Social media is about getting people to talk about your brand, product, or service. Social networks allow you to engage with your audience – answer questions, receive feedback, and help them to get the information they need.
The purpose of a social media strategy is to engage with enthusiasts and individuals who are interested in your company. By offering them another way to engage with your company/brand, you are giving them a deeper look into the ‘personality’ of your company. The ultimate goal is to create more loyal customers and advocates of your product(s) and/or service(s). Each social network serves a purpose. Some networks are useful for hosting conversations about your company (Twitter, Facebook) while others are better for publishing content (Reddit, Digg). No matter what the tools are, the purpose of those tools will stay the same.
Let’s take a look at some of the major social networks and how they can each serve a purpose.
One of the advantages for being on Twitter is having a network centered on promotions and ‘shout-outs’ allowing you to quickly announce specials, new products, press releases, new videos, photos etc. Twitter is also a great place to create links back to your website. These links can also help with search engine optimization. For example, you just added several new products and you want to make sure people can find them in the search engines. By tweeting about the new product (and linking to it) you can help search engines to crawl and index that page faster.
Videos posted on YouTube may also be viewed from your blog and/or your website. This is also a great link-building strategy because the link from your YouTube channel to your website is a ‘do-follow’ link. Since the main goal of publishing videos is to get as many views as possible, it’s important to have videos hosted on one of the most popular networks in the social media realm. When new videos are posted, links will be sent out to all of your other online networks.
Yelp is a great resource for managing your reputation online. Having a presence on Yelp allows customers to reach out to you directly and tell you about their experiences with your business.
Blogs are created to host content or opinions that could not otherwise be published on the main part of your website. By offering new and creative information about your industry, you can position your company as a resource in your market.
This is where your social network comes together. Facebook will often be your main tool to engage with potential customers. Visitors can ask questions and get the latest information about your company. Photo albums can be created to feature specific products as well as specials/coupons if desired. The goal of this network would be to extend the reach of your message.
All of these networks should have a link that points back to your main website. The ultimate goal is to get people to your site and convert them into loyal customers and advocates.
A successful online marketing campaign depends on a well-developed strategy and a competent marketing team to put that strategy in place.
