When it comes to social media, it plays a huge role in helping grow your online presence. It is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your audience. In fact, 78% of consumers have said that they will visit the physical retail store of a brand they follow according to Sprout. This just comes to show you the importance of having a top tier social media strategy.
Social media is not just about gaining the most followers. It is all about giving your audience an excellent experience and giving them what they’re looking for. These four tips will go a long way in helping you achieve just that. Let’s take a look at them, shall we?
Engage In Social Listening
One key tip that helps you have a top tier social media strategy is what we call social listening. Social listening is the practice of tracking, analyzing, and responding to conversations across the Internet. Social media is not just for posting pictures and life updates. It is also a powerful listening tool.
A great way to use social listening is to keep an eye out for mentions and conversations about all aspects of your brand. This can help you find new leads about new product ideas or features for existing products. On top of that, social listening can also help you differentiate your brand from the competition. Offering people something that is unique and gives them value is how you set yourself apart from others.
Know How To Measure Success
A key aspect of success for your brand via social media is knowing how to measure success. For that, you need to set the appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are quantifiable measures that are used to determine the success of a brand in meeting performance goals. One thing to be careful of is to not fall for vanity metrics. For example, getting likes on your Facebook page doesn’t necessarily mean that you will make more money.
Setting KPIs all depends on your business goals. There are four possible social media KPIs to use when measuring success. Here they are below:
Reach
If your goal is to increase your online presence, then setting KPIs based on reach is the way to go. Key things to watch for are follower count, impressions, mentions, and share of voice. These four things are key to measuring the success of your outreach strategy.
Engagement
If your goal is to get your audience to engage with you on social media, then you’ll need to set engagement KPIs. Things to watch out for are likes/favorites, comments, shares, retweets, ratings/reviews, and inbound website links. All these metrics are important when it comes to measuring your success with engagement strategies.
Return On Investment (ROI)
To check if your campaign is bringing you money, you’ll need to set KPIs based on Return On Investment (ROI). Key metrics to watch for are direct sales revenue, lead conversions, support costs-per-customer, and lifetime value. These things will help tell you which campaigns are earning you money and which need to be evaluated.
Retention And Loyalty
To check if you are attracting repeat customers or getting referrals, then you should set Retention & Loyalty KPIs. Key metrics to watch out for are reviews/ratings, issues resolved, service-level agreements (SLAs), time to resolution, customer satisfaction, and sentiment. All this helps you determine if you’re doing your part to satisfy customers and gaining referrals along the way.
For every type of KPI, make sure to revisit them every 6-12 months. This will help you determine whether your efforts are working or if they need to be adjusted.
Set Your Brand’s Voice And Tone To Make It Be More Human
In today’s world, people want to do business with brands that are more human as opposed to acting all boring. With that said, making your brand more human is a must. A voice and a tone are two things your brand must have in order to be more human.
A brand’s voice is the distinct personality or style of your brand. This helps give your customers a clear picture of what your brand feels like. For instance, HubSpot’s clear and inclusive voice helps them appear helpful and supportive in the minds of others.
A brand’s tone refers to the moods of specific content pieces. This can change based on the channel, situation, and audience. When choosing your brand’s tone and voice, ask yourself these questions below:
- What purpose does my content bring?
- Who am I addressing?
- How does my audience feel?
- What message should I convey to my audience?
- Which tone of voice should I use?
By answering them, you’ll know what kind of content you should create for others in an appropriate tone and voice.
Provide Top-Notch Social Customer Service
A crucial aspect of having a top-notch social media strategy is providing your audience with top-notch social customer service. 49% of consumers say that they’ll unfollow brands that bring them poor customer service. 90% of consumers rate an immediate response important when they have a customer question. These reasons alone are why brands need to make social customer service a top priority in their social media plans.
Customers these days expect quick responses to their questions. Timely responses not only help problems get resolved faster, it also helps make customers more loyal to your brand. Even pointing your customers in the right direction gets your customers to think highly of your brand. All this makes it more likely for customers to stick with your brand in the long run.
A People-First Approach Leads To Success
No doubt that great social listening, great social customer service, and making your brand more human brings your brand success. It’s also crucial to set the right goals in order to help your brand get where you want to be. With these four great tips, your social media game shall lead your brand to great successes and long-lasting customer relations.
What do you feel is key in using social media to help bring your brand success? What are your thoughts on how social media helps build great customer relationships? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.
Aaron's Almighty Blog 