Zoe Cairns, internationally acclaimed social media consultant, conducts a special workshop at IDMA, (Indian Digital Media Awards), and shares five best practices that brands should follow to make the most of their social media strategy:
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Build Trust in Your Brand
According to Zoe, most people are looking for brand recommendations and social media allows this easily through user generated content. Since people can share their thoughts about any brand on social media, it makes it easier for them to trust a brand if it gets a positive reaction on the platform.
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Look Closely At User Generated Content
Zoe also believes that it's more challenging for brands to promote on social media because the brand is not in total control of the content that gets generated. However, in her view, the user generated content can provide crucial insights to brand owners and help them approach their audience in a more targeted way.
It's All About The Right Strategy
Social media marketing success is the outcome of well planned strategy, says Cairns. She believes that it is important for marketers to know what they want to achieve, to be able to differentiate between brand awareness and engagement, and above all, to know how to choose the right social media platform to target their audience.
Don't Hard Sell
According to Zoe, it is important for brands and marketers to convert social media conversations to potential leads. However, making a hard sell is never an option. It is important for brands to realize what additional value they can give back to consumers to keep them engaged. In her view, the mistake that brands often make is to bombard potential customers with communication which often leads to a situation where brands tend to get ignored. In order to avoid it, the art of subtle engagement is the right way forward.
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Be Guided by Algorithms
Zoe is a strong believer in the power of algorithms, especially when it comes to making content strategy for social media marketing. "The best practice is to look at algorithms and guide the content strategy accordingly. I would say algorithms are controlling social media communication in a major way.
Zoe Cairns is a highly respected and proficient International Social Media Speaker, TV Expert, Trainer and Consultant.
Specializing in many areas but focusing on one of the many areas people do not cover when they first set out in Social Media, their Social Media Strategy. She works with many companies, brands and Fortune 500 companies to make sure that they have a strategy and know how to implement high profile campaigns to get the maximum from their Social Media activities. Her passion is also sharing the message about Social Media and how it can be used in business.
Zoe has traveled to many places to speak at many events including Poland (She was commissioned by Seldia EU to attend a Roundtable Conference to speak to European Parliament and Government), Amsterdam (The Social Media Strategies Summit), India (Socialathon 2014 for Digital Market Asia), Ireland, Madrid training a 1.2 billion company and Montenegro to speak at a conference for NATO. Follow Zoe on X.
Guest Authored By Ruhail Amin. Ruhail is a Journalist at Exchange 4 Media. Formerly Hindustan Times, and Times of India. Follow Ruhail on Twitter.
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Social media itself is not the answer to having a great marketing strategy.
It has to be done with other media platforms for effective reach.
Authored by:Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends. My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
