Tweet? Occasionally. Post on Facebook? Every now and then. On Instagram? No.
While you may have taken a step forward and created a presence on a few social media platforms that you are most familiar with, your occasional efforts are not helping you to really establish a dedicated presence – one that customers and look for and rely on. And that every now and then effort is likely not producing many or any results. If that sounds familiar then its time to put more effort into the way and where you communicate.
Yes you have a Twitter account and tweet on an occasion. However upon review, the content of your tweets are always promotional. Yes, you have a Facebook account and post every now and then, again typically promoting a press release about the launch of your new product or some new features. But here’s the thing. Aside from the infrequent timing of communications, and the clear lack of a strategic plan about what to communicate, is the lack of knowledge as to where is the best place to communicate. If your target customers are spending their time on Instagram, isn’t that where you should be?
This social media marketing effort may make seem like time sink, with little value. Yes, it takes time and effort. However, you can’t expect buyers to magically appear once you have a major announcement. Nor is it realistic to envision your ability to handle customer inquiries/resolutions will be managed smoothly if you haven’t already generated the interest and built relationships online.
Unfortunately, social media isn’t the field of dreams – build it and they will come. Yes you have to build it, but you also have to give them a reason to come.
How do you turn that meager social media presence into one that is remarkable – one that will entice and engage?
Research
Start by researching your target customer. Document who they are – their demographics, behavior patterns, motivations and goals. By mapping the details of your target customer, you will be able to pinpoint the social media platforms where they are spending their time and know how to communicate to them. Communicating to a teen is very different from a Director of IT. This will help you to narrow your focus, know where and how you need to communicate as well as the type of communications you need to create – 140 characters, images, or videos. This process will also help you to identify your target customer’s pain points – key issues and problems they are facing which will help focus your content.
“To be successful and grow your business and revenues, you must match the way you market your products with the way your prospects learn about and shop for your products.” – Brian Halligan
Editorial Calendar
There are so many benefits to planning content. It takes the guesswork out of what to write and promote and ensures you are providing quality content to your target customer on a regular basis. An editorial calendar aligns your communication efforts. Use an editorial calendar to set goals, specify content themes and actions, plan campaigns, determine distribution channels, assign tasks, and set measurement criteria.
Content
Now that you know who your target customers are and their pains points, use that information to develop themes in writing, creating and curating content. Start a blog that educates buyers about the industry and provides benefit-oriented solutions to resolving their problems. Create fact sheets, such as a product comparison chart to help buyers determine what solution will work best for them. Work with industry influencers to leverage bias-free content. Become a trusted source of information by providing content that is educational and helpful the majority of the time, with the rest promoting your offerings. This will entice and engage interaction between you and your target customer.
“Remarkable social media content and great sales copy are pretty much the same – plain spoken words designed to focus on the needs of the reader, listener, or viewer.” – Brian Clark
Automation Tools
Due to a lack of time and often a million other priorities, you will find incorporating a few market automation tools extremely helpful and useful when implementing your communications throughout social media. There is a wealth of mainstream and inexpensive tools that can make this process so much easier. Plus you will gain the benefit of analytics. Know what is working and what is not.
I come across many small companies who are moving at lightning speed building their company and sell their products. Putting effort into communicating and establishing a relationship with target customers takes time, commitment and persistence. Turn that meager social media presence into one that is remarkable. Create interesting content, promote and interact where they are, will help drive customers to buy – from you. Don’t wait for the planets to align, get started today!