“Let’s Get Together on a Social Level”
By Jamie Allebach
Wouldn’t it be enlightening to go to a party with your customers? The people who are buying your products? Personally meet them and spark conversation, answer questions, ask questions, share information and pass along value. It would be awesome, and man, would you build your brand and sell more product!
The problem is…how do you personally meet 1,000 customers, or 100,000 or 1,000,000?
Enter social media. Now, you can socialize with your customers, much like a party or social event–except with no boundaries of time, space, logistics, or budget. You can talk and listen to your customers, other people can listen in and become customers, customers can talk about you to others, you can become a real member of their social circle.
You’ve certainly heard of them, maybe you’re even dabbling in them; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Flickr, Digg, Reddit, LinkedIn, and others. But the question of the hour is how to integrate these social mediums into a marketing program? How do you make them effective branding and advertising tools? Who’s doing it–and doing it right?
Here’s the basics:
LISTEN
Prior to joining the conversations, you must listen to what people are already talking about, to determine how you can best engage. This is achieved through monitoring social media venues and discerning applicable forums for your company or brand.
JOIN
Identify and select key networks and influencers to join and connect with. Focus on where you can contribute and grow. From there you can expand to other relevant networks.
CREATE
Develop and manage relevant content. Populate your blogs, sites, profiles, etc., with content driven from a social media creative strategy.
SHARE
Begin leaving comments, uploading images, building a community, sharing relevant information that demonstrates your company’s commitment to fostering your online relationships.
ENGAGE
Ask for comments, post surveys, quizzes, develop viral promotions, responding directly to consumers and customers, on an individual level.
INFLUENCE
Deliver incentives to your fans, followers, and brand advocates. In addition to influencing from the inside out, advertising on social networks with behavioral targeted ads have proven effective in directly influencing trial and sales.
ANALYZE
Did you learn about your customers? Did your customers learn about you? The number of fans and/or followers you have. Increased site traffic. Better optimization. What is your share of voice and chatter? Did it translate to sales?
The world has changed, folks. Informational democracy is the state of the marketplace. Clients, customers, prospects, product enthusiast, information-seekers, and anyone with an internet connection is empowered to help or hinder your brand. They’re all out there, now, in chat rooms, posting on Facebook, Tweeting, and blogging. They’re either seeking information on your brand (or competitors), declaring how great it is, or trashing it to everyone in their network. Your customers are engaged in social media. Are you?