Social Media is so important to businesses today. Businesses post continually to FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google + in hopes of attracting new customers. The problem is with all the posting businesses do, they do not actively start or continue existing discussions. Without the interactive aspect of Social Media, they just have, well, media.

Though Social Media is similar to other media forms, such as newspaper, television and radio, its biggest and most important difference is reaching out and interacting with consumers. Creating a dialogue and communicating with other people – being social!

As most consumers are very familiar with popular Social Media platforms such as FaceBook and Twitter, they are quick to check businesses out online before they purchase. Consumers will not only check out your products and services, but will check what others are saying about your business before they commit to working with or buying from you.

Social Media can respond quickly to customers inquiries.

Multiple times a day individuals are on their Social Media accounts checking their status and posting comments. When in business, it is also important to be checking your status and posting comments too. Through these interactions, businesses can show quality customer service and show their focus is on what their customers want and need. Being active on Social Media allows a business to address many customer’s issues and promote lead generation at the same time.

What is your Social Media voice?

When interacting with consumers, are you friendly, aloof, or robotic? As a business using Social Media, interacting with current customers and potential customers as an open, honest, and friendly person is important. You are exchanging information and sharing your experience, so good rapport goes a long way in keeping a customer and gaining new customers.

♦ ONE  ♦

Know what Social Media your customers frequent.

• What is the demographic or specific population you are trying to reach? Think about the average age, income, education, and other shared characteristics of your customers.
• If you are focusing on consumers between 40 – 60, FaceBook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn would be a good place to begin your Social Media campaign. If you are focusing on consumers between 20 – 40, you may want to consider Twitter and Google + platforms as well.
• Though all Social Media channels are important to be involved in, you want to take careful consideration of who you are trying to attract as a customer. An older consumer may not frequent Twitter or Google + but may check their FaceBook, Pinterest, or LinkedIn accounts multiple times a day.
• To attract a wide number of consumers to your business through their main form of social interaction and timing, you need to be on multiple forms of Social Media at different times throughout the day.

♦ TWO ♦

Setting Up Your Social Media Accounts

• Over 70% of consumers online have a FaceBook account, so it is beneficial to set up your business FaceBook page so you can reach a large number of potential consumers.
• FaceBook may currently be the most popular Social Media site, per the Pew Internet Report, however Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google + are making gains. With 52% of online adults using these multiple Social Media sites consistently, it is beneficial to have your business posting on multiple Social Media sites.
• Below are links to help you get set up on the currently most popular Social Media sites.

FaceBook — LinkedIn — Pinterest — Twitter — Google +

• Once you set up your Social Media pages you may want to automate some of your posts to give you a presence throughout the day and when you are not able to be personally active on Social Media.
• Currently, FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest have several automation programs that allow you to schedule posts, tweets, and pins ahead of time. It is important to remember though, Social Media is social, not about automation. Schedule good quality content ahead of time but don’t schedule so many updates that you would be considered a spammer or not be able to keep up with the comments your posts generate.
• There are several schedulers for Social Media that work well and can supplement your real-time interactions. Buffer and HootSuite are two great auto-posting services that work with FaceBook, LinkedIn, Google +, and Twitter. A word to the wise, Google+ has an automated scheduler for business but not for personal pages, so remember to set up your Google + account as a business.
• Pinterest has a different platform for scheduling pins via ViralTag (formally Pinography) and Tailwind and Twitter can also schedule tweets using SocialOomph and FutureTweets.

♦ THREE ♦

Interact daily!

• Make an effort to be active on your Social Media in real-time, especially if you have an upcoming event or sale, if someone has commented on your business, or if someone has requested a response from you. Social Media is just that, social interaction, so try not to use auto responders to comments. Customers and potential customers are not looking for interaction with an automated service. Most internet users consider Social Media communication immediate and they expect replies to their comments and questions from a real person and within a reasonable amount of time.
• You will receive notifications from your Social Media accounts when someone has commented or mentioned you so you can reply quickly. Customers want to be acknowledged and responded to, so the quicker you respond, the more people will recognize your business as engaged and responsive, will more likely purchase from you, and forward information about you to others.
• Be casual and conversational in your responses to customer inquiries, questions, and problems. Potential customers are watching to see how you respond to inquiries and problems, so do not ignore them, become defensive, or respond via an automated response.
• Happy and engaged customers are more likely to repost or comment about you and your business on other Social Media platforms. Unhappy customers are also quick to share their interactions on Social Media too, so resolving a customer’s problem quickly and professionally is essential to positive Social Media interactions and web presence.

♦ FOUR ♦

Monitor, track, measure, and adjust your social media strategy.

• Don’t just set up your Social Media accounts and never follow-up to see what people like, don’t like, or if you are reaching your target demographic. Start with Google Analytics. This is a great place to look at your traffic and referral pattern.
• Another benefit of monitoring and tracking Social Media platforms is to see what your competition is up to. Check to see what customers are saying about your competition. Are there unanswered problems that you can answer? Knowing what consumers are looking for and don’t like about services and products can keep your business up to date on new issues, avoid problems, and to know where to focus attention.
• Checking on the latest trends and influencers in your business circle will also help build campaigns and plan your future activities and promotions. What makes the influences successful? Watch, learn, and apply their actions.

Keep it up!

After you set up your Social Media accounts, continue to analyze, research, monitor, and interact to be the most successful. Consistency is key in the Social Media avenues you choose.

How do you feel about Social Media? Do you have ways that have helped you stay on top of comments and in real-time with your customers?

Karen Comfort

Hi, I’m Karen. Welcome to my website! I will show you how to establish the framework for an organized and successful leadership and office management system.

www.karencomfort.com