Topics: Social Media
Simple. If the dedicated marketing and PR team is directed from the top, think how much more powerful the effect on social media on your target audience if the top people themselves got involved—posting from the horse’s mouth to existing and potential contacts has an interpersonal gravitas that can’t be beaten.
Everyone has a voice and everyone’s a celebrity. A social network can reach a global audience immediately, so senior personnel should become celebrities and use their social networks to advertise their personal brands.
Just think who will be reached…
· Present and potential clients
· Present and future staff
· Stakeholders
· Suppliers
· Partners
· Media
· Assorted thought/opinion leaders and influencers
· John/Jane Q. Public
The best way to make an impact on social media is to be approachable. The depersonalisation effect of digital communication needs an extra impetus to rebuild this lost territory.
The most effective mix is a sharing one—of personal and company news, commenting on industry news and the news in general, airing thoughts and opinions. This showcases the person behind the façade and is attractive beyond words.
Take Gary Vaynerchuk—high-flying entrepreneur, best-selling author, speaker and Internet personality who uses social media all the time. How seductive is it for someone to engage and get a response from this man?
When I hear people debate the ROI of social media? It makes me remember why so many businesses fail. Most businesses are not playing the marathon. They're playing the sprint. They're not worried about lifetime value and retention. They're worried about short-term goals.
Likewise, Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva:
A large social-media presence is important because it's one of the last ways to conduct cost-effective marketing. Everything else involves buying eyeballs and ears. Social media enables a small business to earn eyeballs and ears.
If these major social media marketing voices can’t sway you then consider these reasons why you should take to the social media platforms:
1. An excellent learning and information resource
Social media is alive with information—the best, the latest, the most useful, the most advanced, the most powerful. If Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is important to you then you can tap into information, advice and ideas from a whole host of top levellers and role models. Twitter especially is a breaking news platform that attracts immediate response, which is invaluable for the proactive business.
Social media also offers a range of methods and tools that will make life easier, from saving searches to creating lists—all ways of saving user-specific resources.
Interested? Then lurk quietly in the background while you onboard the necessary tricks and tactics for effective interaction. Rocket science it ain’t!
2. Grow your reputation
Top level thoughts and opinions count—it’s this acumen that’s got you where you are. So broadcast your voice—thoughts on your industry, business in general, politics or the economy. It’s easy to position yourself as an expert and/or thought leader if you exploit the channels open to you, such as a personal blog, articles on a company blog or a publisher profile on LinkedIn.
Your profile is of paramount importance and social media can help control and build this with ease. Journalists can check you out in a moment, which makes their job easier, too.
3. The world is your oyster
Social media has a super-power—it allows you to communicate and interact directly with every possible audience, including existing and potential customers. And each exchange is an opportunity just waiting to happen.
Think of the ripple effect of glowing reviews and comments about you or the company—all highly visible testimonials to your capability.
Remember there’s no such thing as bad publicity?
Even negative comments can be turned around if handled correctly. They can pinpoint issues and areas that may need some work.
Resolve these quickly, efficiently and to everyone’s satisfaction and this sends out a positive, powerful message: you are listening, you care, you are responsive. Odds are on that you will turn a bellyacher into a No. 1 follower. It happens!
4. Socialise!
You really must join in. Your comms team are doing a great job but your active input will bring it to the boil and keep it there. Many successful businesses and CEOs commit serious time to it—even the Royals are on Instagram!
Why do they do it? Because the keyword is teamwork. When the whole team engages with social media—and this includes you—it is the most powerful team it can be and the whole organisation benefits.
If all senior members pull together and raise their profiles on social media channels then the company profile is automatically raised—everyone has a voice, there is a unity of purpose, and you’re throwing open the gates to engaging with any audience you choose.
A social media marketing strategy is a powerful form of online networking that optimises your inbound marketing strategy.
Want to get started on social media management? For advice on an incisive launch strategy geared for busy managers working to a tight timescale and budget…
In a FREE discovery meeting we’ll find out about you and your company, explain the merit of preparation and profile building and how to filter the information of most value to you.
We can get you off to a good start and your digital marketing will reap the benefits—improved brand awareness and return on investment (ROI).
