Before I started as an intern, I thought that the main use of social media was to reconnect with old friends, keep up to date with new ones and to see what was happening with far away family members. If I liked or followed a brand on social media it was either to be the first to hear about promotions and offers or to show on my page that I was a fan of said brand. When considering an internship in digital marketing I first thought about Search Engine Optimization and AdWords. I did not know that there were so many opportunities for marketing products on social media and was surprised by the amount of time put into social media marketing and the positive results it garnered. Here is a list of the most salient things I have learned in the past three months.
Influence of social media on brand image
• Customer services Rather than being put on hold and re-directed to person after person, using social media to provide customer service is quick and easy. When a person has a complaint to make we can point them in the right direction and ensure that they are in contact with the right person straight away. Answering customer’s problems publicly on social media is a great way to show current and potential customers how good your customer service is, and is a transparent way of dealing with complaints. Customer feedback is received instantaneously and can be recorded and responded to. Furthermore, we can keep track and record complaints to see what the most common problems are so improvements can be made in this area.
• Brand loyalty Social media brings the customer closer to the brand and allows the two to communicate directly. Using Twitter, for example, to reply to customer comments about a brand or product shows the customer that the brand is glad for their custom and is concerned about their enjoyment of the product. Social media is an effective method of increasing business transparency as how the business conducts itself and deals with negativity can be seen by anybody.
Rising social media use
• Advantages of social media In a world surrounded by smartphones, tablets and on-demand media, traditional media cannot always connect and converse with customers to the extent that social media does. By using Twitter to let your fans that follow you know that you have a new product out, you are not missing out any audience sector by advertising solely in magazines, for example. Last but not least, using social media means you can always keep an eye on the activity of your competitors in order to stay one step ahead.
• Importance of connecting with influential bloggers Rather than relying on celebrity endorsements, using ordinary people to promote a product is more likely to appeal to people who look for reviews online. Potential customers can relate more to bloggers than they can to celebrities. Bloggers can introduce your product or service to their followers, many of whom may not have previously been aware of the product’s existence or advantages. The effect of using bloggers is manifold as blogger outreach can also be a way of increasing brand awareness, greater site traffic and improving search engine visibility.
The planning behind social media content
• Researching the best posting times There are tools that record times of high levels of traffic on Facebook, for example, but also programmes such as Pulsar, whose main function is to collect as much information about a brand’s social following as possible. Times of heightened traffic are the best times to schedule posts to go live in order to achieve maximum visibility. There are times when people are more likely to check Facebook or update Twitter, for example after work in the evening or during lunch breaks.
• Brainstorming content After the best posting times have been determined, it’s time to start brainstorming ideas. A great deal of thought goes into what is posted on a brand’s social media channel. If the content is interesting and attention-grabbing, followers will feel compelled to share what you have posted, thus spreading your content onto people who may not follow you. The content that is posted on social media has to be well thought out and presented in the right way. The success and failure of different types of content has to be continually monitored so any post that does not achieve the expected level of success is not repeated.
• Organising giveaways Competitions and giveaways are very popular online and are a useful way of reaching a large amount of people. Ideas for running a great competition that will get customers excited and engaged have to be thought of, and ways to carry these out online have to be considered before they can go ahead.
Overall, the most important thing I will take away with me is that there are so many advantages to marketing online, and that social media marketing is particularly effective. So much more goes on behind the scenes than I had first thought, and digital marketing strategy is not only a more meticulously thought out and detailed approach than I had first considered, it is an innovative and exciting new way of marketing products and services to a wider audience.
by Nicola Fairchild
