At the end of March I attended my monthly Communitech Strategic Marketing Peer 2 Peer group, held in The Tannery. This session was hosted by Sprouter’s newest Community Manager Jon Spenceley, who addressed the topic of “Social Media Satisfaction.” With Jon’s previous experience in social media at Freshbooks coupled with his current position of community manager, he provided some high level, yet classic and transferable tips for any marketer, entrepreneur, startup or growing organization. Below are some of the take-aways I want to share from Jon’s presentation:
It’s better to do one thing right, then 10 things wrong. There are so many social media platforms that it is very easy to get lost in all the hype. Don’t feel the need to be on all of them or even know how to work half of them. Use what works for your company (i.e. go where your customers are). For those who provide Social Media services, know what works for you AND what can work for your customers.
Integrate Social Media into your Marketing plan. If you haven’t already gotten your company or team onto the social media bandwagon, consider adding it in. If you create a month to month Marketing plan, incorporate a training/information session on Social Media for your team during one month. Start with the classics: Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, and work your way from there.
Be human. As much as people identify with brand names and logos, they want to know that your company is run by people and not a machine. Generate a personality behind your social media accounts; you will need some sort of personality in order to generate good conversation. Don’t forget to engage with your audience. Engaging is not solely about sharing links and information, but simply asking someone how their day was.
Don’t become “that” person. The person who self promotes or RTs every nice comment someone else says about them. Simply send them an @ reply or DM to thank them. i.e. “Thanks for the kind words @vapartners”
Appoint some back end support. Who is the individual who deals with customer comments/complaints/questions? When should the conversation be taken off social media and onto the phone or email? Determine who will be managing the account and what their role is when it comes to customer support. Also provide them with guidelines on determining when it’s time to deal with a conversation off social media.
The more you can make your customers feel like superstars, the more it will reflect on you. Making your customers feel like superstars is as easy as giving them a shout out after a great presentation, pitch, product launch or congratulating them on a new hire.
Sprouter, is a great resource for entrepreneurs and startups to ask questions and receive answers related to their business pains. Betakit a Sprouter creation, also provides up to the minute news on the startup community. For more information about how you can make the shift in Marketing for your team, or for help getting your Marketing efforts off the ground, take a look at how we can help. For more information on VA Partners, visit our website.
