achieved if you know exactly why
you're doing it, what your objectives
are and how you're going to measure
the results. Different objectives require
very different approaches:
Marketing
Gaining traction to build a brand, sell stuff, build a
community, get registrations etc. is becoming more
and more difficult. The days of success through
website scraping, low-cost competitions and the
mythical 'viral video' are over.
You need a strategy based on unique and stand-out
content to succeed and build a large and valuable
community.
Then you'll need to understand influencer marketing
and how to target them.
Even with that, you'll need some paid-for social media
to kickstart each campaign
.
Customer Service
Used properly, social media can be a very effective
way of monitoring, measuring then improving your
levels of customer satisfaction. Sentiment analysis
has improved and is a crucial tool for meabsuring your
reputation and comparing it with your competitors.
It can also be a major element of your service
delivery. You can listen to any customer service issues
in real time and act appropriately. Done well, this can
significantly reduce your customer service department
or call centre costs.
People like to moan on social media. Complaining and
airing frustrations is in the top five activities. This is a
threat and an opportunity. An effective strategy for
this can turn complainers into brand advocates.
Paid-For
With the recent changes in Facebook's algorithms and
the increasing sophistication of the advertising
platforms available on social networks, it is now
almost impossible to run successful campaigns
without some element of paid-for activity. For
example, it is likely that only a small percentage of
your Facebook posts are being delivered to your
community now.
The good news is that excellent targeting options are
now available, allowing you to reach exactly the right
audience with the right message.
Paid-for can also be an extremely useful way to reach
influencers who will then spread your content
organically.
Evaluation
Evaluating your social media activities and measuring
ROI has moved on. We are now in the era of
measuring, not counting.
Brands need to know outcomes not just count likes,
follows, clicks and the like.
The key is agreeing what exactly your objectives are
and what you want to achieve.You can then measure
short term behavioural metrics - clicks, sales,
registrations, etc, or long-term emotional ones - share
of brand voice, volume of mentions, sentiment, etc.
Social media is rarely used in isolation, so attribution
modelling is key.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I'm Steve Downes, Digital Marketing Consultant,
strategist, wordsmith, SEO practitioner and content
creator. I'm also a Director of the Manchester
International Festival,
Eternally curious and always learning. Lover of BIG
ideas.
Otherwise bewildered dad, rugby nut and happy.
http://www.stevedownes.co.uk
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