On Monday, we discussed the importance of approaching brand messaging from a social continuum perspective. Given the number of social networks available for use, developing a successful strategy that encompasses all of them is nearly impossible. The social continuum gives us the means by to spread a brand’s message consistently through a variety of networks.
The first step is to be mentally open to and aware of all social networks on the whole. One is not separate from the next. Instead, imagine a seamless content strategy that is the same for each platform, even though the means of sharing may vary. When it is time to generate the content specifically per social network, do it in the most precise way possible based on the user data available in that platform. The goal remains the same: communicate your brand’s overarching message on each network in a way that is thematically congruent.
To make your content more shareable on social – and boosting its likelihood it will appear in search results — give the customers what they want. How best to do that? Listen in on their conversations.
Social listening is one of the primary tools for social success. It gives you the opportunity to find out what content is working and more importantly, respond to complaints to show customers you care. It is amazing how easily a rant can be transformed into praise after a personal social response from the company. It shows customers that you will go above and beyond to meet their needs. Best of all, it builds relationships. And those relationships are what give you brand advocates and in the end, increased sales.
To listen to customers’ social network conversations, use a tool like Hootsuite, Radian6 or Sprout Social. Look for your message keywords and your company or product names, and respond accordingly – be it personally or in shaping future content strategy. Set up Google Alerts to gain awareness of what people are saying about you in the blogosphere and on other consumer review sites. And finally, don’t forget to perform a good old-fashioned manual search from time to time; this can be especially helpful on Twitter and Google+.
Good luck! See you Friday to discuss Part 2.
Image credit: Fady Habib
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