SUCCESS CONTENT
Why Social?
People buy from people they like. Companies buy from companies they like. Social Media is where you develop that social element of the customer relationship. It is one of the few ways your tribe can see your culture and promise in action. It is where they go to talk to friends, colleagues, experts and your competition.
A social media presence offers a marketing avenue that keeps your company and your clients up-to-date on current trends and insight into your company culture.
Interacting with consumers on social media is an important marketing strategy for start-ups, small businesses, and non-profits. Using social media helps you build brand awareness, increase your customer base, and connect with current customers.
Social media platforms commonly utilized by businesses include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Each social platform is geared to a different type of consumer and a unique form of content. You will want to make sure you pick the places your people visit. You want to be where your people are already talking or you risk being left out of the conversation entirely.
If you are big enough that you think they might already be interested in your company or product then they probably are -- just without you. It's important to make sure your voice is heard in that conversation.
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Your tribe is the people who believe in your brand. They are your employees, partners, customers or just fans. Are you everywhere your tribe members and potential tribe members communicate?
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Are you informing your tribe about your company, products, unique perspective, or culture daily? Do you provide value to them online at least weekly? Do you give them reasons to buy constantly?
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Do you give your tribe members a platform to provide feedback and carry on conversations about your company? Frank and honest conversations with others in the tribe are essential, and it's just as important for you to reply likewise.
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More than ever, buyers seek authentic, real communication with the companies they buy from. Remember -- they are buying YOU every bit as much as they are buying your products and services.
Why Branding?
Every start-up, business or organization starts with someone believing that someone out there will want what they have to offer the special way we offer it.
There was "something" about the way you were going to do it that made you think you could compete. "Something" that would resonate with enough customers to keep your doors open.
That "something" that makes your company, church or non-profit special is called your brand (your promise to your customers).
It may be cheap prices, a feeling of being home, ease-of-use, your culture, a connection, etc. A strong brand means your customers will be able to identify you easier from the crowd and will "feel you" and stay loyal. It is the reason people are going to try to find you (or companies like yours) in the first place. They are looking, but do your branding and marketing help them find you?
Are you waiting at all the places they will look with a uniform look, feel, and message so they will recognize you and determine that they like you and want to be part of your village?
Companies try to get the word out about their brand "promise." What they do is marketing. How they do it is their marketing strategy.
Mad Science can help you get started with a brief consultation.
What's Changed?
The way people buy has changed, so the way winning companies sell and go to market has changed to keep pace.
Marketing used to be about pushing your message out and hoping someone would bite. They called that push or outbound marketing. We would direct mail, spam, cold call, go door to door, buy commercials, ads, or whatever was necessary to get the message in front of a prospect's face.
Customers Buy Differently Now
Think of how Amazon shopping experience is set-up. They provide all the information the customer needs in the various steps of the buyer's journey all in one place as part of their buying process. That wasn't by accident.
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Awareness Stage
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Consideration
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Decision
Now we can search a problem on WebMD and see an add to buy all three solutions from Amazon. You follow the link, read the description, consider testimonials and ratings, and then scroll down to see what others actually bought (the competition). If you have no Amazon link, you are not part of the process.
Consumers are savvier
We do not like being sold. We can do it our own selves.
We can search for the problem and the top 10 solutions online.
We can go on social and ask our friends, peers, colleagues, or experts.
We can narrow it down we can compare the top choices, read reviews, look at websites, and even order online.
Your job in the new world is to make sure your message is where your customers are looking at each stage of that buyer's journey.
Whatever that competitive differentiator is for you is your Brand. Every strand of your company's DNA has to live up to your promise "brand" so your people find you and stay with you.
Tools and automation are better
Social tools make tasks much easier. They are easier to use and less expensive then they used to be. If you know what you are trying to accomplish there is probably a tool out there that can help you with it.
As you will always hear us say, "picking a new tool should always start with your shortlist of must-have capability." Once you have a shortlist of those tools then you can start comparing cost vs. benefits.