Several Fortune 500 companies are today vying with one another to exploit the social media networks to boost their sales. It is reported that more than 75% of big brands are on Twitter, 69% on Facebook, and 67% on YouTube. This is not to speak of an overwhelming presence of corporate houses on Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest. Here are 3 tips for creating an effective corporate social media strategy.
- Merely creating a presence on various social media sites will not suffice. You will have to regularly update and maintain these accounts and have a strategic focus moving forward. You should evolve an effective and cohesive online marketing strategy that aligns all social networks, blogs and online ads. Corporations can create one company Twitter account or one dedicated Facebook page to communicate with all their existing and prospective customers. You have to focus on several specific niches within your business and build follower lists for them. Audiences are simply not paying attention to banner social media advertising. Viewers are de-sensitized and turned off the ads Furthermore, 8 out of 10 Facebook users say they have never made a purchase based on a Facebook ad.
- Understand the nature of your audience. After developing a number of new communities, you must work to better understand the people who are joining you by using the social media marketing tool. Try to find out who was there talking about what and whether people cared about certain topics. You should think about sustainability and corporate responsibility. Based on the information you gather, you must begin to target your followers partly with quality content and partly with special promotion offers. Never underestimate the value of quality content. Your goal should be to create an environment where people feel free to share different types of useful information. Provide information that is authentic and transparent and offering value to build a better relationship.
- Many businesses have the capability to collect data, but what separates the successes from the failures is what you choose to do with the data. Use data as a resource to better understand your audience and to get close to building a more meaningful and sustainable relationship. Everything you do about data is so important in building out a good strategy. It lets you collect information and gain insights that you haven’t been able to do before. Corporations must focus on investing in good storytellers who can weave a magic narrative that sells. Videos should be entertaining because that’s what audiences expect.