Yes, we’ve all heard the great stories of companies that use social media and make millions of dollars by promoting certain events or sale items. And we’ve all had the same reaction….I need to do Social Media.
So, here I am, learning as much as I can about social media. I am working for a client to help her launch into SM and in doing so realized that she didn’t have some of the basics down. What is her mission statement? Who is her target audience? What are her marketing goals for the year?
Without knowing these things, it’s pretty hard to start using Twitter and Facebook. You just won’t know what to talk about and you’ll misuse your time.
Here’s how I look at it. Social media is great, AND, social media is just a series of communication vehicles that you can use to build a stronger relationship with your target audience.
What’s different about them, however, is that you can also use them to collect information from your target audience…in real time! You can gather all sorts of data:
- age
- name
- location (city, state, zip)
- product preferences
- product needs
- beliefs about your company and your products
- ideas on how to improve your products
- level of loyalty
- reasons why they would/would not recommend you
What fabulous, free market research! As with anything, you need to take it with a grain of salt and make sure the resonders are representative of your target audience. But if anything, you’ll get customer insights that you may not have had before.
So, thinking of using social media? Do your homework first and solidify your company vision, product positioning, target audience and marketing goals, then go on to see how social media tools can be used to help you reach these targets and gain new customer insights.
Here is a blog I follow that I always find insightful: http://blog.hubspot.com/ Enjoy!