Successful social media campaigns require careful strategy to generate the type of feedback, interaction & sales you're seeking. In other words, if your followers, friends & connections are just skimming what you post, that's not enough; that alone is certainly not doing your business any good.
Actively engaging your network will help maximize conversions. Would you like to learn more? Check out these:
7 Essential Steps of A Successful Social Media Campaign
STEP 1: Designate Who Works What Networks
Avoiding the annoyance of double contacting is worth the time it takes to organize who handles which branch of your business's successful social media campaigns.
When several people reply to the same person or question, it's annoying & amounts to overkill. You'll come across as dysfunctional, if not desperate.
Be concise, consistent & know your niche. Encourage other team members engaged in successful social media campaigns on other networks to do the same.
STEP 2: Narrow Down Which Networks Your Target Market Uses Most
New social media networks are popping up all the time. It's impossible (& impractical) to think you can and should join each one. Through a bit of applied research, identify where your primary customer base spends the bulk of their social media time, pay close attention to what they're saying, then dive in - using tactics you're sure will be noticed & will generate positive response.
A few tools to dial you into what's hot on the social network: Google Blog Search, Bloglines, Twitter Search, Technorati & HubSpot's Hubfeed.
STEP 3: Engage Your Followers to Convert Them To Customers
This may sound incredibly simple (and it is) but with social networking, it's been shown that people running successful social media campaigns frequently post a thought-provoking question to get people actively responding.
For example, ask what they think of one of your products/services they recently used. Or ask what would it take to make them become a user. If they post a complaint about one of your products/services, respond; find out how to fix it for them. People are very forgiving when they feel they're being listened to (or read, in this case)
Once you're Tweeting/IMing/posting, etc., and they feel a rapport building, then when appropriate, direct them to a landing page, sale notice, etc. The equation basically goes:
- Convert Reader to Responder
- Engage with Responders
- Use Some Humor along the way (Always helps)
- Direct Responders to Landing Page(s), Sales. etc.
- High Percentage of Responders Convert to Customers
That's one tried & true recipe that's worked for many successful social media campaigns. Check it out!
STEP 4: Embrace LinkedIn
Still considered 3rd (behind Facebook & Twitter), LinkedIn is a social media force to be reckoned with when utilized properly and has more built-in business-quality-cache than either Facebook or Twitter. Create Groups & build a following, then post there regularly. Put the LinkedIn plug-in for sharing on your website.
STEP 5: Blog On & YouTube for Amplification
Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn all limit update length (particularly Twitter) Establish your blog as your "home base" & post links to it for updates. Add a clever video on YouTube, then post that link. The most successful social media campaigns piggyback off of the other networks. Stats show that Facebook posts with the word video are shared 30% more often than those without.
STEP 6: Website Analytics = Successful Social Media Campaigns
Employ the use of tracking codes, closed loop marketing & analytics software to track visits, leads & resultant sales from your social media activities.
STEP 7: Consistency Says You Care
Now, nobody could (or should) be at their social media dashboard 24/7, poised to post that perfect comment or response. However, consistent interaction with content flowing out to catch all time zones you're interacting with is important. Schedule posts to pop up when you're otherwise engaged & respond ASAP.
Successful social media campaigns can be yours!