The world exists at our fingertips. Tap, swipe or speak a command to travel, communicate and self educate. The tiny computers attached to our hips have revolutionized most people’s daily lives, especially the way we buy and sell.
We could conceivably sit on a couch all day and using the correct combination of taps on a screen provide ourselves food, contact loved ones, pay bills, and keep tabs on exact geographic locations. A business that does not pay close attention to ever changing technology is a business not long for this rapidly developing world. Social media is the most exciting and accessible marketing tool in use today. Never before have companies been so touchable. A message, a like, a photo, a tag goes a long way and engagement plays out in front of a global audience. PR has to wildly alter itself to keep up with the company’s very public and ever-evolving image.
Deciding which social media platform to exist on will affect the company in a variety of ways. It will create openings for comments both positive and negative and establish a direct line of communication to your company. Some businesses want to paint the town with their name, they want a Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, VSCO, Twitter, as well as a website with digestible content. This is effective only if you have a substantial enough audience on each platform to justify the time spent managing the page.
Curating a social media presence is not quick and easy. Effective social presence is engaging and consistent. This does not mean that every hour needs to be active, but your company should be publishing content several times a week at the very least. The social presence of a business is only effective if it’s on the same platform as its customers. Attention is everything. You have to meet your customers where they are rather than expecting them to search you out. For example, if you own a pizza shop and spend hours at a time sending snapchats of gooey cheese you won’t find much success. Look towards a platform like Facebook instead as a place you can post photos, talk to customers, manage reviews and post hours and other business information. Find your audience and market there. If your customers are mostly young people, opt for Instagram, middle aged, Facebook, if they are readers try Twitter. Know your customers to know your place. It’s better to have one or two well managed social media platforms than many underrepresented and under-engaged profiles.
The entire point of social media is communication so be sure you are very responsive. The actual messages your customers or potential customers will send are the most valuable analytics for your company. Make sure to be accessible to them. When well managed, social media can function as free advertising with a massive following. Just remember to keep track of the platforms your customers are on and focus your time and energy there. To learn more about social media, click the link below to view a short series of Marketing Minutes, free marketing advice for you and your company.