Social Media Tips for 2016

Companies vary in their usage and understanding of social media.  Some are just starting out, while others have been leveraging several social media platforms to listen to what the market is saying about them, engaging with their customers and finding new ones through social media.  For B2B and B2C companies, think of social media as the new “barbershop” or “beauty parlor” of the next generation.  In other words, it is a place where you can update friends and family on what is going on in your life, as well as to hear what is going on in their lives.  Unlike your local gathering place, social media is a network of millions of people who talk to each other about everything and you have the opportunity to hear what they are saying.

Here are some social media tips you may want to try in 2016.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best business networking platforms on social media.  This is the place where recruiters find new job applications, businesses grow their customer base by reaching out to prospects and customers, professionals meet other professionals in their field to share ideas and insight, and you can learn from people all over the world.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, create one.  If your company doesn’t have a presence on LinkedIn, create a profile for them.

Some professionals don’t understand why you should create a profile on LinkedIn when you already have a website.  LinkedIn enhances your company’s visibility in several ways. Often customers use LinkedIn to get an overview of the company and to find key contacts at that company to build relationships with.  LinkedIn also provides a personable side of your business. If you want to show the world that you value what customers have to say about you, you need to be on social media.  LinkedIn is the central location where new talent is looking for work and where leaders of companies and corporations go to network.

Facebook

Facebook was originally created for college students, but has expanded to every age and background all over the globe.  As Facebook continued to expand, parents and family members of all ages began using Facebook as a place to post family updates.  Why is this significant for business?  Facebook has 1.19 billion active users every month.  Putting it another way, that’s 1.19 BILLION potential new customers.

Facebook ads continue to grow in popularity as a way to drive traffic to your website.  Facebook Groups are clusters of like-minded individuals so you can target whatever groups of people that you want to.

Twitter

Twitter is an outstanding medium for broadcasting short, marketing messages about your products and services.  You can announce promotions, discounts, and new products while drawing attention to the interests and knowledge of your company.  The power of Twitter is listening to the conversations on social media and adding to the conversation.

The proper use of hashtags (i.e. #StarWarsTheForceAwakens) can get your announcements and messages in front of the right people at the right time.  You need to monitor what is trending and determine if it makes sense to join into those conversations.  You can also just put a # in front of a topic that makes sense for your product or service, like #businesstrends, #digitalmarketing or #marketingtools.

YouTube

If you have corporate or product videos, post them on YouTube.  YouTube has over one billion users, almost 1/3 of the number of people using the internet.  Videos are a great way of demonstrating your products, telling your story or showing your company’s DNA.  Like the other social media platforms, you can advertise on YouTube or through Google Adwords remarketing, allowing your ads to show up when people visit your site, then go to other Google network sites like YouTube.

Pinterest

Pintererst is a social media platform where you can “pin” photos and videos on other people’s or company’s boards.  Think of it as an electronic bulletin board.  Like LinkedIn and Facebook, there are groups of like-minded people that share their interests, recipes, photos in interesting places, etc.  If you find like-minded customers, Pinterest is an excellent place to start conversations and relationships and to increase search engine optimization for your website.

Instagram

Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform that focuses on your personal experience to a particular brand.  It is a great place to build brand awareness.  Your Instagram page can connect to your Facebook business page to help solidify your brand.

Instagram allows you to show your customers the personal side of your business by sharing photos of your products, team and services.  Customers are more comfortable dealing with people they can relate to versus cold, aloof companies.  Small businesses can effectively use Instagram to show their personal side and hopefully relate more effectively to customers compared to big businesses.  Instagram can really help your customers visualize your company.

Making An Impact Using Social Media

 I like to think of Social Media as the next evolution of communication where you can connect with anyone all over the world.  How do you leverage social media to help grow your business?

1. Make sure that you have dedicated people in your organization who are knowledgeable about and skilled at social media. Business people that suggest that companies only need a part-time social media person don’t understand the power of social media. If you could listen to what your customers say about your company, products and services 24/7, wouldn’t you take advantage of that? Social media allows you to set your company apart from your competitors.
2. Determine which social media platform works best for your industry. There are many social media networks beyond the ones that I mentioned.  Do some research and find out where your customers and competitors are congregating.  Figure out which media platform will best reach your customers and bring in new customers.
3. Once you get your social media team in place and identify your networks, now it’s time to build a social media strategy and implement it. I’m a firm believer in synchronized marketing – getting all of your marketing efforts including social media working together in harmony.  For example, if you put a product on sale in a flier, make sure it is also on your website and be sure to communicate the sale through email, Google Adwords and social media advertising.  You can do “Facebook Only” contests that aren’t offered anywhere else but your Facebook landing page so you can then drive traffic to your website.
4. Once you get your social media marketing machine in motion, you can then train your entire staff to broadcast messages about your company, new products, and services on several social media platforms simultaneously. Be very careful that your staff is fully trained.  Social media is a very powerful tool – when you broadcast a message, it can easily be seen by millions of people.  Make sure the message that goes out is monitored and presents your company in a professional and positive light. Imagine that instead of a handful of people sending out targeted messages through social media, your entire company can expand your message exponentially through careful implementation.

Conclusion

In 2016, identify the social media platforms that make sense for your company.  Go where your customers and competitors are online.  Identify who in your company is responsible for social media, particularly in the marketing or corporate communications departments.  Make sure that you build a social media strategy leveraging other marketing platforms like print, web advertising, email marketing, Google Adwords, social media advertising and messaging.  Once you have tested your messaging and start building momentum, you can expand your social media messaging throughout the company under the careful direction of your marketing and corporate communications management team.

If you want to learn more about me, please visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit: Peter Ras via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Be Thankful For Your Competitors

Why should you be thankful for your competitors?  That’s easier to answer than you might think.  Competitors make you better because you are challenged all the time to up your game.  You can’t lose your edge when you are the hunter or the hunted.

The Chess Game

If you have ever played the game of chess, it’s a strategy game where you have to out-think your opponent.  They make a move and you have to make a counter move.  You have to always be one step ahead of your competitor.  One wrong move can dramatically affect the outcome of the game.

Knowing your competitor’s next logical move can help you beat them.  You have to get into their head.  Think the way they think.  Understanding your competitor’s strategy is only part of the game.  You also have to understand what your customer’s needs are.  That too can affect the game.  If you are focused too much on what your competitor might do, you might lose sight of what your customer’s needs are.  Too often I got caught in a pricing war with competitors.  If they dropped a product’s price by 10%, we would drop it by 15%.  We found that didn’t dramatically impact our sales.  When talking with our B2B customers, they were more interested in finding the products they needed as quickly as possible versus saving a few dollars.  Their time was more valuable than the potential savings sifting through promotions.  To the competitors, it was all about promotional pricing.  However, to our customers, it was all about saving time.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

When you have strong competitors, it makes you much more aware of everything that is going around you.  You become more sensitive to your competitor’s messaging in emails, print and online.  Your competitors are fighting for the same customers that you are.  What is your differential advantage?  Do you offer better customer service?  Are your hours of operation the same or better than your competitors?  Is your website search engine optimized and easy to use?  Find your weaknesses and fix them to make them strengths.  If you don’t know what your weaknesses are, ask your customers.  Your competitors probably already know your weaknesses.

Keep your eyes open for new competitors.  The competitive landscape is always dynamic.  If you are profitable in your market, rest assured someone else is going to figure that out.  IBM owned the computer market for years.  Dell, Gateway and Compaq went hard after that market and upset the balance of power.  Today, Apple, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and HP to name a few are in the ring.  It is difficult in today’s marketplace to stay on top of the mountain.  Look around.  You’re not alone and don’t be surprised if companies that you never thought would ever be competitors are now.

Competition Can Make You Stronger

Look at the constant battle for market share between Coke and Pepsi.  They are always taking swipes at each other and try to “one up” the other in their marketing and advertising.  Coke introduced “Share A Coke” using personalized cans and bottles.  Customers were looking for soda cans with the names of their spouses and friends to share.  This was a very successful branding campaign.  Pepsi did a counter television ad where two women are standing in front of Pepsi and Coke vending machines one holding a bottle of Pepsi and the other a bottle of Coke.  The voice over announcer tells the women that this summer they can win tickets to the concert of their choice every hour, but only with Pepsi.  The happy woman holding the Pepsi bottle says to the other woman “At least your name’s on the bottle” and the women holding the Coke bottle says “Do I look like a Larry to you?”  Punch…counter punch.

The battle between Coke and Pepsi has made both companies stronger because they are constantly reinforcing their brand and introducing new products.  Sometimes it is very successful and sometimes it is not.  Take “New Coke” for example.  Coca-Cola decided to introduce a new recipe that tasted more like Pepsi and retire the original Coke on April 23, 1985.  It was a huge marketing disaster.  Loyal customers revolted against Coke.  Doing damage control, Coke reintroduced the original Coke as “Coke Classic” on July 11, 1985, but the damage was done.  Despite the focus groups and 200,000 taste testers of New Coke, Coca-Cola didn’t realize how attached their customers were to their brand and the original Coke. Pepsi took advantage of Coke’s marketing blunder and launched a new commercial “Why did Coke change?” using a teenage girl questioning why Coke changed  She then drinks her first Pepsi, smiles looking into the camera and says “Now I know why.”  Competition has made both companies stronger and better.  The ultimate winner is the customer who gets a better product often at a better price.

Although many companies don’t want to admit it, competition makes you better. They make you much more aware of your strengths and weaknesses so you can improve and keep your eyes open for new competitors.  Your products and services are constantly being compared by customers and competitors, so you need to be the best you can be.  Isn’t that what we all want?  Thank you competitors.

If you want to learn more about me, please visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit: La Shola y EL Gringo? / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA