Social Media For Business
The social media frenzy is well and truly booming and whilst there is a lot of talk of whether businesses should jump on the band wagon and join in, we will discuss the benefits that social media can have for your business.
Did you know that 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter? That’s an awful lot of ears (or should we say eyes) waiting to discover your brand.
So what can this mean for your business? Whilst social media began as a personal networking platform it is slowly creeping into the business world. More and more users are turning to social media to communicate and engage with brands.
Social media is a great tool for getting your brand’s name out there and increasing brand awareness. With the average Facebook user having 130 friends, if your customers like, re-tweet or comment on one of your posts, your exposing your brand to a whole new world of potential customers.
Another great benefit of being on social is the ability to inform customers of news and provide live updates – brilliant for changes to delivery times, for example. According to MashableUK, 61% of twitter users follow businesses to be the first to learn news about a brand.
Finally we can’t forget, a major benefit to social media, is that it’s free! Social networks provide a great platform to advertise your business – no printing or postage costs and no hidden fees.
So whether a customer wants to sing your praises from the heavens, discover more about your brand, learn or share your news and updates or simply has a query they need answering, then you have to have a presence on social media.
Social media is a great resource waiting to be tapped into. An invaluable tool available at your fingertips. So get out there and join up today!
We’ve thrown in five handy social media top tips to help when planning your social media campaign.
Top tip number 1 – choosing the right platform for your business
There’s a whole world of social networking sites and it can be quite a daunting prospect to go social, after all you are representing your business. But don’t be scared to try it out – the benefits are invaluable.
Facebook
- With an estimated 800 million active users, Facebook is one of the social networking giants. Users who ‘like’ your page will have your posts appear in their ‘news feed’ (home page)
- Users can like and share your posts
- Becoming more and more popular, Twitter has an estimated 284 million daily users
- Twitter accounts are available for anyone to see, you don’t need to have a Twitter account – bear this in mind when posting for your business
- Posts are called ‘tweets’. You can tweet directly to someone with an ‘@’ symbol followed by their Twitter name
- Use a hashtag (#) to mark keywords or topics. Hashtags categorise messages and users can search for any hashtag for update
Handy hint . . . ‘B2B have 193% more clicks for tweets containing hashtags’.
Top tip number 2 – choosing the right time to post on social media
Once you’ve chosen the platforms that are right for your business you need to learn when is the best time to post and update your social accounts. This is crucial. Get it wrong and you could end up missing key segments of your customer following.
Studies have found that there is a greater engagement rating towards the end of the week; with usage of Facebook peaking on Saturday and Twitter peaking on Wednesdays. The best times to post for both Facebook and Twitter is around noon and between 6-7pm.
Top tip number 3 – how long should your posts be?
Try not ramble. You don’t want your customers to switch off so make your posts interesting and short.
Twitter helps you out with this as each tweet is limited to 140 characters – short and sweet.
According to Twitter, 11 – 15 words is the ideal length for achieving maximum click through rate for B2B.
Top tip number 4 – Follow, like and retweet your followers
When your followers retweet, like and share your tweets, status updates, blogs and articles, return the favour – remember to follow and like them back. This helps to establish a good relationship and a stronger following.
Social media isn’t necessarily all about pushing sales and advertising deals and special offers, it’s about spreading your brand’s name and building a following of customers.
Top tip number 5 – Don’t be afraid to comment on negative feedback
Of course, you may get the odd disgruntled customer who wants to air their frustrations on your social media accounts.
Whilst it was previously thought best to ignore negative comments, it is now generally believed it’s best to respond, so don’t be be afraid. After all it may be useful advice.
Put yourself in yours customer shoes. What impression would you like to give of your brand? A professional business who accepts and apologises for their mistakes and does everything in their power to rectify and solve the issue? Remember the customer is always right and there is nothing more satisfying than receiving an apology!
