2012 Social Media Strategies resolutions

Like it or not, Social Media is irreversibly changing how we interact with our consumers and vice-versa. As an example, social recommendations and reviews were recently voted the 2nd most important factor, price being number 1, in making travel decisions. So the question is no longer; “Should we socially engage?”  but instead;  “How can we effectively connect with customers in social spaces to further inspire, engage, convert  and add more value? Let’s make some 2012 Social Media Strategies resolutions with the ultimate goal of further inspiring, engaging, converting  and adding more value to your brand. 

    1.      In the age of Twitter, learn to live in the hashtag (#). Change your 30 second elevator pitch, or 5 minute cocktail party chat or long mission statement into 140 characters. Make your story tweetable.

      2.      Start a facebook page. Just do it. 850 MILLION people and brands are on facebook. I venture to say that is more than in your company’s database! Broaden your audience immediately by making a facebook page live. Then, link it to a twitter account. The largest Facebook Page I found is Starbucks with almost 27 million, McDonald’s 12.5 million and Burberry has over 10 million, the best in the luxury brand market. CITYPEEK Patti has 3000.

     3.      Research your reviews and follow up on sites like yelp, trip advisor, foursquare and Citypeek. Not all reviews will be favorable. True. But, a company that takes the time to connect with its customers, satisfied or not, strengthens its relationships and sometimes, can turn a no into a yes. Ultimately, you can leverage social media and user reviews to galvanize direct traffic, build trust, higher conversions and steal market share

      5.      Create Your Company’s Social Media Policy. A social media policy should outlines for employees the corporate guidelines or principles of communicating in the online world. A principal was fired for a facebook post about her students. A Senator was fired for an tweet. A woman was fired for her YouTube sex video. These are all examples of why your employees need some corporate structure and rules while earning a living under your shingle.