40 percent of the world’s population is represented by active users of social media. Social media has revolutionized how companies communicate with, listen to and learn from customers, much like TV advertising did in the 20th century.
A marketing strategy involves identifying a target market, establishing actions to reach that target market and continual analysis and adjustments. A social media strategy, on the other hand, educates engages, and excites your customers and builds brand loyalty. Here are four areas of social media that all entrepreneurs should know.
Blogging and content marketing
According to statistics, 78 percent of customers prefer to get to know a company through articles rather than ads. Content marketing has six times higher conversion rates and has the potential for a 7.8-X boost in web traffic than other social media tools. Last year, adults spent an average of 3 hours, 35 minutes per day on smartphones. Most of this time lends itself towards content marketing.
To start a content campaign, figure out what your customers might care about and start writing. For example, if you sell medical devices, you should have articles about any health issue surrounding the problem that your product solves. If you sell makeup, you should have how-to articles about makeup application and likely skin care guides. If you own a restaurant, provide information about food trends, dieting, or perhaps event planning.
Also, keep in mind that content marketing generated toward a political or charitable cause is impactful because 73 percent of all customers want to buy from companies that communicate upstanding moral philosophies.
Address reviews and complaints
About 84 percent of customers trust online reviews. You should ask your customers to review your company. And, more importantly, respond to comments on social media rapidly!
Social media is now the number one place where customers want their complaints handled and they want it fast. No response or a template response are bad responses. Someone inside your company should personally address each complaint.
Meet them everywhere
All social media channels should be used based on your specific target market. For example, two hundred sixty million people use LinkedIn each month; 40 percent daily. Use it for business-to-business content marketing!
Since Google bought YouTube, it shows up prominently in searches. Seventy-three percent of Americans use YouTube, the highest percentage of all social media forms. With video, you can engage emotion and excitement better. You can post a how-to and other useful videos.
Pinterest is a great place to show home décor products and vacation pictures and would be helpful in those markets. Twitter can be a low investment place to respond to user comments rapidly.
Use data to learn, analyze and adapt
An advantage of social media usage is the available data. You can use social media metrics to gauge attitudes, preferences, and trends. Available metrics are hits, page views, bounce rates, click paths, conversion rates, and keyword analysis.
Use social media strategically. Make sure you know your target market. Use the tools to communicate in an engaging, informative, and caring way. Content marketing and responding to online reviews are the most important social media tools. Use the available metrics to revise your actions.