This is part 2 of the series... some tips on using social media...
Tip 1: Consider the role of social media in your marketing plan
- Social media is very good for developing customer engagement, building reputation, thought leadership and word of mouth referrals. It is all about long term brand development
- It is not so good for new customer acquisition, awareness generation or short term sales leads. This is because typically the only people who are likely to follow you are those that have a relationship with you already.
- However, if you create content that is interesting enough to be referred to by others, then your existing customers may send it onto their contacts, retweet it or link to it.
Tip 2: Focus on a few key social media channels
- The big 3 social media channels are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- Google accounts for 9.16% of all UK web visits. Facebook is second with 7.69%. YouTube is 3rd with 2.48%. Twitter is 20th, but rising fast. Source http://www.hitwise.com/uk/datacentre
- Linked In is the largest B2B social media site, but usage has plateaud and participation levels are much lower than the big 3. You should have a presence on Linked In, but don’t expect the same level of interaction as you will get on the others.
- Blogging is the key social media channel for B2B and small businesses, as it is simple, search friendly and ideal for thought leadership. Remember, you should talk rather than sell on your blog. Comment on the news, your industry, recent research and articles, rather than constantly selling your products and services (that is what your web site is for...).
- You may also consider a strategy where you focus on influencing existing blogs, groups and communities by commenting or starting discussions in those channels. It is often better to speak where the audience is now, rather than driving them to your channel.
Tip 3: Have a presence in all channels, but focus...
- You need to be accessible, so have a page on each of the big 3 and Linked In. However, if you have limited time, then focus your efforts on a few channels and simply link to those from the other pages. For example a small B2B firm could focus on blogging, Twitter and YouTube, but have Facebook & Linked In pages with links to these channels.
Tip 4: Consider your tone of voice and target audience
- What impression do you want to give? Do you want to speak as an independent guru / expert giving advice on the industry, or do you want to be a brand ambassador, who only talks about what your company is doing, or maybe you want to be a facilitator, suggesting discussion points and asking for reader comments? You need to take a position and be consistent with how you talk to your audience.
- Your tone may depend upon your relationship with your audience. Who are they? How knowledgeable are they about your content? How do they view you?
Tip 5: Integrate social media with your marketing comms
- Use social media to communicate with existing contacts about what you are doing, such as future events and launches, white papers you have written, new web tools you have developed. Publish new content on your blog and short videos on YouTube and then use Twitter or Facebook to drive people to them.
- For example, create a Twitter # for your events, so if attendees tweet about what they have learned, you will be able to find out what they are saying. http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-Use-Hash-Tags-On-Twitter
Tip 6: Use the free measurement tools
- YouTube Insights http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_insight - tells you how many people have watched your video, who they are, where they are, how many dropped off before the end etc
- Google Alerts www.google.com/alerts. - This tells you when anyone writes about you on the web. Set up a Google alert for your company / brand name and personal name. Bear in mind it only works well if you have a distinctive name. Set one up for “John Smith” and you will be flooded with irrelevant alerts.
