August 06, 2018
Every New product in our time uses Social Media to make it big and increase customer traffic. Sales and Marketing strategies primarily focus on the launch of the new product on various Social Media. Be it Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, Pinterest or any other Social Media Platform. There are also millions being spent on hiring Social Media Strategists, Platform experts, SEO analysts and the list goes on.
There are many studies which reveal how Social Media strategies have improved the profitability by leaps and bounds compared to conventional marketing strategies. But results may not be the same for everyone. Sometimes things don’t go the way as decided and it could backfire inspite of having the best people on the job or the best strategies included.
So how do we ensure that companies ensure maximum usage of Social Media to promote products and at the same time don’t over strategize? Below are some ways by which this could be achieved to have the right balance.
Identify Target Market
First, you need to know who the end customer is. Only based on the target audience, you will be able to devise appropriate social media strategies. For instance, does my product cater only to teens? If yes, any specific section of teens? Any specific regions or countries these teens reside? Do we know when the majority of them are online on the Social Media? Any other demographic information that would be helpful.
Plan the Right Media
Next, Identify what would be the best media to reach out to the audience. If the majority of them are active on Facebook, will releasing an Ad also on YouTube and Instagram help? You can do that if you are not worried about the Marketing Cost. An advantage would be to reach a wider audience. If you are working on a tight budget, then stick to the platform that you are sure of offering good returns. Do remember that some products may have a wider reach on a particular platform compared to the rest.
What content goes in?
Content plays an important role in any Marketing Strategy. You may have the best product and a good customer base to purchase it, but what if you don’t launch the product in an appropriate way? It will be a massive failure if customers don’t get good first-hand information about the product. To ensure that you have high resolution images, introductory lines of the product and links to the shopping site. Within seconds you have to make an impression of your product to the customer so as to raise a purchase interest. Remember your goal is not only to make the customer look at your page but also navigate them to your website for completing the purchase.
Track the metrics
Tracking metrics at every level is a must. For example, number of views, likes/dislikes, comments, number of clicks on the banner, number of clicks on the website link, conversions through social media, abandoned carts etc. Analyzing Metrics and Social Media analytics will help you understand if your Marketing Strategy is working for you or not. If the results are below expectations, you have to take appropriate action to see what can be done. Continuous monitoring helps ensure things go well in the right direction. Remember the golden rule that a new customer will bring nine more customers.
Get Professional Assistance
If you feel you don’t have the confidence to plan and implement your Social Media Strategy, then hire experts. There are many Social Media experts in Market who will devise the plan and implement for you A not so good Social Media Strategy can have a lot of negative impact not only on your revenue but also reputation, the latter being an intangible attribute which just cannot be recovered easily.
Redirecting to complete the Purchase
Is the customer able to complete the purchase easily after they click on the link and navigate to your eCommerce site? Are you asking them to login again? If this is the case, then your conversions would have an impact. In this golden age of Ecommerce, the mantra is easy and faster checkout. Anything that takes time will result in an abandoned cart or unhappy customer. So ensure your redirection links and checkout flow is easy and fast.
Reviewing Feedback
Are you considering the comments and feedback posted by Online Customers? This feedback acts as an important input to reveal where you stand and how well has the audience accepted your product. Do not ignore negative comments. Any criticism is always good and beneficial. This could help you in your future promotions.
Providing response
Most companies fail to do this. Do you respond to comments and posts from the Online Shoppers. Whether positive or negative, have someone from your team to respond to the posts. This creates a positive effect on the online audience as they feel that the company is listening to their feedback which in turn makes them feel important. Remember that any customer whom you make them feel important will be a customer of a lifetime.
Being Dynamic
Am I not updating my page regularly? Am I still showing the same image launched 2 weeks back? To be on top of the list and on a regular feed, ensure you make frequent updates to your page. Else it would be difficult to improve customer traffic and increase conversions. How well do you compete with your competitors depends on how active you are?
Finally, remember that not one size fits all. In this ever changing world of online promotional strategies, companies need to keep coming up with alternatives so as to be unique and devise niche plans to be ahead in the competition.
Are you ready to take corrective actions to improve your conversions?
