Social media is much more than just a way for friends to speak with each other. It opens up an entirely new way for businesses to communicate with their customers, and can help with seeking out new ones. Setting up a brand new business Facebook or Twitter account can seem daunting, especially when some larger businesses wield huge budgets dedicated to their offerings, but social media is an ideal way for SMEs to grow their online presence and gain a foothold in their respective niche.
Larger companies may have more followers, but it’s much harder to respond to individual tweets and develop more personal relationships when people interact with them, even if they have a dedicated customer service department. As a smaller business, each new follower is a new opportunity to engage with someone interested in your brand and ready to share interesting content that comes their way, or provide feedback when you put the call out about an upcoming event you’re hosting.
You don’t have to spend lots of money to grow your online audience or host a successful competition. Check out these great examples from SMEs who raised their game through social media:
Posh Flooring
Competitions may seem like a strategy to use once you’ve already established a sturdy social media following, but they’re also a great way to make a big first impression and attract new fans. The key is hosting a competition that taps into the public consciousness, such as Posh Flooring’s “Britain’s Ugliest Carpets” competition.
By looking for garish examples of interior decorating, Posh Flooring encouraged a bit of fun around a competition that would reward one winner with a Red Letter Day getaway. The competition was extremely easy to enter, as users were simply required to tweet their terrible carpet pictures @poshflooring to become eligible to win – and entrants could submit their own photos or even shame their family or friends.
The campaign grew their following, with their tweets reaching 14,000 impressions and some local media even getting interested in the shortlisted finalists before the winner was announced. They also positioned themselves well by running a competition directly targeting people who are prime customer targets, as those willing to admit their carpet is one of the worst in the country could potentially come to Posh Flooring to rectify that very problem.
Key takeaway: Consider your main target audience and what problems they might be having. Highlighting these problems in a light-hearted way is a great way to generate interest in your brand.
Bonprix
Blogger events are a fantastic opportunity for your brand to directly engage with influential bloggers and add a huge boost on your social media following. Catching the right blogger’s attention and having them tweet about your products can put your name in front of thousands of people, all within your target audience.
Bonprix are highly active on the blogger event calendar, showcasing new collections and driving bloggers to spread the word through special event-specific hashtags. At the actual events, they bring items from collections and include style challenges, with a prize and gift bags to give away. This means that representatives from the brand can strike up a rapport with influential bloggers during the event and, afterwards, continue the conversation online so all of the bloggers’ followers can get involved too.
Blogger events are also a great way for you to interact with other brands within your niche as, rather than being hosted by specific companies, many events are hosted by high profile bloggers themselves. Scarlett London is just one blogger who gathers brands together for blogger festivals, so it’s more than worth being on the lookout for event opportunities your brand can get involved with. Working with a blogger frequently could lead to you introduce them as a brand ambassador and their following hearing about your company more often.
Key takeaway: Blogger events are heavily promoted on social media, making them one of the best opportunities to not only meet people interested in your products, but also keep your brand present in online conversations.
Roman Originals
Without a doubt, one of the most talked about social media sensations of this year has been #TheDress. When a debate between family and friends over the colour of a dress spread from their personal Facebook feeds to dominate Twitter, the brand behind the dress, Roman Originals, were the great beneficiaries. But that doesn’t mean they simply let social media overtake them.
Once talk about the dress took off, Roman Originals immediately started retweeting high profile accounts and media outlets that picked up the story. They quickly changed their website to put the dress front and centre and sales of the item skyrocketed 347% in one day. Staying so active kept their name prominent as more and more websites published the story.
The brand confirmed the colour of the dress to be black and blue, though brilliantly created a new white and gold iteration and sold it through eBay in a partnership with Red Nose Day. This means that even once talk about the dress’ colour was dying down, attention was kept high with the charity sale of the new product.
Key takeaway: Staying active on social media is key, doubly so when something takes off. If your brand is part of the discussion when something goes viral, there’s always a wealth of options for you to keep the momentum going and make the most of the opportunity to have your company in the public eye.
Social media for brands has grown from ‘something everyone has’ to a major marketing force. No matter how big your business, social media can be used effectively to grow your online audience, make valuable connections with influential personalities and is also the source of wild success stories when brands capitalise on unexpected momentum. Learn from these examples, and you’ll become a force in your industry in no time!
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1NUvMH3 via transformational marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1PtPjzS
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