Wherefore art thou social media?

Social media.

Which department of your company does it fit in?

Some of you will be saying, 'Its I.T, its online, its about backlinks and SEO, so in the I.T. department! Get the people who really know the web well to deal with it'

Others will be thinking 'No, no, social media is about marketing! It has to go in the marketing department, we are using it to sell our products and service to our customers. Thats who should be in charge of it'.

Or there are those that say 'Social media is about PR. Its about staying on trend with the latest stories, creating a PR buzz around what you are doing, sending out mini press releases.'

Finally, some think 'Forget that! Social media needs to sit within customer services! Its all about engaging with our customers, identifying any problems and refining our service to provide them with a better brand experience'

So...who is right?

The answer: everyone.

Huh? Doesn't that make things tricky?

Maybe. But perhaps, by sharing best practice throughout the whole of your company, everyone becomes informed about the power of social media- from an SEO perspective, from a marketing and PR perspective, and from a customer engagement and retention perspective.

If you miss out one of these vital components then your social media success will suffer.

To really get the best out of using these, you need to be clued up in just how it affects every part of your business- from driving traffic to your site, to providing PR opportunities, to making great sales or for making customers for life.

Be the social media tortoise

The tortoise and the hare. Interesting story, right? The slow and steady eventually win the race and beat those who think a bit of initial effort can allow them to rest on their laurels.

The same is true of social media marketing. When developing your social media strategy you have to realise that slow and steady wins the race. You can't get 5,000 Twitter followers in two weeks. You can't expect to build a Facebook community overnight. Sure, in some rare cases it does happen. But for most of us, consistency is key.

The initial buzz of social media engagement wears off after a while. After enjoying being paid to be on Facebook all day long, you eventually realise that to build a sustained, enthusiastic community is going to take effort. Its going to take time.

Just like when you move to a new area it takes time to form new relationships, so too is the same online. You dont know yet who your most active respondents are, or what your community likes or dislikes about your product.

But you will do-in time- by consistently engaging with social media, on a regular basis.

Vary the types of engagement you use. Post questions, videos, quotes, facts, news stories, interviews, articles, podcasts- rotate your engagement every so often.

Make sure you don't become forgotten- become an integral component of that person's social media experience. Make a social media diary to note your engagement. Are there times when your posts work best? Think of what time zones your customers are in and when they will be engaging.

Consistent, repeated effort is the key to success. You'll be building an impressive array of backlinks to your site- as well as a loyal fanbase who look forward to your regular interactions with them.

Define your (social media) brand

On the web, identity is everything.

We type, communicate, across thousands of miles to people we may not ever meet in our lives. A global web of people, woven together by an invisible online thread, means that who you are, and what you say, is very important.

To establish a strong presence in the world of social media you need to define your brand. Not just the design elements- but the heart of who you are, your values,the core of your business.

If your business were a person, what kind of person would they be? Loud, Intelligent, Funny, Sincere, Talkative, Inspirational, Imaginative?

Online, your identity speaks volumes about your brand- so whoever is in charge of your social media strategy must keep in mind what your business identity is.

The easiest way to do this?
By sticking to your passion- what drove you to set up the business in the first place? You saw a gap in the market, right, and decided you'd do things differently.

How?

That USP, your identity, is what you need to engage with when using social media.

Identify your strengths as a brand-where do you stand out? What is different or special about you compared to others?

Commit to some key values- words and terms that define the core of you and what you are ultimately trying to achieve. It may be a simple word like 'empowerment', 'health', 'choices' 'information' - but keep that word stuck to your computer and remind yourself of the ultimate message behind your online identity.

The S.O.C.I.A.L in Social Media engagement

So you've just started defining your social media strategy.
You know that in order to create an effective online social media community you need to engage, you need to listen, you need to say something relevant...but what else?

Social media marketing is scary to some people because it is an entirely new way of marketing; a way based on trust and authenticity rather than image and ideology.

To really become a powerful force in the world of social media, you need to speak to the heart of your customers.

How do you do that? By speaking from your heart.

Social media is, after all, social.

It relates to our natural ability to engage with each other as humans, our need to connect, to engage, to build meaningful relationships, rather than arbitrary, superficial ones.

Social media marketing means that you need to build a deep, lasting, trusting relationship with your customers. They need to know that behind your brand you are a person, and while you may be selling them a product or service, that you still hold common ground with them in some way.

So here is the SOCIAL of social media engagement:

Signal-noise ratio: This effectively means you don't just bombard your followers with information. Listen for the signals- think of it as an actual conversation. You'd soon walk off if someone talked at you and never asked you anything or responded to what you were saying.

Overt- Be overt in what you are saying. Don't be cryptic. Although this can work sometimes to create mystery, if it isnt obvious what you are trying to say or you are not being open, people will quickly lose trust in you. So be overt- open, honest and upfront.

Connect- This seems an obvious one, but actually many companies fail to connect because the selling of the product becomes more imperative than connecting with the consumer. As paradoxical as it sounds, the less you focus on making money and the more you focus on relationship building, the more loyalty you will get and in turn more sales.

Interesting- Be interesting! Stand out from the crowd. Again, who holds your attention in a social situation like a party? The person who talks seriously and sticks to one topic, or the witty, funny person who seems positive and upbeat? Your personality comes through online, so be interesting.

Authentic- In social media marketing, there is no where to hide. And the bigger you get, the less you'll be able to hide your online facade- so it goes without saying- don't lie! The risk of getting found out could mean you damage loyalty to your brand- something that is very, very hard to get back.

Listen, learn and lead- the three 'L's to remember. Listening is crucial- its how we make the other feel valued. Can you remember how it feels when someone doesn't listen? Yep, like they don't care. Also, learn from your listening- maybe your followers like particular posts, maybe they have strong opinions around a particular subject, maybe they tell you something about your competitor- collect this data and use it to inform your business direction. Lastly, lead- become an authority in your field. Know everything there is to know about your product or service. Keep your followers informed of all the recent developments in your area of business.

They'll love you for it- and stay committed to you.