By: Linda Kaun
Before you jump into the social media scene, youll get a
lot more mileage out of your marketing efforts if you take a step back and
develop a social media marketing strategy.
Understand what the different tools are, what they are used
for, how to implement them and maybe even more important, how the effort will
be maintained.
It's easy enough to start a blog or set up your profile on
LinkedIn. The trick is keeping it up over time. Who will actually do that in
your organization? How much time do they have to devote to these social media
efforts?
If you map out a plan first, you can then grow slowly but
steadily, increasing your social media presence as you gain experience.
Remember, social media is about people. People connecting
through these various tools or platforms. It's not for you to blatantly push
your products or services on an audience. So you must figure out what your
customers are looking for, then see how you might be able to fill that need.
Ask yourself these questions for starters:
Goal Setting and Measurement
What's your goal for using social media-you may have
several.
Do you want to research your market, help your customers
solve problems, be a thought leader in your industry, build relationships, be
an advocate for change, create sales and marketing opportunities, engage your
market to improve/give feedback on your products? Each of those will require
different processes to create the results you're after.
Which set of metrics will you use to measure your results,
both quantitative and qualitative?
Market Analysis
Have you analyzed your competitors to see what theyre
offering in the social media arena? How can you set yourselves apart from them?
Even though many companies have already created a social media presence, it's
still in the early stages with plenty of room to be original and memorable.
Look to other industries for ideas to adapt to your own niche.
Value
How will you create unique value for your audience through
your programs?
Remember in social media, (as with all marketing in fact)
the focus needs to be on the concerns of your audience, not on your products.
So consider their own familiarity with these various tools and the time they
have.
Maybe they would rather interact together around a social
network or forum. Or perhaps theyre more comfortable listening to information
on a podcast or webinar.
Content
What content are you offering that is, again, of value to
your audience? What can you do to help them solve their problems, learn
something new? The content includes written words, video, audio, and so on that
will engage your audience.
You'll need to decide what tone youll take, whats the
personality you want to project. People are looking for the human face behind
your company. Will it be a team effort or one person? Who will handle follow up
from your customers questions or comments?
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