I am sure you have heard this over and over again, social media is all about the conversation; and you need to embrace it in order to be competitive. Experts and entrepreneurs believe that the key to leveraging the platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, (and possibly LinkedIn) is controlling what people say about you in a virtual (public) forum. You want people to say positive things about you because if people talk negative, it will cause harm to your organization. So what should be the center of your effort when it comes to social media? CONTENT, how you leverage and present it. Of course it is much easier said than done and takes effort and continual monitoring; and all content is not the same.
Photo by Jason Howie.
Everyone has heard about search engine optimization (SEO) being an important tactic to use when gaining exposure for your company. Yet SEO is most effective when companies use keywords to “trick or game” search engines into ranking certain pages higher than others. It is what experts call the practice as “organic”, if you are producing more content REGULARLY than anyone else, you should dominate the conversation and viewership. When anyone does a search about a business they are in, every company wants to be at the top of every search engine and to stay there; and companies should choose wisely when finding a SEO company to help you accomplish this feat.
Promotions are another great way to make social media tactical. But where most organizations fail is having a plan for what you’re going to do with all the people who contact you when you run a promotion. Social media promotions generally get good traction, and it is typically a good idea to run two or three back-to-back to see which one might work best. Social media involves continual testing of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to promoting your business and generating leads. That is what it’s all about: generating exposure that turns to leads and business.
So how can your business be a step ahead of your competition? When it comes to leveraging social media into a weapon against competitors, the final key is to simply stay flexible. If one particular social campaign isn’t achieving the desired number of followers or buzz, cut it off and try something new. Media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram give businesses the opportunity to interact with customers in real time so if one isn’t working try another, or implement a different campaign. You will most likely find something that works for you. At the same time, going at it blindly is not a good idea and you should get experts in the social media space to offer you suggestions. The key is to make your social media efforts tactical, create content on a regular basis and to run promotions that are flexible, because change will be inevitable.
SHOULD YOU EMBRACE MOBILE?
The short answer is probably yes. The Wireless Association (TIA) reports there are more than 320 million mobile-phone subscribers in the U.S alone. So just about every business on earth needs to master and incorporate mobile technology if it is to succeed or wishes to have a competitive advantage. The reason why businesses incorporate business development into their organization is because it’s about finding ways to help people buy or spend time with your product or service. If people can’t spend time with your product or service on their phones, you’re missing out. Many years ago organizations had basically two ways to get customers to spend time with their products: at work or at home. Mobile technologies have dramatically changed the way we view things because mobile phones facilitate transactions and interactions at any time. In our world of mobile technology quality will always trump quantity. Regardless of whether mobile technology companies specialize in software apps or hardware, businesses that excel in both will usually experience an overwhelmingly positive word-of-mouth chatter, while those that handle mobile poorly will usually suffer from a negative buzz. A good mobile strategy won’t come cheap, but such an investment could pay off in the long run. Since the mobile market will continue to grow rapidly, pursuit of a mobile strategy is important, but only if you can afford to do it right. In your pursuit of any social or mobile strategy, you reputation is on the line.
To learn more about what Simmons & White can do to help solve your business challenges in finance, operations, sales and marketing and business development, please visit us at www.simmonswhite.com, email me at mlewis@simmonswhite.com or call me on my cell at (504) 905-4646. Here is to your success…
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