A social media presence is paramount to the success of any business in the digital age. These days, no marketing strategy can be complete without a social media strategy. With the social media landscape constantly changing, we need evergreen tactics that can form the core of our social media strategy regardless of which social networks are our top dogs. The following are four ways you can quickly improve your social media strategy and get better results.
#1: Leverage On Messaging
Customer service is at the heart of successful businesses. Get customer service wrong and before long, your business could run out of revenue. You can leverage the messaging power of social media and turn it into a potent customer service channel that goes beyond special offers and resolving disputes.
Social media has vastly changed customer service landscape. This was inevitable given that many people spend a considerable amount of time daily on social networks. Just take a look at some of these eye-opening stats:
- According to Pew Research, 70% of Facebook users log on daily, including 43% who do so several times a day. 59% of Instagram users, 38% of Twitter users, 27% of Pinterest users and 22% of Linked users log on daily.
- In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Americans spend an average of 40 minutes per day on Facebook.
- Research by Nielsen has found that 33% of customers prefer to contact brands using social media as opposed to the telephone.
- JD Power conducted a study that established that two-thirds of customers go to Twitter and Facebook for customer service.
Clearly, if you aren’t using social media messaging for customer service, you are losing out on a great opportunity.
But, there is a caveat. Engaging customers on social media is time-consuming and at times complicated. Sifting through hundreds of comments looking for complaints and/or suggestions is just part of the game.
The only way to effectively use social media for customer service and stay sane is to use Messenger Bots. Facebook’s recently popularized Messenger Bot makes it easy to quickly respond to common requests such as initial greetings. Other messaging apps like Telegram even have built-in functionality that allows customers to get quick answers from a menu selection.
#2: Mix Paid Content with SEO
Content marketing will only continue to grow stronger in future. So, it’s important to keep creating valuable content. But, to expand distribution, it is advisable to use paid content if you can afford to. Organic traffic is fantastic but if you can reach a bigger audience with paid content that converts visitors into sales, then it’s worth a try?
Unlike a few years ago, paid content today is customized for the platforms and targeting options allow one to target a niche audience. Think of paid content as a useful ally to build an audience faster. Paid content is great for startups and local businesses especially when launching new products or running a seasonal campaign.
#3: Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
Mark Zuckerberg once stated, “the biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
Where social media is concerned, you must boldly experiment. The dynamic nature of social media means that new ways of doing things, technologies and tools keep coming up on a daily basis. The innovators that try out the new stuff before the rest of us often get to benefit from upgrades.
Instagram Stories is the latest feature that early adopters happily jumped on. While this feature hasn’t been around for long, it already has over 150 million daily users. Experiment with new features whenever they launch and sign-up for early releases where possible. You might just stumble on something that completely revamps your social media strategy and turbocharges your business.
#4: Don’t Forget the Golden Rule
Active interaction. That’s right. This is the golden rule of a successful strategy. A quiet audience that doesn’t interact with your posts is a clear indication that something is wrong. It could be your content isn’t relevant, interesting and useful enough or your response rate is low. Invest in a good analytics tool to find out what works and what doesn’t.
Remember that social media includes the word social. Don’t solely use social media to shout out your message at your audience. Instead, take the time to ask questions and interact with the people who engage with your content.
In Conclusion
About 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises are using social media to drive sales and business growth. Rather than just having a presence on social media, you need to go deeper and understand how to make the maximum use of the features to provide better service to your customers and improve your bottom line.
What are your thoughts on creating a social media strategy? Have any suggestions for us? Do you have a question for me? Sound off in the comments section below.
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