If your marketing person is not evaluating the social media component as part of the marketing strategy, you should consider sacking him/ her. Globally a number of people still use traditional search engines like Google, and Yahoo to gather information; increasing numbers evidence people using social media to discover websites.
Today, the race for online/digital traffic is fierce.
Daily new bloggers join the web of information competing to be found. Even if your website has the lead of lots of visitors and page views, you will be a heroic website owner to assume that yesterday’s success will be automatically replayed advancing into tomorrow. Audiences are keener and demand new, stimulating discerning content in return for their very short spans of attention.
Even though customers are rapidly changing their behaviour and habits, marketing teams still haven’t adapted, prioritising search engine optimisation and paid ads for search above engagement using social media.
Since the critical objective is to secure the customer’s loyalty and repeat business, a single visit to the website can never be enough. To get a tangible return on your online investment in traffic generation you should be seeing increased sales or at the very least, a higher percentage of repeat visitors with lower bounce rates.
Opportunely, social media unlike search engine tactics provides the flexibility you need as a marketer to keep your engagement renewed and appealing. However, it is a myth if you believe that having a presence on social media is all that is required for astounding success.
First and foremost social media marketing is NOT FREE. It consumes an investment mix of time, money and resources to connect with your ideal customer segment and turn their “likes” into actionable leads converting into tangible sales. Remember that you are competing not only with your original competition for your customer’s attention on social media platforms but also with their family and friends. To make social media work for you and your goals, you have to create discerning content that talks about solving your customer segment’s biggest challenges. It involves finding spots where your audience hangs out online, speaking with them about their pain points and consistently providing significant value.
Conclusion
As a website owner, you should understand that successful social media initiatives start with an alignment to the social media marketing “phase” the brand is in. You should master an understanding of the powerful ways in which you can use social media to grow your brand and drive real business results. You should think through customer engagement strategies. And you should consider buying activities from your fans that are part of your trustworthy community.
This three-phase framework is cyclical. Continued engagement with customers enables actions, stories, and messages to spread through fans’ networks and attract friends of fans to the brand page (generating earned media), helping to lead to growth initiatives again. Follow this framework and key stakeholders within your business will recognise the value and ROI delivered throughout each step of this virtuous cycle.
However, above all, be yourself and be likeable and that way people will be attracted to you like a magnet.
