The Social Media Marketer

3 Real Time Social Media Marketing Strategies

Tweet

 

As a proactive business owner, you are responsible for reaching your customers in the most effective and relevant manner possible. Today's consumers are accustomed to a culture that revolves around instant gratification, which further elevates the importance of developing highly reactive response strategies well before they are needed.

For example, when current events or high profile situations flood the social networking world with activity, you need to have a social media marketing strategy in place that will allow you to strike while the iron is hot, pulling in a flood of web traffic.

Use these great tips to build a savvy course of action that will serve you well in the midst of your next marketing blitz.

Build a Rapport with Online Acquaintances Now
Your ability to connect with new site visitors in the heat of the moment is largely contingent on the steps your business is taking today to build a strong foundation of communication. If you do not already have profiles on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter, you'll need to establish them as quickly as possible.

Focus your efforts on reaching new followers by generating content that is intriguing and interesting. Of course, peppering your written material with information tied to current events is always a powerful tool to have in your social media marketing arsenal.

The latest statistics show that Facebook users across the globe share more than 3.5 billion pieces of unique content with their friends on a weekly basis. Your site could easily become one of the successful businesses profiting from hype generated via social networking. Start bolstering your content now, and you'll be able to build more connections now that will prove crucial when the storm hits down the road.

Continually Monitor Newsworthy Situations
Successful social media marketing strategy planning revolves around reactivity towards two different kinds of events. The first such event is a complaint or issue from a customer, competitor, or employee. If someone feels that you have somehow damaged their credibility, broken a promise, or behaved inappropriately, you could soon find yourself in the middle of a PR nightmare.

United Airlines experienced this firsthand when one of their customers complained about a guitar that was damaged in transit. Rather than sorting out the issue quickly and helping their customer recoup his costs, United instead ignored the problem, prompting the customer to record a series of YouTube videos about United breaking his guitar. The issue ballooned into a major trending topic across the social media stratosphere, with millions of customers posting negative comments about the company.  Once a problem gets out of hand, companies lose the capacity to keep the issue under wraps, resulting in a deluge of bad PR.

The second potential event you'll want to monitor is current events that are related to your business or website. Use these moments to create content that is informative and interesting for a variety of different consumers, while also threading your agenda into the pieces you generate. Again, reaction time is crucial, as waiting too long to respond will result in lackluster results that suffer from in the inevitable drop in public interest that occurs shortly after a story breaks.

Remain Engaged Through the Storm
Perhaps the most critical element of all is your determination to stay afloat when a significant event occurs. The worst example you can provide other customers with is a lack of response when a problem arises. Not only may you be adding credibility to the detractor's claims by not responding to the criticisms or issues, but you are also wasting an opportunity to spin the negative event into a positive for your organization. Demonstrating your reactivity through stellar customer service is an essential part of effective social media marketing.

Likewise, sending out a lonesome article when current events occur is not enough to keep consumers engaged. You'll need to generate multiple pieces of content so long as public interest remains high. You won't be the only individual trying to use the event to their advantage, so remain persistent in your attempts to connect with others.

As social networking usage continues to skyrocket, developing social media marketing strategies is only going to continue to grow in importance. Make certain to prepare yourself for future events now, and you'll avoid wasting valuable time trying to come up with a response when it is merited in the future. This will ensure that you are capable of handing whatever events come your way professionally and successfully.