Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other, how we get involved with things happening around the world and even how people engage with brands. As of January 2020, there were more than 3.8 billion social media users, according to a report published by DataReportal. And, after the global shelter-in-place orders amid the coronavirus outbreak, people are spending even more time online and on social media platforms.
While the opportunity is immense, businesses do not have the luxury of firing in the dark with the hope of engaging with prospective customers. In fact, the outbreak has led to changes in consumer behavior, which could be more permanent than the virus threat. Businesses need to make informed decisions to manage their social media presence to get the best RoI in these challenging times.
Influencer Marketing
In 2019, about 25.8% internet users had blocked advertisements. This number is expected to have risen, with people spending more time online. So, how does your business or marketing campaign gain traction quickly? This is where influencer marketing helps. To get the best results from influencer marketing, it’s critical to identify influencers who perfectly fit for your brand image and voice, access their reputation, analyze their previous work and aim to build long-term relationships with them, says a blog post published by SEM Destination. Adidas made amazing progress with this marketing technique. Since the brand wanted to engage the young crowd, they collaborated with influencers like Selena Gomez, and their Instagram followers increased by 41,000 and sales surged by 24.2%!
Use Monitoring Tools
With a social media presence, you’re exposing your business to comments – both positive and negative. Use a tool to monitor everything that’s being said about your company, brand or products and have a strategy to address the comments. Not every comment deserves the dignity of a response. However, valid feedback and grievance need to be addressed at the earliest. Remember that your response will be read by people other than the person commenting.
Improve Customer Experience
Bots create immense value in social media marketing. But they cannot replace human interactions. Also, you cannot use bots if your aim is to humanize your brand, build trust and trigger certain emotions among your target audience. In fact, apart from showcasing your products, upload images of your team, narrate success stories and share challenges that your company faces, says an article by WordStream.
Call-To-Action Button
It’s blasphemy to showcase a product on social media and leave it to customers to search for how to buy it. All product posts must be accompanied by a link to buy the item displayed. In 2019, 130 million people tapped on product tags of Instagram shopping posts. Instead of ‘view on website,’ there is an option for direct checkout for a seamless purchase. This has made online shopping even faster and more convenient. Marketers also use this strategy to understand buying patterns and rank the content accordingly.
Be More Active
You cannot build relationships without investing time. This is the case with social media as well. Have a monthly schedule to upload posts and share images, a plan to respond to comments and a powerful strategy to engage with more people. Thank people for their comments or for sharing your posts, host live question and answer sessions, conducts surveys and announce giveaways to keep your audience hooked.
Creating a strong social media relationship needs a good plan and a team to continuously create engaging posts that adhere to your brand image.