Today companies are more susceptible to “Consumer 2.0”. This new consumer who is born with the Internet, use social platforms to learn about products, services and brands. From their participation, these users have a strong impact on the public image of the companies that should be taken into account.
Silvina Moschini, CEO & Founder of Intuic, analyzes the new role of business in this context and says: “Ignore social networks or not being in them is not an option. On the contrary, it is an effective way to manage the relationship with consumers, avoid criticism and negative comments.”
Then keys and tips to design a marketing strategy effective social networks.
In an increasingly connected world, consumers spend many hours a day online. Have profiles on Facebook or Twitter, communicate through web platforms, seeking information on products and services in forums and blogs and even, in many cases, post their own comments. This phenomenon of online connectivity and sociability is, undoubtedly, a new opportunity to reach a large number of potential consumers. But what are the steps to begin?
Before starting a social media strategy, it is essential to shake off some fears. Many organizations show fear of a social platform that allows users to publicly express their opinions in front of millions of people. But ignoring social networks or not being in them is not an option. On the contrary, the presence on the platforms of online sociability is an effective way to manage the relationship with consumers, avoid criticism and negative comments. Users often less willing to speak negatively about those companies with which they regularly interact, so it is important to establish a close relationship with them.
Define clear objectives
As in any marketing strategy, the first thing you should do when you begin planning an action in social media is to ask precise, measurable and subsequently allow a correct evaluation of the action goals.
In this sense, it is essential to ask what objective to achieve with our action.For example:
- Increased visits to the corporate website
- Increased visibility of the brand online
- Promotion of new products and / or services
- Contact with potential customers
- Strengthening relationships with existing customers
Determine the means for action
Once established objectives, it is necessary to define the most appropriate tools and strategies to achieve them. In this regard, take note that not all social networks have the same public or operation. LinkedIn, for example, is almost exclusively for professional contacts; Twitter is often preferred by geeks and techies environment; Facebook is more open and informal. The fundamental thing is to determine where the audience you want to address is, and not forget that each platform handles its own codes and rules of socialization.
Develop a content strategy
If you have already selected objectives and the means we use to achieve those goals, based on these variables remains to define the messages. For this, it is important to develop a content strategy that is coherent and consistent over time.
Before launching posting it is essential to think what will be different and distinctive content that will reach boaters visiting our profiles. It is important to remember that social media is not just a sales channel. Boaters with offers, promotions and advertisements can be counterproductive and cause users to flee their profiles on social networks.
The ideal is to publish content that have to do with your business but at the same time prove useful to the user and provide some sort of value. For example, if your company sells products for home repair and condition, once a week can publish an article with tips about painting, maintenance, etc.
Select measurement tools
The last step is to set parameters and monitoring tools that allow us tomeasure the effectiveness of our presence in the social network. For this you can use the tools themselves statistics offered by each network: Webmetrics applications like Google Analytics should forward traffic to our site; or management platforms like HootSuite, which allow us to analyze the virality of our action on social networks.
In all cases it is essential to clearly define the tools and criteria to be applied before launching any action, since these elements are essential to know if our efforts are yielding the expected results.
When the time of launch of the action, you must have always present some fundamental assumptions: attempt to generate original and quality content, which are attractive to users. Promote user participation and interaction and, above all, always show the utmost respect and courtesy, even those users who act aggressively or inconsiderate.