How social networks and social media tools are used to achieve marketing goals will vary from business to business. However, there is one commonality: Every business has to be an effective communicator on the social web. To get the best results out of your social media marketing, follow these steps.
Step 1: Listen
There’s a great communications saying: “We cannot not communicate.” This saying means that even nonverbal communications are being interpreted. On the web, your business communications go beyond blog posts, Tweets and Facebook posts. You make an impression communicating to current and prospective customers in many ways – including what you post and how you respond, or don’t respond.
The first step to support marketing goals is to listen. You “listen” on the web by monitoring activity. What communications are getting the most reactions? What is getting shared? Retweeted? Activity can also be “listened to” by monitoring web statistics. Simple web analytics tools like Google Analytics can show you referring sources of traffic to your website. Which social media communications are driving traffic back to your website? Are some driving more traffic than others? Besides traffic, look deeper at what is getting you leads, contacts and sales. What social media channels and communications convert the best? Savvy social media communicators drill down into what works the best then make sure to deliver more of it.
For example, you write for your blog. You can listen to what blog posts get the most positive response by going to your analytics and seeing what blog posts are the most viewed per month, per quarter and per year. Is there a trend in topic or content tone?
Another way to listen to what your customers want is to simply ask them with online surveys. Online surveys — using tools like SurveyMonkey.com — can be sent to your email list or posted on social media to get responses on things like “what can we do to best help you?” to give you ideas for content that will best help your client.
Pay attention the social conversations happening about your brand, as well as your industry. Follow social media business pages and blogs that are in your industry to hear the relevant noise, this can even include your competition’s social media. To get fed web links — web, blogs, video, news — about certain topics and/or your business, sign up for Google Alerts, a free email update service that shares the latest Google results, such as web pages, videos and blog posts based on queries you set. Listen to the buzz, see what people are talking about and be in on the conversation.
Use Google Alerts to track topics of interest.
The best communicators are not the ones making a lot of noise, they are the ones who know when to be quiet and listen. When good listeners speak, their message is meaningful and matters. Listening is what allows you to refine your messages and make them not only “on brand” but also “on purpose” to serve and support the people you want to bring into your sales funnel.
Step 2: Understand
Once you have taken time to listen to the conversations happening about and around your industry, the next step is to digest all the noise and begin to understand ways that you can offer the most meaningful communications. Sometimes “understanding” means you have to check your ego and accept that some of the ways you were communicating on the social web weren’t working. You cannot have change unless you are willing to change.
What have you learned from your listening? Do you see a need to be an educational resource for your industry? Can you help by sharing relevant links to help your customers? Are there communication voids that you can fill? From what you have seen as a listener, what are your target markets’:
Take the time to understand what content consumers are interested in.
When you begin to understand your target market, you can best serve them with communications that are focused on them. When you understand ways to communicate that is customer-centric, you have a much higher likelihood of reaching and selling to those prospects.
Step 3: Respect
Respect is reciprocal on the social web. We don’t talk at people on social media; we communicate with them. By listening and understanding, we respectfully submit and respond to social content that serves and supports the people we want to do business with. Content that is overtly commercial generally turns people off.
For example, if you were at the grocery store and someone came up to you and said “Hey, I want to sell you something, it’s the best thing ever, you have to have it…it’s so great..” you’d probably be a little turned off. If someone were to start hitting you up with a sales pitch without even knowing if you were in a hurry or anything about you, you’d feel disrespected. The same applies with social media communications. Communications on social media can be likened to a courtship. There needs to be some “getting to know you” time before someone agrees to date you — or marry you.
Communicate respectfully by sharing relevant, useful information. Think of this as “pull marketing” instead of “push marketing.” By being out there as a constructive communicator, people can choose to like your page or follow your blog or engage you. They may even search on search engines and stumble across your videos or blog posts or social media pages.
Some respectful communication ideas include: (a) sharing tips that help people, (b) answering questions when they are posted on social channels, or (c) being a “web gemologist” to share “gems” of web wisdom. This can be in the form of sharing great web links, retweeting, blogging, doing video or doing podcasts.
When in doubt over how to communicate effectively online, remember respect begins with a HUG:
Step 4: Have Fun
Some of the best conversations we have in life are often the most entertaining ones. People flock to social media because it is fun. Whether we take a break to watch videos, get lured by a gripping Facebook link, or see a blog post that is easy to read and understand, we are on the social web to enjoy.
Don’t forget to enjoy yourself and pack some fun into your communications. It’s human nature to be attracted to attractive people. You can be an attractive business by making your communications authentic. Businesses who understand how to learn, share and care can earn bigger market share when they are conversing in a way that is laser-targeted to their target market.
You make an impression to current and prospective customers by how you respond or don’t respond, what you post, images and videos you share, and how you listen to conversations happening about your business and industry. Marketing is about maximizing relationships. The better you get at communications, the better you can build new relationships and grow existing ones. Find your passion and purpose. Social media marketing is about connecting with people who care. When you care about being a great communicator, your selling power increases.
Step 1: Listen
There’s a great communications saying: “We cannot not communicate.” This saying means that even nonverbal communications are being interpreted. On the web, your business communications go beyond blog posts, Tweets and Facebook posts. You make an impression communicating to current and prospective customers in many ways – including what you post and how you respond, or don’t respond.
The first step to support marketing goals is to listen. You “listen” on the web by monitoring activity. What communications are getting the most reactions? What is getting shared? Retweeted? Activity can also be “listened to” by monitoring web statistics. Simple web analytics tools like Google Analytics can show you referring sources of traffic to your website. Which social media communications are driving traffic back to your website? Are some driving more traffic than others? Besides traffic, look deeper at what is getting you leads, contacts and sales. What social media channels and communications convert the best? Savvy social media communicators drill down into what works the best then make sure to deliver more of it.
For example, you write for your blog. You can listen to what blog posts get the most positive response by going to your analytics and seeing what blog posts are the most viewed per month, per quarter and per year. Is there a trend in topic or content tone?
Another way to listen to what your customers want is to simply ask them with online surveys. Online surveys — using tools like SurveyMonkey.com — can be sent to your email list or posted on social media to get responses on things like “what can we do to best help you?” to give you ideas for content that will best help your client.
Pay attention the social conversations happening about your brand, as well as your industry. Follow social media business pages and blogs that are in your industry to hear the relevant noise, this can even include your competition’s social media. To get fed web links — web, blogs, video, news — about certain topics and/or your business, sign up for Google Alerts, a free email update service that shares the latest Google results, such as web pages, videos and blog posts based on queries you set. Listen to the buzz, see what people are talking about and be in on the conversation.
Use Google Alerts to track topics of interest.
Step 2: Understand
Once you have taken time to listen to the conversations happening about and around your industry, the next step is to digest all the noise and begin to understand ways that you can offer the most meaningful communications. Sometimes “understanding” means you have to check your ego and accept that some of the ways you were communicating on the social web weren’t working. You cannot have change unless you are willing to change.
What have you learned from your listening? Do you see a need to be an educational resource for your industry? Can you help by sharing relevant links to help your customers? Are there communication voids that you can fill? From what you have seen as a listener, what are your target markets’:
- Needs?
- Wants?
- Frustrations?
- Interests?
Take the time to understand what content consumers are interested in.
When you begin to understand your target market, you can best serve them with communications that are focused on them. When you understand ways to communicate that is customer-centric, you have a much higher likelihood of reaching and selling to those prospects.
Step 3: Respect
Respect is reciprocal on the social web. We don’t talk at people on social media; we communicate with them. By listening and understanding, we respectfully submit and respond to social content that serves and supports the people we want to do business with. Content that is overtly commercial generally turns people off.
For example, if you were at the grocery store and someone came up to you and said “Hey, I want to sell you something, it’s the best thing ever, you have to have it…it’s so great..” you’d probably be a little turned off. If someone were to start hitting you up with a sales pitch without even knowing if you were in a hurry or anything about you, you’d feel disrespected. The same applies with social media communications. Communications on social media can be likened to a courtship. There needs to be some “getting to know you” time before someone agrees to date you — or marry you.
Communicate respectfully by sharing relevant, useful information. Think of this as “pull marketing” instead of “push marketing.” By being out there as a constructive communicator, people can choose to like your page or follow your blog or engage you. They may even search on search engines and stumble across your videos or blog posts or social media pages.
Some respectful communication ideas include: (a) sharing tips that help people, (b) answering questions when they are posted on social channels, or (c) being a “web gemologist” to share “gems” of web wisdom. This can be in the form of sharing great web links, retweeting, blogging, doing video or doing podcasts.
When in doubt over how to communicate effectively online, remember respect begins with a HUG:
- be Helpful;
- be Useful;
- be Gripping.
Step 4: Have Fun
Some of the best conversations we have in life are often the most entertaining ones. People flock to social media because it is fun. Whether we take a break to watch videos, get lured by a gripping Facebook link, or see a blog post that is easy to read and understand, we are on the social web to enjoy.
Don’t forget to enjoy yourself and pack some fun into your communications. It’s human nature to be attracted to attractive people. You can be an attractive business by making your communications authentic. Businesses who understand how to learn, share and care can earn bigger market share when they are conversing in a way that is laser-targeted to their target market.
You make an impression to current and prospective customers by how you respond or don’t respond, what you post, images and videos you share, and how you listen to conversations happening about your business and industry. Marketing is about maximizing relationships. The better you get at communications, the better you can build new relationships and grow existing ones. Find your passion and purpose. Social media marketing is about connecting with people who care. When you care about being a great communicator, your selling power increases.
