If your small business is active or considering being active on social media, then start by ensuring you integrate your strategy. Embed social media into wider organizational strategies, business functions, and processes.
By integrating your social media strategy you can connect with your prospects and customers across a variety of touch points in the customer journey.
1) Integrate social media with wider marketing and organizational strategies
Social media should not be used as a standalone strategy and must be integrated with your wider marketing and organizational objectives.
Involve employees from all levels to use social media across a range of business departments to help achieve wider organizational objectives.
2) Integrate social media accounts
Link all your social media accounts to each other to suit the individual preferences of your market. Let your customers find you on the social media platform they prefer to use – be part of their journey.
3) Integrate offline and online marketing
Include your social media details on all forms of offline marketing such as:
• Magazine and newspaper advertising
• Leaflets, brochures, and flyers
• Business cards
• Direct mail
• Radio advertising
All offline marketing must include your main website and main social media accounts, and leverage the Facebook or Twitter brand to appeal to your customers.
By integrating social media with other digital and offline marketing, you are able to connect with customers at a variety of touch points, gaining maximum exposure and brand awareness.
Related Class: Integrating Social Media Tactics into your Digital Marketing Strategy
4) Integrate social media with company processes
Make social media a daily activity. Spend at least 45 to 60 minutes a day checking your comments, new followers, engaging, and posting fresh material. If possible, dedicate as much time as possible to social media activities – it’s addictive and time-consuming.
By dedicating time in your daily schedule you’ll reap more rewards than merely playing around for 10 minutes a day.
5) Integrate social media with email communications
Add social media buttons or links into your company email signature. For those people who prefer not to communicate frequently by email, social media may be their preferred choice of communicating, so make it easy for your company to be found.
6) Integrate social media with your website
People will spend more time on social media than they do browsing your website. Include social media buttons and/or widgets, making it easy for people to follow your company.
Also include a link to your website on every single social media platform with which you have an account. By directing people back to your website, you’ll be more in control to lead the customer from interest to sale.
It’s important to integrate your social media strategy; otherwise it will lack direction and will be fundamentally flawed. Realize the full potential of social media by embedding your strategy into different departments, processes, and wider strategies.
Do you feel like you’re just bumbling along with your approach to social media?