When thinking about the benefits of engaging with consumers on social media, there are some obvious benefits that come to mind first: brand awareness, measurement capabilities, and opportunities to push sales. However, there are some less obvious, but extremely important benefits when it comes to social media management.
Participation Is Key
Yes, posting on social media can make a world of difference for your brand. You could have the most amazing posts that get tons of likes, comments, and shares. However, you still wouldn’t be fully capitalizing on those posts without actively managing your channels. Simply watching how your posts are performing isn’t going to be enough over the long haul. This is where participation comes into play. Make sure your brand is dedicating time to social media management by having conversations with users and providing excellent customer service in order to grow the community. Stay educated on social media best practices to stay relevant as a brand. If you know your resources are limited in this area, enlist the help of an agency.
Fast-Paced Social Media Management
Keeping track of what people are posting on your brand’s accounts, whether they’re positive or negative, is a great way to encourage a more loyal brand following and take care of issues customers are having. If Jeremy comments on a post “This is awesome! I love your products and I always recommend them to friends!”, take a moment to say thank you and maybe even consider rewarding them somehow. They are taking time to write about your brand, so you should take the time to respond. It’s easy to assume that a well thought out response is the best way to go, however, a quicker response is actually better. People expect a response to their question on a social channel within 4-24 hours. The younger the audience, the quicker the expectation.
User Generated Content
Users often times write about brands they love on social media and even post pictures or videos. It is important to recognize these users as fans and leverage that content to the brand’s advantage. Let your fans help with content development! Take Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign for example. Plenty of consumers are taking fantastic photos on their iPhones and Apple was right to optimize this opportunity! Needless to say, the amount of people posting photos for Apple increased rapidly after the brand started featuring fan photos. Social media management allows you to keep up on posting user generated content, therefore fostering a more loyal community. There are so many reasons to act now and put together a social media management plan or utilize the expertise of an agency! Take full advantage of social media to get to know your consumers even more and become a responsive brand.