How to do social media
Some people have the idea that the creation of a good social media presence has an element of luck to it, the idea that it was the right place, the right idea and the right time. While all these things are vital to the success of a company on social media, luck has nothing to do with it. Luck is for gamblers. Business relies on an approach that is thoroughly thought out.
A strong marketing strategy on social media isn’t too dissimilar to the traditional television or even radio marketing strategy. The common elements to a marketing success story have been the same since the creation of marketing — making it easy to remember and talk about products with family and friends. Word of mouth is still the foundation; it’s just the devices that have been upgraded. Instead of talking about the latest amazing TVC we’ve seen, it’s watched on YouTube then shared with people over Facebook and Twitter.
No longer is the water cooler the place to be. All that information is now in your pocket, on your phone. 78% of Twitter is conducted on mobile devices — which is why it’s called ‘the SMS of the internet’. Over 945 million Facebook users access their pages on their mobiles. This is why the first step most companies new to social media do is to have someone design their websites specifically to be mobile friendly. If it can’t be seen and shared easily it will be dismissed. Google thinks mobile is so strong that it is changing its algorithm to rank mobile friendly sites above pc-only sites. So, the first rule of a successful transition has to be design before content.
It is important that you brand is strong on social media and is designed specifically for those channels, just as you would for a print campaign. Remember that a poorly designed social presence can have a negative impact on your brand, so it’s important to be strategic about how you want your business to be viewed by your audience.
The main strategic points to consider when building your online presence include:
- Social media branding: do it right and social can both make you look good and give you increased click throughs to your website. Win!
- Social media style analysis for content and images: everything you produce should reflect your brand and reflect it in a style that blends with your image.
- Create a social media calendar: set up goals for each channel and fill in the gaps to flesh out a strong schedule for you to refer to. This will make it easier for your business to meet social media goals.
- Hook up Google Analytics to track your progress. It’s always good to know your ROI.
