SOCIAL MEDIA
When done correctly and with careful planning social media can take your brand very quickly to the next level. What is social media and why should I be using it? Two good questions, we have the answers and will help you every step of the way.
What is Social Media?
Well the definition according to wikipedia goes something like this: Social Media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social integration and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.
We prefer Marta Kagan’s (social media evangelist) definition, “it’s just a fancy way to describe the zillions of conversations people are having online”.
Think of social media like word of mouth on steroids. The trick is making sure that the message being spread like lightening is a good one. If you don’t take your social media strategy seriously then you shouldn’t have one. Just because your competitors are on Facebook or are regularly using Twitter is not enough of a reason to do the same. Done correctly, social media can be your customer service, it can be your online PR and it can be your customer acquisition. Done incorrectly it can be the end of your business.
Social Media & Email Marketing
Your e-marketing and social media strategies must complement each other. With the e-style Share2Social feature on your account your recipients can quickly and easily share your email campaigns with all their online friends. This feature can lead to a viral campaign very quickly. Share2Social is a tool that we will manage on your behalf at no cost. We will ensure all the sharing links are working, are constantly live and are feeding your database with new contacts that are interested in your brand and what you have to say.
Dialogue
Social Media is all about dialogue. Your website is probably a monologue, telling your visitors about who you are and what you do, just like this e-style site. Your social media efforts need to be so much more than that, you need to listen just as much as you talk. This also applies to email. You’ve probably received emails from brands where the ‘from’ address is something like “do.not.reply@brand.com. That approach is a bit like saying “we want to talk to you but we don’t want you to talk to us…..oh, unless you want to order something, in which case click here”. It’s easy to see what’s wrong with that approach yet we still see it everyday.
Listen
In social media, as soon as you start to talk people will expect you to listen. Once you start to listen, you might change the way you talk……get it?
Just in case you still haven’t got it
83% of social media users believe that a company should go further than just having a presence on social sites and should also interact with its customers. (Cone, Business is Social Media Study, Sept 2008)
So stop thinking about campaigns and start thinking about conversations. Pick up the phone and have a conversation with e-style today about social media, it’s not too late. 0845 345 6060.