Is your social media up to scratch?
By Natalie @BubbleJobs
Social Media marketing is recognised as being one of the best ways to market new or emerging brands and in the current economic climate, most brands are choosing to manage their own social media accounts and develop their own strategies in order to avoid employing a social media manager.
But, how many brands are actually getting it right? I’ve come across a fair few brands that are getting it so wrong, so here’s a little ‘how to’ guide to make sure that your brand does it the right way from the very beginning. Having the perfect brand is only the start, it’s how you promote it that really matters, so take note…
1. Develop a clear strategy before you even start. You need to have absolutely no doubt in your mind what your expectations are and how you plan to realise your goals. Obviously, this means that you also need to set out some clear aims. Even if that is to engage with a single follower each day, at least you know exactly what you are aiming for.
2. Manage your expectations of what social media can do for your brand. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that once they have started to use their social media accounts, the traffic through to the website will soar and sales will drastically improve. This is unlikely to happen, and if it does, it is unlikely to happen immediately. The development of your following on social networking sites is slow and laborious, it will not happen overnight.
3. Do not start posting overt marketing messages from your very first post. Not only will this highlight you as a spam account to others, but it also stops those that may not necessarily be interested in your brand from the outset from feeling inclined to engage with you in order to find out more. I would suggest your first few posts outline who you are and what you do. Perhaps reply to the posts of others in order to start a conversation. Don’t forget these are ‘social’ networking sites; the key is to be social and engage with others.
4. Have sufficient content to ensure that you are engaging with your audience on social networking sites on a regular basis. At the very least this should be a post daily. The problem is that people start off their Facebook and Twitter accounts without really having any knowledge of what they are planning to post and therefore, their posts can be intermittent. This can cause your followers and fans to become disengaged from your brand and less receptive to your marketing messages. Just having the accounts is not enough, so one post monthly is not going to be sufficient to get your brand name out there and recognised.
5. Make sure that you are dividing your time between the social networking sites that you are making use of in an effective manner. If you are receiving little or no interaction on one social networking site, ensure that you are not spending all your time on it. This will be counterproductive. Instead, identify the social networking site that will help you achieve your aims. If that is to drive more traffic to your website and your Twitter account is significantly out-performing your Facebook account, then perhaps it is time to ensure that you are spending more time on Twitter. It is about recognising what works for you and maximising the potential. That said, do not completely ignore those social networking sites that are not giving you the results that you would like as it is important that you are ‘covering all bases’.
So, if you follow these golden rules when setting up your social media accounts you will give yourself the best possible chance to see a real impact from your social media presence. If you’re not sure that you can do it all yourself, then why not try to find yourself a Social Media Manager or Strategist to do the job for you?!
Related Posts
How To Deal With Customer Complaints On Social Media →
How are you monitoring the effectiveness of your brand? →
