In the ever-changing landscape of social networking, you might be wondering if you are getting the most out of your business’s social media design. Here we define social media design as the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.
Social media design usually centers on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. Company messages, stories, and helpful information spreads from user to user and presumably resonate because it provides relevant, interesting, and/or useful information. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media.
We think of social media as just another marketing channel when we need to instead think of it as the influencer of all channels.
To improve your social media design, you must improve social networking and customer engagement. We have found 9 ways to accomplish these improvements that we use with our clients:
Know as much or more than your audience … valuable content is essential
It is all about quality … quality is much more valuable than quantity
It is about building relationships … meaning conversation is required. Don’t add to the noise
A picture or image … is worth 1000 words. Visual marketing is growing rapidly
Keep your messages … short, simple, and relevant
Define … specific objectives for your campaigns
Measure your accomplishments … against your objectives. Learn and apply to learn
There are NO shortcuts … it requires time and energy
It requires persistence and patience … don’t give up
We are finding more and more businesses are defining meaningful ways to use social media, even if it isn’t always to sell directly.
“Web merchants view social media more as a medium to build up brand awareness and customer loyalty than as a way to drive immediate sales,” says Internet Retailer reporting on its latest survey of 175 companies that sell online.
Survey participants included 85 web-only merchants, 40 consumer brand manufacturers, 34 retail chains, and 16 catalog companies.
Here’s a rundown of the findings by the numbers:
96 percent say social media campaigns are important to the future of their Internet business; 53 percent label them very important.
90 percent have a Facebook page, 75 percent are active on Twitter and 54 percent use Pinterest
51 percent post videos on YouTube, 9 percent use Google+, and 15 percent leverage Instagram.
The more success you have with customer engagement via your social media design, either online or off, the better you are understanding their needs and priorities. Having the best customer insights makes it much easier for you to define your next moves and improve your odds of success.
Please share a social media design experience with this community.
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Read more:
8 Popular Social Media Initiatives for Customer Engagement
Social Commerce Business … What Ben and Jerry’s Knows That You Should Know
12 Ways to Build Social Commerce Business through Great Customer Service
Relying entirely on driving traffic and making as many sales might not be the best strategy for running an online business. If you want to build a sustainable venture, you will need to spend a lot of time raising brand awareness and build your reputation online.
Of course, if you are still relatively new to the world of eCommerce, reputation might not take your priority as much. But preparing for the future is also heavily encouraged. If nothing else, this article will be a good reference for when that time comes. But as for those who are trying to focus on the bigger picture and want to take action right now, follow the steps mentioned below right now.
Step #1 – Learn About Customer Satisfaction
Starting with the basics is always a good course of action. There are a lot of sources on the internet on how you can learn about customer satisfaction. Oberlo and their research in which they measure customer satisfaction is a good example.
At the end of the day, it is all about keeping your customers happy. If you cannot ensure that people will not bother visiting your store ever again. Not to mention recommending the business to their friends and family. A positive word of mouth is a good indication of your brand doing well.
Step #2 – Offer Multiple Payment Methods
Other payment methods.
Not everyone has the option to use a credit card. And providing multiple payment options should be a good incentive to get more people to your store. People will mention you to their friends and family. Flexibility tends to be overlooked quite a lot.
Do not neglect such payment methods like PayPal and Payoneer. Something like cryptocurrency is also worth exploring.
Step #3 – Go Pro-Environment
More and more brands are taking the pro-environment approach. And it seems that people have also become aware of the problem our planet is facing. If you harm the environment, there will be a lot of damage control necessary.
It might be impossible to change every single aspect of your business, but try to make an effort and show that you care about the environment. Your reputation will jump immediately.
Charity work is another way to show that you are more than just a business with nothing but profits in mind. If you have the resources to spare, dedicate them to something that will improve the world.
Maybe you can create a volunteer program? Or maybe you could fund a program that would improve the lives of people living in local communities? It is part of good PR, but if you are interested in building a great reputation, charity work is certainly something to consider.
Step #5 – Cooperate With Influencers
Cooperating with others and creating Instagram stories about it is worth exploring as well. And if you want to reach as many people as you can, then there is no better option than influencers.
Influencers can be found on social media as well as specific platforms. Be sure that you work with someone who has a good reputation. If they show you in a positive light, then you can expect an even bigger influx of new customers. Not to mention raising brand awareness.
Step #6 – Provide Valuable Content
Providing valuable content on a regular basis is another thing that will guarantee you more positive attention from people. Of course, the most difficult part is finding a channel and providing such content.
Social media is one of the suggestions that come to mind. Starting a blog also has its merits, including opportunities to invite guest posters as well as SEO improvements.
Paying more attention to customers is a great way to show that you care about them genuinely. Ensuring great customer support is one of the ways to reach that point.
Loyalty programs are another. You can create a VIP system with points that can be later exchanged for various perks, such as free shipping or discounts. As for the method of acquiring such points, customers can get them by posting reviews, spending money, or spending time on the store browsing.
Step #8 – Engage Customers
Engage your customers. Initiate the conversation. Reply to their comments on channels like social media and forums. Communication is important. Show that there is a real person behind there and not a money-seeking corporation that is trying to act all nice for the sake of profits.
Step #9 – Avoid Posting Fake Reviews
Despite what some might think, there are still a lot of companies that order fake reviews to boost their ratings. This kind of behavior is going to catch up to you eventually. And when that happens, you may find that getting out of the situation unscathed is more or less impossible.
