Many businesses believe social media holds the answer to their marketing needs. But despite it’s reported success, many struggle to make social media work for their business. They jump on the social media bandwagon, quickly falling off it again. For all the good they do, they might as well be targeting Martians.
Some companies may set up a Facebook page, Twitter account, and a Pinterest board promote a few things once in a while and leave it at that. Such an approach is never going to work. Period. Just a waste of time for your marketing team, and money out of your marketing budget.
If you want to succeed on social media then you need to play by the rules of the game. So how can you make social media work for your business?
Less promotion, more relationship building
Not the best example, but hopefully you get the message.. Social media is about engaging with your would-be customers. Unfortunately most companies do not wish to ‘lose their image’ and actively engage in ‘cheap marketing tricks.’ The whole ethos needs to change, the focus switched from promotion of content to genuine relationship building with clients. Two-way communication. Contact based on the platform rather than the company. The lifespan of Facebook posts and Twitter tweets is very short. Make it count!
Recent updates to Facebook and Twitter have lessened the reach promotional posts have. Businesses are now twice as ineffective on them as they were before. Other social networks, like Instagram, Vine and Pinterest, typically result in higher interaction levels.
Want to go viral? Think again
The things that go ‘viral’ on social media are the very usually the least expected. Viral media marketing cannot be engineered or manipulated in the way that many marketing companies suggest. The grey-suited salesman is more likely to go viral than the cute kitten!
A recent example of this, from the British baking chain Greggs, ultimately resulted in a PR success through some quick-thinking from the company’s social media team.
A Google search for the company produced a parodied version of their logo with an offensive message. A potentially disastrous PR nightmare was averted by Greggs’ tweeting to Google, offering them a plate of iced donuts if they would fix the issue. Google’s Twitter account promptly responded, saying they would fix it if Greggs would ‘throw in a sausage roll’ as well.
The mishap was soon picked up by the media, went viral and received widespread coverage, resulting in a definite PR success for the bakers.
This can be compared to multiple attempts by organisations (including many respected charities) to emulate the success of the ‘ice bucket challenge’ (which itself was an unexpected phenomenon) and send their campaign viral. None of which have caught on, it’s fair to say. So be quick off the mark, follow trends, and who knows, maybe something of yours will go viral.
Incentives
None but the most loyal customers will like your business’ Facebook page merely for the sake of it. Social media users need to feel like their getting something in return. They want to feel that liking your Facebook page is worth their while. Rewards and incentives must be tailored to the platform. They might be sweepstakes, exclusive discounts, or on the likes of Pinterest, helpful guides and tutorials.
Running regular competitions is a classic method of doing this and can elevate the social media presence of any business. The best competitions are for prizes that have mass appeal, everyone’s happy to win an Amazon gift card, for example. Of course, you should always try to keep the contest related to your business where possible.
Linking in with our celebrity-centred culture
Social media is very much celebrity-orientated, businesses have been using this to their advantage for years. Celebrities are reaping the rewards too, raking in thousands of dollars from sponsored tweets and posts. ‘Big names’ such as LeBron James reportedly command six-figure fees for each tweet.
This might blow most businesses’ marketing budgets but sponsored posts and other promotional methods can still be done on a smaller and local scale. Social networking is all about linking up with people across the globe. Businesses can not only link up with celebrity personalities, but can also link up with groups, organisations and other companies online. This can be done in a number of ways, including affiliate marketing.
Further thoughts
If you want to make social media work for your business, linking with your website is a must. These days search engines pay a lot of attention to the social media presence of businesses, so much so that it has a direct affect on their search ranking too.
Evaluate your approach and think about the platform. If social media isn’t working for you, stop and attempt to find out why. Whether you’re a multi-national company with a million dollar marketing budget, or a one man band, social media can work for you. Don’t give up on it too soon..
Ask yourself these questions:
What content works best on each social platform? Are you talking at your customers, or to your customers? What time of day are you posting? Could there be a better time? What are your competitors doing? What works for them?
These are just some of the questions that can help you to find out why social media isn’t working for you. Sometimes it just comes down to a few small changes that can make a whole lot of difference.
Above all else, remember that social media is about building relationships, interacting with your customers. Never use social media just to market to your customers, you’ll always receive a cold response.
What are your tips for making social media work for your business?