Using social media to promote your business is very cost-effective and has an excellent ROI. With millions of people using these sites daily, social networking platforms are a virtual window for free Internet promotion. This type of promotion, though informal, is very effective because social networks foster casual and friendly connections with people who share your interests.
Effective use of social media and social media marketing requires an understanding of where your customers and prospects are, what they are searching for, what problems they have; and one of the most important things that you need to do in these channels is to provide resources and information to feed their needs. It is necessary to execute a social media plan in a phased manner. Plan it out in small steps and do not go in for the Big Bang. It is critical to update your social media strategy based on the results achieved at every stage. The most important factor while framing social media strategy is to remember that all your tactics should be focused on getting a Call to Action (CTA) from the audience. All the tasks, promotions, events, etc., should, at the end of the day, generate a proper CTA so as to be successful.
5 Pointers for a Better Social Media Strategy
- Know your competition It is very critical to know what your competitors are doing online and how they are launching themselves on the social media space. If any element of their approach aligns with your business goals, it is good to try them on with some tweaking to suit your business case. Do encourage your team too to utilize the social media to let out a unified message to the world.
- Advertise on internet directories It is important to list your solutions and services with online cloud solution sites. Directories such as Google Places work as generic social media outlets of their own. These services provide free listings, on which clients can comment on your company, recommend the service, client experience, etc. Create links from your blog and other social media accounts to any good reviews you get on directory listings. Many people turn to these sources to find reputable IT companies.
- Leverage social media Advertise your solutions through social media websites, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Be on every forum connected with your solutions, your niche business areas, etc. Promote your services, solutions, and News on video channels such as YouTube. Tag the content so that it comes up easily in search. Similarly, set up a Flickr account and share images pertaining to your area. At the end of the day, one should not forget the impact of the visual medium. Share these on your forums, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to make them go viral.
- Become Visible. Promote yourself It is important to promote yourself continuously. One should actively build a social profile and presence so as to reap maximum benefits. Encourage visitors to comment, participate and share thus maximising your reach. Start pages and groups on all your areas of interest and also remember to participate in other groups and pages. This would increase your media footprint.
- Monitor and Measure the results This is a very necessary task so that you can actually check whether your social media strategy is bringing you the results you wanted to achieve. Monitoring it in a continuous basis would help you to incorporate the necessary changes to achieve better results. Identify the metrics that need to be measured and work on them closely.
In a nutshell the mantra for a successful social media strategy is- plan in phases, monitor closely, keep in touch with your audience, make changes, evolve, and leverage the network.
