Reaching new and existing customers should always be a priority regardless of your position in the market. Without customers there is no business and as the marketplace becomes more competitive, businesses are forced to check their added value offering and customer retention rates. Reaching customers is an essential part in getting leads and converting them to sales. As social media continues to grow you have to decide as a business which ones to use. And by this we mean which are the most effective channels to distribute your message to your customers.
Research is key
Research is needed to know which social channels are relevant to your target audience. Many can be unsure what social media sites they should be using, particularly for small business owners. Do not be afraid to start small with a few channels and utilise them well. Consistency and engagement are key factors that will spark conversation and interest from customers.
So what social media channels are there? Most are aware of Facebook and the benefits it can have to your business. Brands that are active on here get to update their followers with exciting deals, promotions and online competitions. It is a quick and easy way of spreading the word and reaching a wide audience. Other social media sites you will be familiar with are Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest, Google+, tumbler and Digg. This article will focus on 4 social media channels which are offering new features that could work for you.
Twitter is full of people with something to say and anyone can listen. According to statista.com the number of active monthly users on Twitter worldwide at the end of 2014 is 284 million! The Twittersphere is huge. It is not a platform for family and friends but for those you really want to communicate with as a business. It is a great way of connecting with customers and clients as well as potential ones, answering any questions and providing information and news.
The updates on Twitter are short and clear, there is a limit of 140 characters, but used correctly you will reap the rewards. The hashtag feature is a great way to keep up with trends and newsworthy events which you can then become a part of. It is a chance to excel at customer service and shine as a proactive company that cares about customer feedback.
A lot of organisations fail to respond to complaints and queries which can be detrimental to your brand and your sales in the long term. Unhappy customers will not hesitate to grab their phones and tell you how they feel. It is up to you to respond. Twitter have recently launched the ‘Buy Now’ button (currently being tested in the U.S ) to make purchases on twitter. Making this a great social media resource for retailers.
YouTube
This social media site is all things video! vlogging, music, tutorials and humour can all be found on YouTube. With an estimated 1 billion visitors each month worldwide and over 100 hours of video uploaded every minute! It is the second largest search engine after Google, so having a product on here that can be searched will have huge benefits. As you may know YouTube is a Google product and this could benefit you from a SEO perspective.
However YouTube is a competitive market and will only work for you if you have valuable videos that are engaging and that users will enjoy. If your business is able to visually show how their products and services work and how they are different from the rest then this social media channel is a winner for you.
Tumblr
Tumblr Is a platform for blogging and you can post photos, links, quotes, music and videos in the form of a short blog, you can effortlessly share anything. With 46% of users being between the ages of 16 and 24 it is a great way of connecting with a younger market. Globally Tumblr has a total of 199.1 million visitors a month. It is fast becoming a valuable tool to interact with generations Y and Z.
It recently announced it is testing the ‘buy now’ button with links from Etsy, Artsy and Kickstart. In time this could be rolled out to a wider audience and a place to transact, not just a place to see and read great content.
Digg
Digg is a social news website that curates content from around the web. It claims to ‘deliver the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet right now.’ Users submit stories and the Digg community vote on which they think is the best. Each story has a “Digg button” and as the story collects votes it is cross pollinated with other channels. However users can also vote down a story which they don’t like or think is irrelevant. If a story gets a lot of ‘Diggs’ it will appear on the homepage within a list of popular articles.
Digg gives the opportunity for brands to gain large amount of exposure. If your blog post gets to the main page Digg can drive a lot of traffic to your blog. It is easy to find blog posts and web pages of interest. It can be a great way for a business to get the exposure it needs however it is not really designed for customer interaction so think carefully before investing your time.
With all social media channels what works for one may not work for another. Think what it is you want to get from using social and how it can help with your customer relationships and sales. Time is precious and limited and unless you are a multimillion dollar company you many not have the time or resources to use them all and there is no need. Try these out for yourself! #goodluck.
