Do you know what you’re doing on social media? There is a great deal of potential to interact with current customers and find new customers through social media. Here are some suggestions that we have to help you improve your reach online.
Interact with Groups
Interact with student groups and local organizations in your target market on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube to build relationships with prospective customers, generate brand awareness, and convey product information. Don’t just friend or follow. Tweet at or post about an organization and tag them in the post. These are ways to actively get on their radar and if they respond, everyone that follows them will see their response.
AC EXAMPLE:
Some of our sales managers went to UGA to recruit for our summer sales internship positions there. We tweeted a picture of the setup and tagged the career center in the post.
The UGA Career Center retweeted this post. A post that was initially only reaching our followers also got sent to the UGA Career Center’s 8,751 followers.
If you’re on or near a college community, we suggest connecting with Greek Life, Student Organizations, University Departments, Athletics, and Student News Outlets (College newspapers and radio stations, Huff Post College, USA Today College, etc.).
Interact with Individuals
Use keyword searches on Twitter to locate individuals who have been tweeting about topics related to your consumer market and tweet them, inviting them to engage and interact with your brand. If you tag @around_campus in a post, we will gladly retweet (RT) it to our followers to increase your impressions. You can also check out our company account, @aroundcampusgrp, to stay in the know about college marketing trends.
Use Hashtags
Use Twitter to create dynamic tweets and utilize categorized hashtags to cultivate followers and grab the attention of your target market. Hashtags started on Twitter, but now Instagram and Facebook have both incorporated them into their platforms, so they have an even better reach.
- Try to be relevant and dynamic. Don’t just post about your business and your specials; give your company a character that people can engage with. Consider doing a #TBT (ThrowBack Thursday) post of your business engaging with the university years ago.
- Join our conversation using #AroundCampus and #GetAround
- Tools to find out which hashtags to use:
- Hashtagify.me: If you type in the search bar a hashtag that you’re thinking of using, you can see how popular that hashtag is and find other hashtags that may be similar and more popular
- Trendsmap: This site will tell you what hashtags people are using in your business’s community.
Start Conversations & Invite Input
Start conversations about your brand on message boards, forums, Yahoo! Answers, and LinkedIn groups, specifically pursing groups related to your target market.
Invite input on social media from your current followers and fans. If you are creating a new dessert for your restaurant, post a picture and description and let your followers vote on what to call it. These kinds of interactions make your consumers feel that they have a personal relationship with the company.
Make it Personal
Your company has a personality and a story that is a part of your brand. Letting that show through your online interactions gives your posts and your company a personality that consumers can relate and respond to.
Every few months step back and review your posts. Are they serving and interacting with your target market? Is your company brand and personality consistent and believable? If not, make adjustments for the next few months.
Share with us what you have learned about social media interaction as a company. What has worked and hasn’t worked for you?