Making the most of Social Media Marketing

It’s always a tough decision whether to jump on the social media band wagon and use it as a tool to support your current marketing efforts. One thing to be certain of is, if you’re going to be present online you must be actively present.

Social media is so accessible that customers use it as a tool for entertainment and, also as a tool for receiving customer service. Customers may send enquiries or questions direct to your social media accounts and if you’re not actively present on these accounts you may miss these, resulting in customers feeling unsatisfied and potentially losing a customer.

In some instances, we agree it may not be relevant for your company to be present on social media however we can positively say that majority of society is on social media, whether it be having a Facebook, Linked In or Instagram account, almost everybody has some presence on social media. Therefore, we would suggest at the least setting up a Facebook account for your company. Facebook is simple to use as a business and widely used by potential customers, making it a great place to start on your business’ foray into social media marketing. Many will google the company name and use the Facebook account for the business locations or reviews, which leads into our next point. Using your Facebook account for testimonials is a great idea. We know that word of mouth marketing is extremely effective as people trust reviews from like-minded people. On the other hand, you need to consider that you may have some bad reviews on Facebook, which is why you need to be actively present on your accounts to minimise any potential damage and rectify any issues customers have promptly.  

Instagram is another great social media platform which many companies can positively utilise. Instagram is a great tool to actively share projects you’re working on, new products that have just been released and relevant industry news. Instagram is also a great tool to engage with your customers, running small competitions in exchange for a like or follow from them is great way to generate a following and greater brand awareness.

Although social media is great to be present and engage with your customers on, it is important to remember to take a soft selling approach. People don’t want to go onto their social media and just see ads, ads and more ads. They want to be entertained, inspired and heard. Don’t fall into the social media marketing trap. Being another nagging company on social media will not win you any new customers, in fact your existing customers may even unfollow you and move on.

How to use social media:

• Be actively present
• Inspire your audience
• Share ideas and articles that aren’t just about your products or services
• Entertain your audience – don’t be so serious, use social media to connect with your customers
• Share exciting new projects you’re working on
• Always attend to the online inquiries or disgruntled customers immediately to mitigate negative impacts

How not to use social media:

• Talk about yourself and your products only
• Ignore complaint