The Internet has made it easier than ever before for your clientele to talk to each other about your organization. They are doing so right now, as you read this. You should be a part of that conversation.
Participating in social media allows you to listen to your marketplace and respond in appropriate ways. It gives your organization a human voice, distinct from the marketing-speak that people are increasingly tuning out. Done well, social media builds trust in and enthusiasm for your organization or brand.
Building blocks of social media
1. Strategize. If you had a better connection with your market, what would you do with it? Some possibilities include gathering product feedback, solving customer service issues, building brand awareness and promoting sales. Knowing what you hope to achieve going in, you will have a better chance of evaluating the results. You should know how you will objectively measure the effectiveness of your social media efforts.
2. Listen. Find the existing conversations on blogs, forums and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can listen for conversations about your brand, your competitors, your industry or anything else that could help meet your objectives. Evaluating the tenor of the conversations (are people upset, complimentary, funny, etc.) will give you some clues as to how to join in.
3. Establish outposts. Depending on what you learned from listening, establish accounts on one or more social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.
4. Join the conversation. Imagine that you’re at a party with people who you’ve never met before. If you break into a conversation, hand your business cards around and start talking about what great deals your company offers, you probably won’t get invited back. If, on the other hand, you respond to the conversation already in progress, making relevant comments and offering to help where you can, you will soon become a recognized member of the community.
5. Be a creator. The vast majority of people on social networks simply observe. A small portion comment on existing content. An even smaller number create new content and these are the people that everyone else is talking about. Creating content that is informative, helpful or entertaining gives you a unique, authoritative voice in the social media sphere, inviting responses and creating connections.
How webdancers can help
We cannot speak for you. We can, however, help with strategic planning, setup of tools and best practices advice. Social media is a relatively new online space, one that is evolving rapidly and shows huge potential. It is aligned with our philosophy of humanizing technology and we follow its progress closely. Our clients gain the benefit of our close attention to this area. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
Cartoon by Geek and Poke
