Tweet? Occasionally. Post on Facebook? Every now and then. Have a presence on Instagram? No.
While you may have taken a step forward and created a presence on a couple of social media networks that are most familiar to you, your occasional efforts are not helping you establish a dedicated presence – one that customers and look for and rely upon. And that every now and then effort is probably not producing the results you had in mind. If that sounds familiar then its time to put more effort into how 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 again post every now and then promoting a press release about the launch of your new product or new features. But here’s the thing. Aside from the infrequent timing of communications, and the lack of direction about what to communicate, is not focusing your efforts on the where – which social networks are the best for reaching your audience. For instance, 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, as 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 or resolutions will be managed smoothly if you haven’t already generated the interest and built a relationship 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. You will learn their pain points and the key issues and problems your target customers are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. By mapping the details of your buyers, you will be able to design your content to engage, and pinpoint the social media platforms where you can reach them. Knowing the details of your buyers will help you to narrow your focus, determine where you need to have a presence, how you need to structure your communications as well as the type of information you need to create – 140 characters, images, or videos.
“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 products. This will entice and encourage interaction between you and your buyers.
“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 the process of scheduling and posting a breeze. Plus you will gain the benefit of analytics. You will quickly know what is working and what is not.
I come across many small companies who are moving at lightning speed building their company and selling 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 and interact where they are, will help drive customers to buy – from you. Don’t wait for the planets to align, get started today!