TOP TEN SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES THAT CONVINCE AND CONVERT

 

 

There's no question about doing social media. The facts prove the ROI of it. The question is how well you do it. Before you read this, have in mind that unlike what majority think, social media would not bring immediate results and it would definitely not make-up for a bad product or service. However if you have adequately sorted that area of business, we can get up and running. Normally I start my Top Ten beginning with the last but for your sake I’m starting from top - bottom for procedural advantage.

 

1. Goal Setting  

Social media is not free and will never be free. Time, hard work, steadfastness and the drive to succeed are necessary ingredients to keep your social media goals alive. What you want to achieve with social media presence is at the core of your strategy. Don’t set out on facebook or start posting on twitter without an in-depth understanding of what you are aiming at. Do you want to generate sales, awareness, loyalty and retention, (pick one). A Mashable post revealed that “new research finds that 72% of businesses that use social media do not have a clear set of goals or a clear strategy for their social media platforms”.  

2. Be more Humane 

Social Media is about real people and not logos. My experience with social media overtime has made me realize that brands who have a human face and voice tend to achieve more success from their social media activities. This is unlike the robotic and very serious approach certain brands adopt when online. However consider not getting too personal and unserious when socializing.  

3. Analyze your Audience 

Who will you be interacting with using social media? What are the characteristics and information needs of your current and prospective audience. This is a key strategy many brands still ignore. People just go out on social media platforms and post, post, post without considering the nature of who reads and relates with the post. Here you use a little bit of demography and psychology. Of course you don’t want to end up churning out content meant for adults to a group of teenagers or vice versa. 

4. Lay low with selling, (tell a story)

Brandini (a prints and signage firm) loves telling stories of how they impacted in their customers’ businesses rather than telling them to make use of their design and printing services all the time. Remember that customers are trying to make purchase decisions, not being sold to. Having this in mind allows you showcase your brand as a problem solving brand and not the sell, sell and sell type. 

 5. Prop-up your Creatives 

Understand that only attractive things actually have the power to attract. Get creative with design, interactives, content and copy, then sit back and watch how your audience react to your appreciation of aesthetics, colour, balance and creative write-ups. The idea is to lighten up their day and imprint your brand in their memories. 

6. Listen and Compare 

It’s an old social media strategy chestnut by now, but “listen” is still good advice that’s often ignored. The reality is that your customers (and competitors) will give you a good guide to where and how you should be active in social media, if you broaden your social listening beyond your brand name.  

7. Focus on your Uniqueness?

Have in mind that it doesn’t matter who you are, or what you sell, your product features and benefits aren’t enough to create a passion-worthy stir. How will your brand appeal to the heart of your audience, rather than the head? Disney isn’t about movies, it’s about magic. Apple isn’t about technology, it’s about innovation. What are you about?  

8. Please Respond 

A major flop for some social media managers, not responding to even the most stupid issues or questions about products and services are sometimes the reason why social media activities don’t succeed. Some brands see certain questions as been too personal or just too much. Remember your social media page is just another branch of your public relations department and if this department turns a deaf ear to social questions then there’s a very big problem. A good percentage of brands--mostly big ones--currently do not answer customers or prospects on social media. If a customer lodges a complaint, don't delete. Instead, you have an opportunity to respond publicly that you're working to address the problem, and will send a private message to the individual so it can be fixed. Companies make mistakes everyday but the real problem is not in the mistakes they make but when they cannot say a simple “Sorry" (even if it isn’t sincere). The only types of posts you should consider deleting are those that are obscene, abusive or uncultured. 

9. Be Symbiotic

Life ideally should be more of a give and take relationship and not just the take, take, take way. Brands who give are more likely to generate more customers and retain them. Guarantee Trust Bank uses this strategy in giving free motivational career tips to visitors on their social media page. With this you always give people a reason to come back and something to look forward to. Webinars, papers and helpful articles are ways to make your customers feel you care about their progress. 

 10. Just be yourself  

This should have been my first strategy but since there’s no “one way” of doing things, it naturally fits into my ideal last strategy for convincing and converting using social media. In as much as you try to keep up with trends and innovation, ideally it’s advisable not to lose that sense of identification and self actualization you started off with. Remember, self knowledge is the aim of life.