Social media strategy: Be thankful people complain

Customers usually don’t sugarcoat their opinions when they post them online. Finding out your audience’s unguarded opinions should play a key role in your social media strategy. Issues and trends can snowball quickly. We can help you monitor what your customers are saying, so you can react appropriately.

Here are three tips to sharpen your listening and engaging skills:

1. Know your toolset. There are many tools such as Google Alerts, Salesforce Radian6, Spreadfast or Sprout Social that will reveal what consumers are saying about your products. These tools allow us to monitor for content that mentions your brand or industry, and determine which of your messages are generating interest. The knowledge we gain will help you develop more content that appeals to consumers. It will also help you discover consumers’ concerns.
2. Track your competitors. Tracking your competitor can give you a tremendous advantage. You can identify a competitor’s weakness, and then make that area one of your strengths. Just think of the information you could glean if you were to track your competitors daily online. Who knows what opportunities may arise?
3. Each of your social media posts should attract consumers to your website. Make it easy for consumers to link back to your website and find out more about how you can help them. Provide tips and industry insights that will be genuinely helpful for your audience. That’s easier said than done; connecting personally with consumers online and providing them with high-value content takes work. But if you succeed, it will help consumers see your company as an expert resource.

You really have two choices. You can either sit back and hope things are going well online, or you can proactively investigate. Being proactive enables you to gear your products and messages to consumers’ needs, and stay in touch with your market environment. Our advice: Find out what people are saying about your products. Engage with them. Then continue promotions in channels where they are listening.

Listening and engaging can require an investment. If your workday is already full enough, we can monitor social media posts for you and write content to help you engage your audience.

Call us at 952-697-5269 or complete our contact form. Whether you have questions, are looking to develop strategy, or would like us to handle your listening and engaging for you, get in touch with us. We’d love to help you glean information about your target audience and teach them about your products.