5 Steps to Ease into Social Media

Social Media — everyone’s doing it.

Social media “gurus” point the way, offering tips to guide you through this foreign territory. But is it really that foreign? Your audience has always been out there, it’s just that now there is a tool that facilitates their conversations all on the same level — and whether you like it or not, you’re on that same level. It’s time to join in!

Whether you’re B2C or B2B, there are conversations happening about your industry, and perhaps even about you. They may be from small pockets limited to a niche forum, to large conversations taking place on multiple platforms. Where do you start?

5 Steps to Get Started

1. Define your audience. Pinpoint this definition as much as possible. Your efforts will be more effective and it allows you to focus on what you do naturally.

2. Listen to what this audience is saying. Make note of the terms they use. Listen to the overall sentiment about you or like brands. Look for trends. Find out where these conversations are happening. Here is an overview of monitoring tools to help.

3. Participate. When you are ready to join the conversation, the first rule is to engage others. Answer questions, be quick to respond when someone addresses you and post helpful content to establish yourself as a thought leader. If there is negativity out there, use it as an opportunity to state your side of the story and offer solutions.

Identify influencers in your industry and engage them. Comment on their content, ask for advice, offer to help them, then ask them to help you. Save asking them to help you until the relationship has reached that level of comfort. This will take time!

Be careful not to just broadcast your sales pitch. Social media should not be thought of as a sales driver, but rather a customer engagement tool and relationship builder.

4. The social media marketing strategy should be an extension of the overall marketing strategy. Your branding/voice needs to be consistent on both sides. You may not be directly selling your social media fronts, but you should be asking yourself how your efforts align with the overall goals.

On all marketing initiatives outside of social media, make sure you let your audience know that you’re active in social media — invite them to connect!

5. Measure your efforts. Quantity of followers may not be the key success factor. If you’ve pinpointed your audience, this could be a relatively small group. But is that small group active? Going back to points 1 and 2, you should be “fishing where the fish are” — you should be seeing actual conversations, others sharing your content, etc.

Some general things to track: traffic driven back to your site from social media platforms, sentiment and buzz around your brand, how far your posts and interactions resonate — how large is the audience of those leaving comments and spreading your content?

Let’s Recap

If you’ve identified an audience with a need (points 1 & 2) and you gain their trust and loyalty (points 3 & 4), people will come looking for your products and will spread the word of their experiences (this is where you combine points 2 & 5 to see the results).

I’ve often heard social media compared to a cocktail party. You find the people you can connect with. You then join the conversation — to jump in, spouting off your latest achievements would immediately alienate you from the group. All the while, you take note of those that are well connected and respected. At the end of the party everyone leaves with a positive impression of you, willing to connect with you again and again.

Don’t let the hype and newness of social media intimidate you, it’s simply another tool and opportunity to connect with your audience.

Need help, we’re happy to assist! Contact us.