So it seems like social is all around us, those guys who said “it’ll never catch on!” wise up, it won….you lost. Social doesn’t hold grudges, it won’t tell you “I told you so” but it may leave your friend request pending if you don’t get on board soon!

In our opinion the issue stems from trying to reconcile the playful, personal version of social media that you encounter every day in your private life with the more structured, sensible world of business. Let’s face it, Tinder and Snap Chat in an office environment gets people memorising the HR phone number.

Ok, so we all get the power of social but most businesses are overwhelmed by it. There are so many platforms, so many pitfalls, so many conversations and most businesses simply do not know how to approach social in the best way.

In order to help you structure your social strategy we have compiled 3 simple steps that you can implement immediately, to ensure you have some key principles in place. Here at Sociolus we could wax lyrical all day about the benefits of social, so if you have any specific questions or want to discuss any topics in more detail please get in touch.

 

“There are so many platforms, so many pitfalls, so many conversations and most businesses simply do not know how to drive social media engagement in the right way”

 

The 3-step guide

1. Define your goals and expectations up front

Sit down with your team and think about what kind of business you are, who your customers are, where they are most likely to be and what you hope to get from a generating social media engagement?

Is it more traffic? More conversions? Lower the cost of acquisition? Building awareness? Understanding your market and customers? Engaging with influencers? Or providing a better experience for your customers?

2. Be selective, strategic and smart

Now you have some goals defined, that if achieved will pay dividends for your business. The next step is implementing a strategy to realise these goals and achieve increase levels of social media engagement.

There are too many platforms and too many conversations to cover them all effectively, so you need to be smart with your time and resources. If your goal is to reach more fashionistas for your budding design company then choose Pinterest or Instagram, if your business is B2B financial services then choose LinkedIn.

What is best way to get the attention of your target customers? Simple, think what they are interested in and then visit the pages, groups and forums where they naturally gather.

Start to get involved in the conversations they are having, drop in snippets of useful information, make genuine contacts with the influencers and DO NOT try to sell or close immediately, it’s a huge turn off. Instead become part of the conversation, become a contributor and in time become a trusted authority.

3. Measure, test and learn

Social media isn’t an exact science; it’s about experimenting and seeing what works for your brand and your customers. However, to measure this is a science.

You must ensure you are tracking your activities, comparing the results back against your goals and metrics and learning from the results. This can be difficult although there are platforms and tools to help.

Once you are in a position to measure and assess your activities and levels of social media engagement you can gain valuable insights such as, what your customers are saying about you, what channels are driving the best results, and what adverts and promotions caused the greatest conversions.

Understanding what is going on is key, you have to set metrics, measure them, learn from them and then improve. In this way you can realise genuine benefits from your social media engagement strategies and increase your ROI.

The wrap up

Generating social media engagement is mixture of art and science. The art can most certainly come from you, your team, your story or your creativeness. People love to interact with people and the more human you can make your business online the better you will do. The science part comes from analytics, planning, insights, customer tracking, influencer ranking, campaigns and automation. When art and science comes together properly the results of what social can achieve are simply astounding.

 

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