Whether your goal is to boost sales productivity, increase awareness about a service, or raise funds for a social cause, effective use of social media is critical. Knowing how to engage people is fundamental to social media success.
According to Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford professor of marketing, “You can’t use social media effectively unless you know how to capture people’s emotions.” When the objective is to spread the word about your product, service or campaign, you need people to care enough to share your link, message or images with others.
Understanding Social Business
The term “social business” has historically been used to refer to social enterprise intended to help and advocate for the disadvantaged. Increasingly, the term refers to creating businesses that are truly social and which interact in meaningful ways with clients, the public, prospective employees, and people at all levels of the organization.
ROI of Social Media
As businesses look to expand and educate the public about the benefits of their products and services, using social media becomes more important. Social media tools can assist with everything from employee hiring to cost cutting to sales increases. For example, a website design firm can stay connected with high-quality designers on Twitter and inform them directly about job openings. A B2B sales software company can interact directly with clients on Facebook and Twitter, eliminating costs associated with using other middlemen.
Engaging Your Audience
Numerous strategies exist for attracting attention via social media tools like Twitter. Writing helpful blog posts on topics of interest to clients and posting links on Twitter and Facebook are common practices. Offering your website or blog visitors the option of receiving blog post updates via email increases the percentage of website visits.
Social Media Marketing
One of the best ways to use social media is to allow your target audience to do your marketing for you. Zappos, an online clothing and shoe company, has a TweetWall that highlights the products that customers have just recommended to others. Starting a YouTube channel is another effective way to elaborate on your offering and allow viewers to post their feedback, interact with one another, and share video links with friends.
Staying Connected
Stay in touch with your target audience by using Facebook, Twitter and similar social media tools. For example, if you run a dental practice, ask your patients to join you on Facebook. The next time a new dentist joins your practice, you can post his or her bio and picture to keep your patients informed.
Staying connected via social media also allows you to understand the needs and opinions of your audience. Take the time to read the posts of your followers and become familiar with their interests.
You’ll know that your social media efforts are on the right track when you begin to see higher numbers of website visitors, comments and followers, indicating that people are engaged, sharing links and genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
