Social media has been the new wave of advertising for quite some time now, and Business Insider reports that mobile media will be a huge growth driver in this area. With outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and blog sites, anyone can promote themselves, or their organization. Despite the simplicity that many think comes with this type of media, most people are not aware of how to write for it. Read on for some easy steps to follow when diving into this marketing pool.
Engage with casual conversation – Social media posts should be informal, creative and genuine. Don’t be a robot – talk in an honest, individual voice and stick to your area of expertise. Talk with people the way you would talk to them face to face (unless you have some choice words to say … let’s keep it clean people!) and never be afraid to show your personality. It gives off a less uptight feel and invites responses from others. This is the general rule of thumb, however, it does depend on your brand and what you’re trying to sell. Someone in the medical field may not use such a carefree style.
Educate and explain – With social marketing, you can help to educate customers and even become a thought leader in your industry. Whether you incorporate FAQs on your Facebook page or post blogs on related industry news, you are educating your customers with legitimate information they might want to know more about. Think about it – if they are purposely coming to your social pages, they want to know more about what you have to offer. So, give it to them.
Listen, learn and grow – This type of networking isn’t all about sharing what YOU think and information YOU want others to know. It’s also about listening. Learn from your customers when they speak and take it to heart. Then, share what you’ve learned with the rest of your company and grow from it. Personally, I wouldn’t give feedback to a company unless I thought they really needed to hear it. Customers will give you the unbiased advice you want. Reply to these comments appropriately and in a timely manner. Keep it polite, and never stop listening even if you don’t agree. In fact, that may be the time when you should listen even more!
Provide value – It’s crucial to add value to what you’re talking about. There are many businesses doing exactly what you’re doing, so make sure what your customers are reading has value. Your posts should be thought-provoking and help create a sense of community. If it helps people better understand your company, solve their problems or do their jobs better, then its adding value.
Generating some excitement, acting as a leader, thinking before you post and writing what you know will help you get a return on investment with social media.
Do you have any helpful social media tips? Let us know in the comments below.
4 Comments
Gold Price
July 31, 2013 at 12:19 pmUnderstanding the value of social media efforts is critical. But developing that understanding requires an integrated, holistic approach to enterprise social media. While individual social media solutions are undeniably valuable for specific tasks, creating a truly effective and efficient social media-enabled organization requires a much deeper level of integration. That’s where social relationship management comes in.
Rhonda Walinga
August 1, 2013 at 12:43 pmGold Price – Thanks for the insight! Do you have any suggestions on some worthy social relationship management tools?
gold price
August 4, 2013 at 8:17 amTo understand how CSR can impact profitability, this report focuses on customer value as a variable linking CSR activities and firm financial performance. This report argues that CSR activities have the potential to create several distinct forms of value for customers. It is the customer perception of (and subsequent response to) this value that mediates the relationship between CSR activities, positive marketing outcomes, and subsequent financial performance. By categorizing major CSR activities and the different types of stakeholder value each can create, this report provides guidance for business leaders embarking in CSR programs for their companies. For this reason, a section of the report is dedicated to a number of practical recommendations to board members and senior executives.
Rhonda Walinga
September 16, 2013 at 12:17 pmIn line with what Britney was saying about how your “casual conversation” should fit your brand, here’s a good article about “why you should be funny in social media”: http://bit.ly/1eiwoXl. Including some examples. Thanks for sharing it with me, Erin! ~ Rhonda