Social media has taken over todays marketing landscape as the hottest new place to take your products and services to reach the masses. While virtually everyone will tell you that you need to be part of the conversation, you need to ask yourself: Is my company ready?
Failing to Plan is Planning to fail Before diving in, make sure you have a plan. Having a social media strategy can mean the difference between driving ROI through your efforts or a huge time suck. Understand how implementing a social media program will effect your overall marketing plan. Your plan should include: setting goals for your interactive program, setting guidelines for employee conduct on social media, understanding who is responsible for updates and maintenance, and determining how youre going to monitor conversations about your company.
Many introverts are not receptive to the idea that people might talk negatively about their brand, but if people have an issue with your brand they are already talking about you. Remember that entering into social media means that now you are able to respond to criticism and resolve their issues. Working quickly to fix a customer issue, you are able to take a customers negativity and flip it into being an advocate for your brand.
First Impressions It might also be a good time to take an objective look at your website design. To the internet community your companys website is reflective of your companys reputation. Is your website up-to-date or archaic? Does your site have a reason for people to stay or more importantly come back? When people go to your site is there a clear call to action that you want them to take?
Social networks are a wonderful place to find potential customers, reconnect with existing clients, and build a community of advocates. It may take several months to see a serious engagement from your customers.The success stories of using social media come from companies who have made a strong commitment to making it successful.
