Social media not-working

It seems that whether you are a chemist, baker, manufacturer or marketeer, having a social media presence is now almost as obligatory as a website. Even companies who have not yet taken the plunge with Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn etc will most probably have them on the ‘to do’ list as part of their communications plan.

Used well, social media becomes part-PR, part-market research and part-customer service. It gives us the ability not just to talk to customers - but importantly to listen.

But how can you get the most out of these new ways to engage with your audience?

Here are my five top tips to ensure you are social net-working rather than social not-working?

• Know what’s being said about your own business, competitors and customers via free websites such as socialmention.com and google.com/alerts

• It’s not enough to just have your social media networks. They need input. Yes, this does take time, but surely listening to your marketplace and engaging with customers is reason enough to invest effort.

• Use hootsuite.com or tweetdeck.com to bring all many of your social media channels into one dashboard.

• There is huge potential to find out how many people have clicked through to one of your links - use Google analytics or simply sign up to bitly.com. This is a web-shortening service and will provide data on the number of clicks to a shortened link.

• Finally, have you ever had a customer service issue, yet phoning the company makes the problem worse? Savvy companies closely monitor social sites for their own business name, and quickly resolve any customer issues. A quick way to achieve this is to set up a search for #companyname.

Still confused by social media?

Next Twitter for Business surgery in Blackburn is on Thursday 12th April. Book your 1-2-1 now by phoning Amanda Jackson on 01254 851 680