It's become increasingly clear over the last decade that social media is not some kind of fad or trend that's going to disappear anytime soon. Instead social media has fundamentally changed a lot of things about the way in which human being interact with the world both on and offline. Because of this there are few businesses out there who don't realise that social media is something that they need to be adopted when it comes to marketing themselves. However, since it's still a relatively new medium when compared to other forms of marketing, there are plenty of businesses who don't seem to understand the full potential of social media as a new and exciting method of interacting with customers. They use it to post updates and adverts about their products sure, but they tend to ignore the thing that makes social media so interesting: the social aspect. Your ability to communicate directly with customers has the potential to completely change the dynamic between you and them. Here are a few things that you can do to really make the most of this exciting new marketing method.
Create dynamic and engaging content
The worst thing that you can do with your social media pages is to use them as a method of simply spreading your existing advertising methods. With a new platform, you should use new methods and techniques. Content is king in the world of social media marketing. Don't just post ads and special offers. Use interesting content to make people actually care about your business. One of the best things that you can use is video content to engage customers and humanize your business as much as possible. No matter what kind of industry you’re in, from manufacturing to private aviation to marketing, being able to engage customers in this way is incredibly important. Sure, this might take a lot of time and effort but it’s always going to be worth it.
Make things personal
One thing that social media does that no other marketing method has really done before is offer you the chance to really get up close and personal with your customers. You're able to reply to comments that they've made on your posts, engage in humorous conversation and really make them feel as though you value them as a customer. This way, rather than feeling as though you're just talking to a large audience, each customer feels directly connected to your business in a way that no other marketing technique has ever allowed before.
Be consistent
One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people tend to make is that they tend to only really post things on their social media pretty sporadically. The problem with that is that time moves incredibly fast online and if you’re not careful then there’s a pretty good chance that you’re going to end up getting forgotten about. The truth is that if you’re not updating and posting to your social media accounts consistently then your customers are going to forget about you much more quickly than you might expect. This is why having someone in your business who is specifically tasked with posting to social media or having your posts queued up in advance are such important factors when it comes to creating the best possible social media presence.
Use customer service as marketing
Not only can you use your social media sites to connect more directly with your customers, but you can also turn every interaction into its own piece of marketing. Even something as simple as customer services can become marketing opportunities. If a customer contacts you via a site like Facebook or Twitter with an issue or a complaint, you can publicly reply to their tweet as a part of your customer services. This means that the support and help that you're offering a customer is something that all of their followers can see. This way you're able to demonstrate the quality of your business's customer service, and how much it cares to a massive audience. Things that might once have gone on behind the scenes are now entirely public, meaning that you can turn just about anything into a marketing opportunity. Sure, social media obviously isn't the only thing that you should be concerned about in your business, but it's simply too useful a tool for you to ignore. Make sure that you're putting in the right amount of effort to making sure that your business's social media presence is as well curated as possible.
