Social media has established a
prominent presence as form of marketing utilized by companies in countless
industries worldwide. Today s market features a wide array of consumers who
have certain expectations of brands, products, and services. Discontented and
social media savvy consumers are simply awaiting any opportunity to voice their
opinions via Twitter, Facebook, and associated social channels. The first
involves being realistic and properly understanding the relationship between
conversations on social networks and other types of customer interactions. The
next step includes utilizing a multi-channel strategy for customer sales and
service. While social media is quite effective, interactions taking place at
brick and mortar locations, on toll-free lines, and during online customer
service chats are also very important in providing a comprehensive view of
consumers
opinions. The final measure
that can be taken to avoid social media disaster is to have a designated
employee that specializes in the customer experience delivery chain.
A company that does not currently
possess a strong presence in social media does not have to fear making a huge
investment in social media. There are a number of low cost options that can be
practiced to make that initial leap into the realm of social media marketing. Starting
a blog about relevant industry news, trends, or intriguing applications of your
product line is an excellent way to embark into the world of social media. Creating
a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, Twitter account, a customers-only discussion
forum, or a YouTube channel can provide unique opportunities to present and
inform users and fans alike of current company highlights and information.
The key to a company s successful use
of social media is all about the results and the ability to properly measure
them. Industry analysts are publicizing self-service business intelligence as
the so-called golden child of 2011. In terms of marketing, one area that
could widely benefit from self-service BI is social marketing. There are a
number of best-practices that can be employed in order to measure social media
effectiveness using BI solutions. Mapping out the ideal marketing process flow
that will best transform prospects into quality sales leads is an exceptional
starting point. Another practice involves determining the online marketing
initiatives and campaigns that will be implemented to attract and engage
prospects. Each initiative that comprises the marketing plan must then have a
pre-established audience profile, outreach, value proposition, and budget that
you are willing to spend. Identifying and adjusting paths on social networks,
aligning the website experience with specific landing pages, and setting goals
for desired actions are all best-practice techniques in order to ensure
continuity. Business intelligence allows insight at the appropriate times
during your social media campaigns. It offers the ability to instantly alter
campaign focus and direction. Social media marketing can greatly benefit from
the use of business intelligence as marketers can produce and exhibit greater
value in their social media outreach campaigns.
