen to feedback and address criticism constructively and quickly. Negative feedback can be frustrating and daunting, but ignoring it and not addressing customer concerns is the fastest way to cripple yourself via social media. Your presence is there for people to comment on and interact with. Make the experience worthwhile to them and they will keep coming back for more. The more people coming back, the more exposure you receive so, if it’s bad, make sure you address it and fix the problems consumers are telling you about so you can reap the rewards of the resulting positive feedback too.
Build a Community
When it comes to the internet, a community is as much a feeling of belonging as it is a place where people are actually connected by an interest. Building a community around your product is a smart way to build connections, solicit feedback, generate new ideas for marketing and advertisement and foster a sense of belonging in your customers. You can use the community you build to discuss topics that are relevant to your business and create buzz about new events or roll-outs.
Consistency is Key
Building a social media empire takes time and that can be a good thing and a bad thing. Make sure you don’t lose sight of your focus as your efforts to craft an engaging platform for your services goes on. Consistency is an important factor in your brand image and presentation. Consistency is what consumers identify with look for when they’re coming back to your services so frequent changes to your tactics, image or information can confuse consumers and send them looking for other, more consistent options.
Content, Content, Content
In the end your content will do a lot of speaking for you, building up an image of your service in consumers’ eyes, so you want to tailor it carefully to avoid sending unintentional signals. But content is still the most important aspect of your presence on social media and a lack of it can be a death sentence. People get tired of seeing the same articles and images every time they check your presence, so make sure you’ve giving them new information and media to digest at a steady pace.
Support Your Customers
Supporting your customers can take a lot of different faces in today’s technology driven age. Basic support can include customer service, technical support and the ability to reach out when someone has a question or a suggestion, but it goes beyond that today with social media being a platform for advertisement, promotion and connections. Make sure you are always looking out to support your customers, keeping them satisfied with your service, whether that’s listening to the cries for a mobile app or addressing concerns they’re having about dissatisfaction with your services.
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