These days, you can't escape it as a company: being active on social media. Is your company not represented there yet? If so, it is undoubtedly on the agenda. In fact, companies can gain huge positive exposure by participating in this social network. Can? Yes can, because with the wrong representation on social media, your presence is counterproductive. In fact, properly using social media for commercial purposes requires a sound strategy. Here's how to get the most out of your representation on various social media, with the right social media strategy.
What is social media anyway?
Social media, an English term, are online platforms on which information is shared by users. This involves little or no intervention by professional editors: they only facilitate. Because a wide variety of information is shared, there is a high level of interactivity. There is a continuous interaction between action (posting of information by a user) and reaction (reaction of other user(s)).
Popular and well-known social media networks today are:
- Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook (communicative interaction with others);
- YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, Snapchat (sharing especially videos and photos).
Exposure and snowball effect
Due to the immense popularity of these social media, chances are that your (potential) customers also have an account here. In other words, you immediately reach the vast majority of your clientele with social media. Suppose you, as a company, post an announcement about a new product. Your regular customers can then respond by tweeting (Twitter), sharing (LinkedIn) and liking (Facebook). At that point, everyone in your regular clientele's network reads your new product announcement. This undoubtedly includes potential customers. This is called the snowball effect of social media. Sounds good, doesn't it?
Quantity versus quality
You might think that with the scale of this reach, you don't actually need a field salesperson(s) anymore? After all, it takes them years to visit the same number of (potential) customers as you reach in one go with social media. Right? We take a more nuanced view on that. True, the reach is very large, but here the balancing question of quantity versus quality applies. For instance, you should not underestimate the quality value of a salesperson's personal explanation.
Avoid risks
Indeed, there can also be risks associated with a social media presence. With the wrong posting or tweet, the snowball effect occurs just as much. Consequence? Your built-up positive company image destroyed all at once. It is therefore much better to use a combination of salespeople for personal contact with a carefully thought-out social media strategy. How to do this we now set out.
Purpose and target group analysis
As a large company, setting out the social media strategy is best left to the Marketing & Communications department. This department will then submit it to the management for approval. Are you a self-employed person or a smaller company? In that case, allocate enough time to determine the strategy. As a small company, schedule a one-day brainstorming session, for instance. In any case, always start with the following questions:
- What is the purpose of your activity on social media?
- What is your target audience?
- Which social media do you want to be represented on?
Tune presence to your target audience
These seem like fairly simple questions, but many companies neglect to give this the necessary attention. Just your presence is really not enough. For instance, the answer to which social media you are active on depends on what your target audience is right now. Are you a large multinational company? Then a presence on LinkedIn is a must these days. Does your target group consist mainly of young people? Then representation on YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, for example, is highly recommended. You can easily check which social media you should be active on by analysing whether your clientele is represented there.
Vision and mission in slogan format
After determining purpose and target audience, focus on what you stand for as a company. This should not be extensive reporting, but short and to the point as in a slogan. The world of social media is one of speed and simplicity. There is simply no time for long pieces of text. Besides, no one is waiting for it. Think carefully about the use of words in this one sentence. For example, do you want to be known as the company with the lowest rates? Then emphasise this by using words like 'cheapest' and 'cheapest'. Does quality prevail? Then express this in such a way that it immediately appeals to your target group.
Rules for employees
An important part of your social media strategy: the rules of use for your company's employees. Just like your (potential) customers, they are also present on social media. These can also be social media that you, as a company, precisely do not want to be on. Without clear guidelines, this presence can have quite negative consequences. Even when, as a company, you are not active on social media at all. Entire campaign strategies can be killed. Or what about a frustrated (ex-)colleague who wants to spit in a network? So draw up clear rules and have them signed if necessary.
Continuous analysis and improvement
Once the strategy foundation is in place, you would be wise to appoint someone within your company to act as administrator. This is usually someone who is versed in marketing and communications as well as having a frequent online presence. Strong analytical skills are also needed. With a large representation on social media, this is almost a day job. Therefore, decide in advance how much your online presence may cost. After all, the following must be constantly analysed and fine-tuned where necessary:
- presence on types of social media;
- expansion or reduction in presence;
- possible changes/shifts target group;
- Effect of placement tweets, videos: degree of influence buying behaviour.
Even when you want to target an additional audience, these analyses are extremely useful.
Return of social media investment?
You won't get a cut-and-dried return of investment. Simply because it cannot be measured 1-to-1. Of course, you can measure effects. Suppose it is a scorching hot summer and you sell water-spraying hand fans. Link your webshop address to your tweet, for instance, write a catchy slogan and there will undoubtedly be a boost in sales.
Conclusion for your social media strategy
Don't be discouraged by possible risks you may face with a social media presence. The benefits are still many times greater. All you need to focus on as a company is a solid social media strategy. Define the rules and guidelines for your employees in advance and always appoint a main administrator. Still hesitant or need help? If so, please take contact with us and we will lay the building blocks for your social media presence.
