Research from the agency We Are Social indicates that the number of active social media users now exceeds the 2 billion mark. This activity covers an array of different sites, but they are all fundamentally based on sharing thoughts, ideas, and information. Most businesses have recognized the need to create an online presence, which typically involves social media marketing. However, amongst the huge numbers of users, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. In order to make any real impact, find new customers, and maintain relationships, personal engagement will be key to everything you do.
Monitor Social Media Accounts
By monitoring social media accounts, any reference to your brand, business, or industry can be engaged with. Most social media sites allow you to search for keywords or hashtags, so make sure you are on top of any conversations. There may also be occasions when people are speaking negatively about you, or want to make a direct complaint. If you can engage negative feedback quickly and efficiently, you stand a much better chance of keeping your reputation intact. To make life easier, a service like Hootsuite allows you to monitor your social media accounts from a single dashboard, so there should be no reason for missing valuable opportunities.
Interact with Followers
Many businesses unintentionally put a barrier between themselves and their customers. Avoiding interactions with followers misses much of the point of social media, with your accounts appearing to be faceless. Creating meaningful interactions does not have to be difficult or time-consuming, and you can achieve results by following customers back, responding to questions, and sharing the content or results of your users. If people see you interacting on social media, your business gains a personal touch even if you are not responding to every mention.
Create Content Based on Feedback
Your social media followers will provide you with valuable feedback and ideas. People who have used your products or services, visited your website, or used your apps, will all have suggestions for you, so start paying attention to them. While most social media sites use quick content like tweets, images, and videos, you can expand on the suggestions on your website. Creating tailor-made blog posts and videos, providing discount codes, and making special offers are all ways of providing a response to social media demand.
Create Events
Social media is an up-to-the-minute way of communicating, so you can take advantage of this by creating events. An event can be something fairly minor, but it can let people engage with businesses that can often feel anonymous. Google Hangout and Periscope allow your customers to ask you questions and give feedback in a spur-of-the-moment fashion, while apps like Snapchat or Vine can help you reach an audience immediately. Competitions are another way of engaging people, with a good competition usually resulting in content sharing and new prospects.
Track Your Statistics
There isn’t one certain way to approach social media, so it is important to make decisions based on statistics. It is impossible to use data to measure all aspects of social media engagement, but you can track which content leads to site visits and purchases. Using a URL shortener, you can see which pieces of content led to people clicking the link to your site. It won’t take long to understand what your followers engage with, and what failed to get results.
Any reputable business should be glad to see people are discussing their products and services. It has become harder to stage-manage your reputation online, but this lets you engage directly with your customers, listen to feedback, answer criticism, and build upon consumer responses. Online, people may be discussing your business throughout the day across various sites. If you can track down these discussions and engage with these people, you can develop a following that actively promotes your business for you.
