In an exclusive guest post for HumanIPO, David Ingram discusses the way social media has changed marketing strategies of businesses. A writer for My Social Agency, Ingram believes power is now in the hands of the consumer, and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must make social media central to their marketing plans.
Social media has transformed how businesses engage with customers and carry out online marketing considerably in the past few years. Not only has it meant that companies must now create a brand personality, but it’s effectively changed the way we communicate and because of this, it has placed the position of power firmly with the consumer.
Social media is ideal for small to medium enterprises, as even when used as a free resource it can return results. In Africa, startups are now ideally placed to add an extra dimension to business by having a strong online presence.
Africa and the mobile connection
According to Business Insider, Africans are so attached to mobile phones that this gives a wealth of opportunities in the mobile sector and it’s important to ensure that these are connected locally, as well as online.
Where does social come into this? Well, many people will be accessing social media sites via their smartphones and this means that the use of maps and local connections can bring back dividends.
By this, I mean that by including location data on social media networks, African businesses have a good chance of reaching locals in the more developed areas to gain their business.
Of course, it’s not just local business that an enterprise will be interested in connecting with, and this means that companies have to learn how to get the best out of social media.
Managing complaints and customer care
One of the biggest areas that companies fall down on is the management of complaints on social networks. If someone wants to complain, they will. Disabling a wall won’t help, it will just further antagonise the complainant, ensuring that they go out of their way to find another way to vent their anger.
It’s important to apologise quickly, with complete transparency and offer some form of incentive, if you want to come across as a professional outfit.
Of course, this is only one aspect to the complicated business of social, but it’s an important one. Building a good campaign takes time, usually up to a year and this should be borne in mind when it’s begun. Persevere, experiment with different types of content to see which are received the best engagement, maintain a friendly, yet professional tone and you can’t go too far wrong.
Important points to remember
To begin with it’s called social for a reason. As an advertising or even corporate resource, it’s vital that businesses understand how to approach the medium.
- Never disable the Facebook wall to stop customers commenting.
- On all social platforms, replying to customer queries in a timely manner is paramount, especially if it’s a complaint.
- A friendly, almost personal, manner is necessary.
- Content should be a good mix between products, questions, polls and images, preferably amusing ones and a blog should be fed through all channels.
- A business should know its audience, who they are and what they want in order to achieve the best engagement.
To find out more about David and Digital Marketing in the UK, click here.
