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Direct Marketing Article |
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Social Media Success: Don't Just Attract
Followers, Engage Them
By Genae Girard
Cathy, a small business owner, spent a lot of money on the front end of a
social media campaign for her bakery. She set out to incrementally build her
following on Facebook, Twitter and her blog. She slowly built a following
with her in-store business as well as her distribution nationally. She
carefully crafted flyers to put in boxes, an email campaign and newsletters.
Her followers steadily grew until she hit a plateau. She wondered why it
took so much effort to build her following, just for her drop out rate to
steadily increase. What Cathy didn't realize is while it's important to
build a following on social media sites, it's just as important to keep that
following engaged.
In order to keep your customers engaged, you must create an emotional bond
in order to keep their attention. The average customer is exposed to
hundreds of messages everyday on their computer, on their phones and on TV.
They have become artificially attention deficit disordered, and that doesn't
help your advertising brand. In order to be successful in the social media
market you must engage the customer. Cathy can do this by turning to the
creative spirit of the company and think outside the box using the following
strategies:
1. Create great content.
If Cathy posted interesting antidotes about the history of certain desserts
or the story behind a certain dessert, it is sure to create more buzz. If
you have a consulting business, talk about some of the best ways to move a
customer's business forward in a down economy.
2. Consider adding video.
The average consumer responds to video better than written content. If Cathy
showed a video of the bakery making their new three layered rainbow colored
cake, that is more engaging for her followers than the average post. Rick's
auto mechanic shop could post video on how to look for seals corroding. The
options are endless.
3. Add humor to get the customers laughing.
If an employee turns the mixer on high accidentally and splatters cake
batter all over the place, snap a picture and post it across your social
media network. If you are an accountant, you may post the top 10 funniest
tax excuses. If you are an author, have some friends act out a funny scene
in your book.
4. Look at your competition.
Look for the top 10 competitors that you have in social media. Keep an eye
on what they are posting and how many followers they have. Then develop your
content in a more interesting and out of the box way from what they are
doing. Do it faster, more cleaver and better.
5. Look for other companies that are a good fit to team up with.
Make an agreement to swap content on each other sites so that you can take
advantage of co-marketing. This could be another manufacturer or service
that complements your business. Take advantage of the communities that have
already been built and cross-pollinate them through your posts.
6. Look to younger employees in your company that may be on the pulse of
social media.
Put them in charge of reporting to you once a week about what
the buzz is in the social media realm. Have them come up with different
ideas, promotions or creative posts of interest and test them out in the
market.
All of the content-rich aspects of social media will attract, but more
importantly keep, your customers watching your brand grow. Standing out in
the market place is becoming even more important as competition is always
knocking at the social media door. Do it better, be more nimble and you will
catch your customers sticking around to see what is next.
About the Author:
Genae Girard is a speaker, author and entrepreneur. She is the founder of
www.BeyondtheBoobieTrap.com, an online social media tribe of over 23,000
breast cancer survivors and regularly speaks on the topics of women in
leadership and building a tribe. She is also the author of "Off the Rack:
Chronicles of a Thirty-Something, Single, Breast Cancer Survivor." For
inquiries, email:
info@BeyondtheBoobieTrap.com or call 512-796-1618. |
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