Being on social networks is essential in a marketing strategy.
More than 1.9 billion people they use them every day and in recent years the tendency to share information has increased astonishingly.
To this reality, we must also add the increase in the sale of products online, so it is difficult to imagine an ecommerce that does not have support for the customer search on social networks.
Are social networks important for ecommerce?
These are very eloquent data: 77% of Spaniards already buy online in ecommerce, and the figure does not stop there.
According to the IAB Spain study, 14% of these consumers purchased through social networks such as Facebook o Instagram in the first quarter of 2016.
Is it a mistake then not be on social networks today?
Of course. It is.
Its power in advertising and sales is growing every day, and they have also become tools with a capacity for persuasion and influence that surpasses traditional media such as radio, press or television in spades.
The social networks they have everything a user needs to make a reasoned decision: informativeness, immediacy, visual appeal and the possibility of extraordinarily deep comparison.
For all this, the situation of ecommerce in Spain today necessarily involves promoting social selling and sales strategies on social networks in order to be competitive.
Benefits of being on social networks?
It is important to note that, although being on social networks is important to develop a successful marketing and advertising strategy, it does not have to be in all of them nor consider them all the same.
Every social network has one type of audience and it is expensive to find the right segment. For this reason, companies that start up manage their own social networks without taking into account a prior strategy, or they end up leaving them unused or they do not know how to make them work at a commercial level.
A business with asocial media strategy well managed, it enjoys benefits that can also be constantly measured and developed.
For example:
Create and consolidate brand image
Being on social networks helps your brand image.
Allows you to share content of interest , inform you of your news, promotions and activities; in addition to reinforcing your brand philosophy and establishing a fluid and personal conversation with your customers.
Build community
If you do things right your client it will come to you by itself.
The perfect formula to locate potential clients to know tastes, habits or interests.
Allow your customers to share with you opinions and make them feel heard and cared for.
Traffic capture
In the end we all want to sell< span data-mce-fragment="1"> ours.
This is the reality behind everything we do.
Thegoal is to sell and for the company to grow and continue selling.
That is why you need to know how to use your social networks well, because blindfolding or making several false steps can drastically affect your reputation and sales.
Offer your audience exclusive promotions, interact with them, give them an experience. The time when one copied and pasted the content or did not contribute anything at all has passed.
Today, if you want tobe on social networks you must have professionals behind you who know how to make an editorial calendar, who write the content well using copywriting techniques and who, in addition, know your market, have taste with the image design and analyze your competition and insights (thoughts and needs) of your clients.
Only in this way will you be able to sell the benefits of your products correctly and cover the real and fantastic needs of your potential clients.
Power of action
The importance of being on social networks it is noticeable, above all, in the detection of opportunities and threats.
Listening to your users, studying your competition and following trends will help you act quickly and direct your business in a sensible and realistic way advertising strategies for your business.
And how should we treat them?
From 3dids.com we recommend following a Social Media Plan .
A roadmap that better defines the strategies and actions of your < /span>social media plan.
For example, these are some actions you should have into account:
- Define the objectives
- Appoint those responsible for action
- Prepare a budget
- Define marketing and communication actions
- Specify a timing
- Measure ROI
How to create a Social Media Plan?
This is what we were referring to when we told you that it is not wise to professionally look into the social networks without making a plan.
A social media plan< span data-mce-fragment="1"> is a publication calendar that will take into account, above all, audience, themes and publication dates.
Your plan should have these situations in mind:
Situation analysis
It is very important to study the situation both internally and externally.
Therefore, before thinking about the client, you must answer these questions related to your own business:
- Who are we? B2B company or B2C.
- What do we offer? Products or services.
- Are we prepared? We have resources sufficient or limited.
- What is our online reputation like? What and how much is said about us on social networks.
- What have we done so far and where? < /span>What campaigns have we carried out on online and/or offline channels.
At external level, however , we must analyze the reality of the sector in which we operate.
Aspects such as the situation of the competition (what it is doing, how and where), demographic, economic, technological, political and sociocultural factors.
With all this information you will be able to prepare the SWOT of your company: an analysis tool that will allow you to capture, in a very visual way, the internal characteristics of your company (Weaknesses and Strengths ) and the external situation (Threats and Opportunities).
P.O.S.T method
The research and consulting company Forrester created the in 2007 POST methodology (People, Objective, Strategy & Technology). A very effective method when starting to draw the first lines of your social media strategy.
P=People
Analyzing the target of our brand will be essential to create your social media strategy. It is important to define who you are targeting and what their characteristics are and to have a definition of your target correct.
O=Objectives
Define realistic and measurable objectives. Some objectives may be:
- Improve brand image.
- Strengthen the relationship with customers.
- Get qualified visitors.
- Position ourselves as experts in a specific sector.
S=Strategy
Once the objectives have been established, we must develop the strategy.
It is advisable to create an editorial plan , that is, defining which social networks we should have a presence on, how frequently we will publish, what type of content will be created, what language will be used, etc.
Theeditorial plan must include which social network you are going to use.
It should help you:
- Build community.
- Networking.
- Measure influence.
- Identify specific audiences.
- Find partners and investors.
- Position the mark.
- Find ambassadors for your brand.
And once the social networks have been chosen, it is time to create the contents.
To do this, it is important that you do the appropriate treatment for each suitable social network.
Finally, create a publication schedule will help you keep track of your posts and more easily measure the results of your actions.
T=Technology
It is time to detect which tools are going to facilitate the I work on networks.
There are countless of them for: content curation and creation, and tools to facilitate your publications.
KPI selection, monitoring and measurement
The Social Media Plan< span data-mce-fragment="1"> you need metrics to measure results.
For this it is important set some KPIs that help us measure these results. These have to be established based on our objectives and strategies.
KPIs can be established based on: number of followers, number of likes or clicks on publications or number of conversions from social networks, for example.
Contingency plan
Sometimes things may not always turn out as we expect.
We may find ourselves facing a business reputation crisis that we must be prepared to manage.
To know how and when to act, it is important that your Social Media Plan includes a contingency plan.
The entire team that participates in social networks must be aware of it.
At 3dids.com we can help you so that your business has an effective and coherent presence on social networks; taking advantage of all the business opportunities you have within your market, both nationally and internationally.