The Value of Interactive Social Media

A great social media presence is essential for marketing your business, and everyone seems to have caught on to that fact. Accordingly, the top social media platforms are cluttered with brands, all trying to get the coveted attention of their key demographics. The three fundamental steps to building a following on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram—build out 100% of your profile, post content frequently, and follow as many relevant people as possible—still apply, but they grow increasingly insufficient every day. To stand out among the competition, you need to make your content engaging. And engagement is a two-way street.

Social media is arguably the most valuable marketing tool since television first allowed messages to enter people’s living rooms. It allows for an unprecedented level of business-customer engagement in advertising. We’re still witnessing the rise and evolution of intelligent, targeted advertising, and it will surely continue to alter the landscape of the marketing world. However, don’t let new technology and surgical precision make you lose sight of what social media most readily brings your brand: personality.

It’s important to take advantage of your ability to communicate directly with customers in a human way. When your followers comment on your posts, and you give thoughtful, sincere responses (and not obviously stock ones), it shows that you genuinely care about their experience. Furthermore, the more you get conversations going among followers, the more overall engagement you’ll get. Social media is great for promoting specific events and products, but your ongoing daily goal should be to keep your company in the consciousness of potential customers. A great way to do this is to think of ways to keep your brand in the conversation some way, somehow.

21st-century customers can be quite savvy, and they understand that your brand’s social media account is about incepting positive feelings about your business. Still, advertising effectively, especially to certain demographics, might depend on your ability to make your audience forget that they’re interacting with a brand, however fleetingly. The use of humor, questions, and calls-to-action are great ways of achieving this. However, it can be difficult to hit the right tone and balance. Generally, as compared to more formal communications, social media should be casual, curious, and genuine.

For more information on social media engagement, or if you would like to schedule a consultation with our social media marketing professionals, please contact McCauley Marketing Services today. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for additional tips, news, marketing tactics, and more.