3 Uses For Social Media Marketing
12/01/2020
Even with all the bashing, I still believe social media marketing can move the needle in a positive direction for your organization. It’s not easy. It’s not free. But it is a satisfying way to authentically connect with your customers. And to encourage the next sales.
Why Bother? One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the ability to tell your stories when you want and how you want. You get to do it as Frank would say – Your Way.
My Old Time PR Story. Before social media came along, I was marketing director of a nonprofit and with that came many hats including media relations. The agency’s mandate was to provide business support for minority small business owners. We had a great story to tell and didn’t have much of a problem getting some pretty good ink.
For the most part the Atlanta media was kind and very generous to us. This article from the Atlanta Business Chronicle positioned the agency in a favorable light.
However, there were times after waiting (for what seemed like forever) for the promised article to show up in the publication the story wasn’t what I had anticipated. Oh, it wasn’t “wrong” but it wasn’t the quite way I wanted it to be told. I wanted people to hear the story in a different way. Question: How many of the marketers and PR folks reading this have spent significant time talking to a reporter which resulted in no mention or one sentence that was taken out of context or the slant of the story was not what you had anticipated? I understand journalists have a job to do but….
Technology changed that for marketers and PR folks. Today because of social media our stories can be immediately heard, read or viewed globally.
And most powerfully – shared on multiple social media channels by people who want to help spread the message about our brand.
3 Ways To Use Social Media Marketing
1. Active Listening – of the conversations by key word tracking. This step is often forgotten: Use the data to make adjustments to products, service, marketing and sales. Tools: Google Alerts, Talk Walker Alerts.
2. Active Participation – without “engagement” or interacting with your audience on social media you are loosing an amazing way to make your customers feel special and take, in turn, a step towards building loyalty.
3. Active Kindness – not about every post should focus on your sales messages. At it’s heart social media is about giving back to your customers and stake holders through value-add information, sharing their links and acknowledging their posts. Surprise your followers with a thank you for their kindness in sharing your posts
