Irish people are heavy users of social media platforms.  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube are the most widely used places where people connect and share.  Pinterest, Instagram and more recently Snapchat are growing in use and while these are the most popular there are many more.  So while your customers are posting, uploading photos, sharing with their family and friends how do businesses make sense of the Social Media space and how do they use it?    Begin with listening to your target audience.  Join groups and follow influencers in your sector.  Media monitoring tools such as Google alerts and Hootsuite are free and really useful.   Listen to conversations, articles, blogs and videos in your market.  Use the search function on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin and start connecting with your customers by following or commenting on discussions they are in.

Set out clear and defined business objectives.  You will use different Social Media platforms depending on the outcome you want to achieve.  For example,  Twitter is really good at customer service.  Zappos, an online retail company, create a Twitter stream on their website to respond in realtime to customers’ questions and comments.  A bakery in Australia uses Twitter to let their local customers know when a fresh batch of bread has come out of the oven.  Create  awareness, increase engagement and build relationships are objectives that can be achieved through developing a social media plan.

Consider what message is appropriate for the Social media platform you are on.  Remember that this environment is social and not a place to make a sales pitch.  Look to add value for your customers and encourage sharing.  Murphy’s Ice cream set up a cute swinging chair in their shops where customers  could take photos eating their ice creams to post on Facebook.

Spend time every day connecting, creating, responding.  Most of the social media tools are free so for very little investment you can create awareness and an audience for your business.  The investment here is time.  Be diligent and focused on spending time every day to post content, respond to comments, share videos and stay active on all your platforms.  Use Google analytics and Social Media insights to see what’s working and what’s not.  Be flexible and modify your strategies and message to your customers as you learn what appeals to them.

Join us next week when we will be looking at mobile marketing.