Using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is a simple yet highly effective way to connect with customers and build a stronger online reputation. While it is normal for companies to have a more casual voice on social media than they do on other marketing platforms, it’s still important for them to create a plan for what and when they’ll post on these websites. The following steps can be helpful when planning a social media strategy for your business:
Decide Which Platforms Your Business Should Use
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Pinterest—these are just some of the social media platforms modern businesses can use. Don’t spread yourself too thin by immediately creating a profile on every platform and trying to post regularly on each one. Instead, figure out which social media platforms are best for your business.
- Find out which platforms are most popular. Facebook is currently the most commonly-used social media platform, and many users rely on it to find information about products and services they want to buy. Every business should create a Facebook page to reach the widest potential audience. Twitter and Instagram are other popular platforms that many different companies can benefit from using.
- Think about your products and services.If your company offers products that require tutorials to learn to use, then creating YouTube videos can be a great way to enhance your online image. If you sell something food- or craft-related, then Pinterest can be a great platform to use.
Get Your Employees Involved
Your employees are a representation of your brand. Even if they aren’t directly accessing the company’s social media accounts, they still play an important role in your brand’s online presence if they use social media personally or professionally. This is why it’s important to make sure all employees understand your social medial goals.
- Start conversations about social media.Your employees won’t know what you expect from your social media strategy, or even understand what your strategy is, unless you talk to them about it. Consider planning social media meetings or starting a social media chat channel or email thread so all employees can stay informed about how you want to use this online marketing tool.
- Ask everyone for social media content ideas.It’s also a good idea to ask all employees to contribute to your social media profiles with content to post on them. Employees can brainstorm topics for blogs, videos, and questions to ask on your social media platforms in an effort to build engagement among your fans and followers.
Research What Works and What Doesn’t
There are many examples of social media hits and misses that you can look to when creating your company’s social media strategy. Seeing where other companies have succeeded and failed on social media can help you determine what types of content to post on each platform as well as when and how often to post.
- Create an appropriate schedule for each platform.How often will you post on each social media platform? It’s important to figure out the right schedule for each website your company uses so you can reach your audience when they’re most likely to be online, but avoid coming off as pushy or annoying.
- Find out what hashtags mean before using them. Many companies try to jump on hashtag bandwagons while they’re still hot, but this can lead to some serious misunderstandings. You should always look into what a trending hashtag really means before including it in an online post.
Get Ready to Respond to Comments
A social media schedule will help you maintain active profiles by ensuring that you always have interesting content to post. But along with providing a place to post content, websites like Twitter and Facebook also provide platforms where customers can leave comments. Customers rely on social media as an easy way to contact businesses, so it’s important to be prepared to respond to comments and questions.
- Be polite and professional.No matter who is in charge of your company’s social media accounts, it’s essential that they maintain a polite and professional voice any time they post—especially when responding to comments from consumers.
- Respond as quickly as possible. Since social media is so easy to use whether you’re at home or on-the-go, customers expect fast responses. Someone should be checking your company’s social media profiles at least once a day (preferably multiple times a day) and responding to any comments as quickly as possible.
Know How to Handle Negativity
For many customers, social media has become the go-to place when they want to complain or share negative experiences with businesses. Anyone who will have access to your social media accounts should know how to properly respond to these types of comments.
- Don’t try to delete or hide comments.It might be tempting to delete any negative comments you come across, but this can make you look unprofessional and make customers feel like you don’t care about what they have to say. You should only delete comments that are inappropriate or might make other readers uncomfortable.
- Help people with their problems.A negative comment provides an opportunity to offer great customer service. If a customer complains about something, try to offer a solution to their problem. Turning a negative into a positive can help you keep a customer.
Social media can be a powerful marketing tool when you know how to use it. Pennington Creative can work with you to create a better strategy with our social media marketing services. Whether you’re looking for help creating engaging posts or want someone to totally take over your profiles, our Tucson digital marketing team can help. Visit our website to get started!
