One thing that is always true about Social Media is that it is constantly evolving.
Another is that if you are in business, you need to be engaged with Social Media.
In its broadest terms, a company’s aim with social media should be this.
Know me, like me, buy from me.
Sadly, too many companies attempt ‘buy from me’, ‘buy from me’, ‘buy from me’.
The groundwork is essential, you have to invest in providing content that will lead to people getting to know you, then liking you, and then finally, to buy from you. Like constructing a tall building, there must be some time invested in ‘digging foundations’ before the results will come.
How should you start?
Firstly, create an avatar of your ideal client. What do they do?
And don’t just look at their professional profile. What are there hobbies and interests?
From there, identify where they will be engaged with social media. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter?
Plan to focus your efforts on the major one or two locations where they will be found.
What to do next?
Create content.
Short snappy articles and quotes about your business. Be broad. The content should be a mix of your own original content, and curated content – sharing the ideas of others. None of us have enough time to write all the content needed, so share and acknowledge others.
Create video.
It needs to be short and snappy. Attention spans will be lost if you make a 5 minute video. Keep it to half a minute to one and a half minutes. Make one point. Make it well. Share it multiple times. It is ok to re-post as most social media is a ‘dip in and out’ format, though do make sure you space how often the posts go out.
Also, do share who you really are:
Staff social activities. Employees have hobbies and interests. People’s birthdays. Engagements. Weddings. All of these work to make your company ‘human’. What charitable works do you do?
Monitor Chatter.
Set up alerts to search for negative comments either about your company or your industry. Don’t be afraid to step in and offer to correct things or to educate in the case of a misunderstanding.
Many times, your most loyal customers will be the ones where you show you care and that you will put things right.
Monitoring and Changing your Strategy
This should be a constant process:
Try it.
Measure the results.
Change it.
Measure and change again.
Don’t ever think it will be ‘sorted’. Social media engagement will constantly change and so must your strategy.
There are many ‘gurus’ out there who will tell you the next great trend and all the steps you should be taking. You know what to do; pay attention, and test and measure to see if your results improve.
Ultimately and although some aspects are universal; techniques and the networks to focus on will change.
In the end, they too are selling something.
And finally, what it all comes down to is this:
People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care (about them).