Social Media: The Connected Nature of our Digital World

23 September 2015, posted in News

Social Media: The Connected Nature of our Digital World

Social Media is in the news most days usually because of some inappropriate comment or tweet but how can it be used to grow your business? Over the next few weeks, we will discuss why Social Media should be part of any business’s marketing strategy as well as looking in more detail at some of the Social Media platforms.

Social Media is marketing in a digital world. It is constantly changing and so you need to keep up to date with what’s trending. Also as there are so many different Social Media sites, you need to know which one is suited to your business. Think of it like an orchestra. You are the conductor and the social media sites are the orchestra. You need to know what each section is for and when to focus on one area and when to bring all the parts together to work as a whole. Be methodical and logical and if something is not working, don’t use it.

It’s all about how you present things to your audience. If you walk out of a supermarket and there is a man standing there offering you a free chocolate bar, you are likely to refuse. However if there is the same chocolate bar but it is being offered to you by somebody in a uniform with a huge poster behind them extolling the product’s benefits, you are more likely to accept.

But it doesn’t stop there. You will need to be proactive otherwise people won’t see you and won’t want to engage with you – like being at a networking event and having nobody to talk to. So how do you get noticed? Firstly, you can target the market that your business is in. For example, if you are a Pilates teacher and want to broadcast your classes during the school day, you could target parents in your local area. Remember that 81% of purchases are influenced by the internet and people will search before making a decision. If you are thinking of going out to dinner, you might look at online reviews to see what others have said. Which would you choose: the restaurant with poor reviews or the one with excellent comments?

Think of Social Media as a two-way interaction where a small business can have just as much say as a large corporate. And as people are sharing things all the time, you need to be aware of what you are saying. Remember the marketing campaign that was run by Mastercard before the 2014 Brit Awards ceremony? The credit card’s PR company asked journalists to agree to a number of conditions including using the hashtag #PricelessSurprises in return for a ticket to the ceremony. Journalists were not happy with being told what to say and the campaign received a lot of criticism and ridicule on Twitter. Was it a PR stunt or a PR disaster? It certainly got people talking.

Our next few articles will focus on individual Social Media platforms starting with Twitter. If you would like to discuss Social Media with us or learn about how we can help you plan or implement your Social Media tweets or posts for you, give us a call on 01722 671971.