This post originally appeared on tBL member Joshua Lyon’s blog Joshua Lyons Marketing Blog and is republished with permission. Find out how to syndicate your content with theBrokerList.
In recent years, social media has risen like never before. The pandemic has only boosted the adoption of social media by industries of all kinds. Reports suggest that by 2021, about 3.09 billion people will be using social media networks. Other data indicates that people spend about 136 minutes every day surfing the internet. Companies have responded favorably to this meteoric rise in the number of people going digital. Research by Gartner suggests that the worldwide digital ad spend will be $385 billion in 2020 alone.
But, companies need to be wary about spending huge bucks on social media just for the sake of it. They need to have a well-thought strategy that dictates what customers need, want and aspire to have. They should strategize on how to engage their audience online and develop a reliable system for collecting feedback.
This article discusses four critical questions that companies should ask to boost their social media presence.
What are my goals?
It would be best if you began by asking yourself, “What are my goals, and what is it that I want to achieve?” Startups generally want to test new ideas and measure their audience’s response. In contrast, large organizations use social media to generate awareness about their upcoming products.
Once the goals have been decided, it’s essential to define metrics for success. Different situations demand different metrics. Some of them are described below:
- Do you want more engagement (likes, comments and shares) on your posts?
- Are you expecting constructive criticism from your audience?
- Are you interested in transforming the behavior of your audience? For example, urging your followers to make less use of fuel (petrol, diesel) and other carbon-emanating products.
Your metrics must align with your marketing goals so that you create well-defined timelines and budgets and make the desired impact.
Related Article: The Difference Between Marketing Goals, Strategies and Tactics
What platforms should I use?
Your choice of platform should depend on your customers’ preferences. While brainstorming a social media strategy, it’s essential to understand where your target segment hangs out the most. Young people like to interact on platforms like Facebook and Snapchat. Recently, TikTok has also gained massive popularity in the video making space. It’s a good idea to use platforms like Instagram and Pinterest if you are looking to attract your audience through infographics and images.
It also helps if you also consider the geographical area while deciding what platforms to use. For example, WhatsApp is quite popular in the United States, and you can reach a wider audience through this platform. On the other hand, WeChat and Weibo are the go-to platforms to communicate in China.
What is your content strategy?
Companies often generate excellent ideas and have a team that is ready to put a hundred percent. But what they often lack is a well-thought content strategy. It’s vital to think about what you are going to offer your audience?
Studies suggest that about 46% of customers follow brands because of the inspirational content they get to read. Suppose your content strategy — text pieces, videos, infographics, pictures — doesn’t include providing informational content tailored to your client base’s needs. In that case, you should consider revising your content and make it more inspirational to your audience.
Keep in mind that you must be sensitive to the needs of your customers. There have been many cases where customers don’t want to discuss delicate issues such as mental health. In such situations, companies can privately interact with customers and provide them password-protected articles that can be unlocked only by the intended recipient.
Companies should be mindful of selecting a world-class CRM solution for running social media activities. An excellent CRM system ensures that you send timely alerts, reminders, and notifications to your customers, provide them 24/7 top-notch support service through chatbots and collect feedback.
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Do you communicate with your audience in real-time?
Real-time communication has caught the interest of companies and customers alike. Customers are available online 24/7, and they expect the same from brands too. Companies need to make a cross-platform presence because customers may ask questions from their laptops but may expect to receive answers on their mobile phones.
Real-time communication has other benefits, as well. Companies can instantly respond to customer queries (or within 24 hours if the question requires a fair bit of research) to build a robust and long-lasting relationship. It enables companies to enhance customer experience that encourages people to spread good word-of-mouth among their peers and bring a surge of referrals. Companies should search for high-end CRM solutions that can allow them to interact with customers at any time and from anywhere, thereby providing a world-class experience.
Conclusion
Building a massive social media presence is the need of the hour. Companies need to conduct a need-analysis of their target segment, followed by brainstorming effective social media strategies. Social media can give the required boost to your company and can make your presence felt on the global map. So before drafting a suitable social media strategy, you should run through the four questions mentioned above.
Author Bio
Author BioNishant likes to read and write on technologies that form the bedrock of modern-day and age like Web Apps, machine learning, data science, AI, and robotics. His expertise in content marketing has helped grow countless business opportunities. Nishant works for Sage Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a leading provider of CRM and ERP System to small and mid-sized businesses in India.
