You can’t be reading this right now and not know what social media is, so thanks to its unrelenting influence we can spare you a pedantic tutorial on what it is and why it’s so darn important. We will, however, provide you with a little info on why it’s important to your business.
Quick fact: there are roughly 131 million U.S. Facebook users between ages 18 and 64 and more than 500 million worldwide. So there are basically a half a billion people using the same kinds of tools to convey shared interests and keep up to date with everything that’s going on around them. That has to provide a decent avenue for marketing, right? Definitely.
The first step in utilizing social media for your business is the same as any marketing strategy: understanding your audience. Always consider whom you are communicating with before you attempt to communicate. Trust us, it will save you a lot of time and effort. In addition to being able to talk to your customers, social media also allows you to listen, which is perhaps even more important. As a web design company, we know how imperative it is to understand a client’s needs before building a project that’s tailored for them. Social media marketing works the same way.
Once you know whom you’re talking to, well, it’s time to talk to them! Even some of the biggest companies make an effort to interact with their customers via social media. Frank Eliason, Director of Digital Care for Comcast, uses Twitter to find people talking about the company and ‘tweets’ them information. Starbucks asks for suggestions on how to make the company better, and any suggestion made by a customer will be discussed by Starbucks CIO on the site. Skittles provides an example of humorous customer interaction on their Facebook page:
Derek comments: Is it just me, or does there seem to be too many orange ones in the bags now?
Skittles replies: Derek despite what you or the Internet may think, we can assure you there is no orange skittles conspiracy – red on the other hand…
Aside from the social aspect, there is now a visual aspect to be considered. With the implementation of Facebook’s Timeline, it is more important than ever to showcase your business in the most professional light possible. In addition to setting up your Facebook page, we can create custom backdrops for Twitter and other social media outlets such as WhoSay. Our design expertise can give a professional facelift to all of your social media pages.
A company’s approach to social media should be consistent with their work ethic and personality. Similar to how a website is a first impression of a business, social media can be used to show how that impression is maintained throughout the life of a company.
