A Best Practice guide to: Social Media
Business Development
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Is it important? Social media has quickly become an important aspect in how you present your business and engage with new and existing customers. Spreading far beyond a younger audience, social media is now used regularly by 38bn people in the UK, and with usage rising 6%pa and averaging more than two hours per day,1 a social media presence is as important as email to ensure customers are aware of what your business has to offer and can communicate with you. Social media is best seen as a tool to launch dialogue, to whet the customer’s appetite and inform expectations. Social media has huge benefits – it’s free to join, doesn’t take huge amounts of time and, as with Trip Advisor, people will comment/review your business whether you are online or not. So it’s better to be present, engage, respond to feedback and inform customers rather than having your business presented inaccurately. Think of social media in the same way you would engage with customers at a till or reception desk. But it is not the platform for publishing PR releases. 1 http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/
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Social Media
General Social Media tips: • U pload images: Focus on engaging with existing and potential customers with pictures of your views, your location, new products, happy customers dining – images that offer something special are far more important than focusing on building up the number of likes or followers. • S hare and retweet posts made by local organisations such as your DMO, Tourism Alliance or BIDs, they all help to widen awareness and support. The best growth is organic, strong and supports business sales, people will share and follow good interesting content. • S ocial media is a strong element in the early part of the customer journey, not just in the under 35’s, but in driving awareness of what your business offers, what makes you unique. Avoid directly trying to “sell” via social media, look to engage in a conversation with potential and existing customers. • P ictures and short video posts increases interaction and awareness (and in turn sales). Perhaps a new product, a refurbished room, special exhibition, pictures from last year’s event, a new dish on the menu or a wedding at your venue where you’re giving best wishes. • Avoid anything controversial or making jokes, especially regarding customer service. This is where many social media “fails” have occurred. • B e friendly and human – be social. If you run out of a product, are fully booked or experience a blip (power cut for example), apologise and explain you are working on it. Include a picture – it helps people sympathise. Share posts about traffic incidents/accident so your guests know, they will appreciate your help.
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The above image is from a Bike Hire company based on the seafront, it illustrates happy customers using the companies bikes; a perfect photograph for a social media post.
• I ntegrate social media with the rest of your business objectives and marketing messages – if you have a 10% sale, flag this up with consistent messages and colours throughout your website, in newspaper ads as well as on social media. The only exception is if you offer an exclusive for your social followers (e.g. a percentagediscount ifthe customer quotes a promotional code or a print-and-bring-this voucher). • A ddress and respond positively to customer service issues promptly (some 53% of social media users expect a response within an hour and one in ten (11%) expect customer service via social media). This could be a holding message to thank them for feedback and to let them know you are looking into it. Finishing a reply with a name helps show you value customers and that you have a public face. More than 1 in 3 of those surveyed claimed they were more likely to recommend or repeat purchase from a business they see giving a timely response on social media2. Social media gives you a chance to highlight your excellent customer service to a wider audience3. • G ather and support “champions” as your followers grow. These could be friends, regular customers or just people who “get your vibe”, who will actively help spread the word and want to be associated with your product/offer (emphasising the importance of a quality or unique product). Recommendation or word of mouth is stronger than any ad you create!
2 https://econsultancy.com/blog/63750-72-of-customers-expect-complaints-on-twitter-to-be-answered-in-one-hour 3 Tomiuk & Pinsonneault (2009)
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Social Media
• “ Focus Group” activity can be provided for free through social media– try posting a picture of a new dish on the menu or room decoration and ask if people like it? Social media is conversation, your champions and customers will be delighted to be asked and feel more engaged and empowered, therefore happier about using and recommending your business. Sales of KitKat rose by 20% in the competitive confectionary market as a result of a campaign to “YouTube your tea break”4. Sunlife Insurance reached millions launching a spoof on April Fool’s day to “insure your beard”, asking men to upload a picture for a quote.
• Y ou can post similar newspicture/video to different social media streams, but NEVER repeat post it on the same platform again. Users want new, fresh, engaging content. If all else fails, post a picture of one of your visitor’s pets, as animals are always a firm favourite!
The above image would be a great image for a social media post. Even a short post of “Todays hen group enjoying their surf lesson! Visit our website for offers and more info: www. websiteaddress.com”, could potentially bring new visits to your website.
4 http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/05/12/kitkat-embarks-on-biggest-packaging-redesign-to-let-consumers-youtube-their-break/
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What social media should I use?
Facebook (est 2006, 1.4bn users5, approximately 43% of UK internet users1) – find and stay in touch with friends, join like-minded discussion groups, share pictures and video. • Aim to log in, check and reply to comments at least daily and preferably post a few times a week, or more if you have newsworthy items (an event for example). • I s great for engaging with users, launching new products or reminding of existing services. Video works particularly well as these now automatically start playing in the news-feed. • E nsure videos are short (less than 2mins), eye-catching and have a clear message. It is better to add the video directly when you are writing the post, rather than including a YouTube link. You can even include a video on your main business page. • B usinesses can now have a call-to-action on your Facebook page, “Book Now” or “Sign Up”. • Y ou can select or focus your Facebook posts to particular audiences by age or location. • C heck Facebook’s analytics section to see what posts have been well received and which have been less successful. You can discover which posts have led to people “hiding” your post or “un-liking” your page – look for trends and suggestions as to how to best continue to engage and expand your audience. This gives high level detail on how many people you have reached each day, along with basic age/sex/location data. Measure your success by how many people engage with your social media. How many people comment, like or share or retweet. Are your posts well received, does the picture of your new locally sourced dish, for example, result in positive comments?
5 http://www.jeffbullas.com/2015/04/08/33-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2015/
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Social Media
Twitter (est 2006, 284m active users5, 19% of UK internet users1) - short public message service (up to 140 characters), now also supporting picture and video posts • RT means “re-tweet”, you can include this in a Twitter post to encourage people to spread the word. This works well for a “flash sale” with limited time/ places, rather than just “we are open today”. • All Twitter posts are searchable, you can use or incorporate a trend with “#...”. Ensure you search and check what the trend is about and how your business is suitable before joining the conversation. • B e aware of other events (both locally and world-wide) before posting to try to start a viral campaign. For example if news is breaking of a surfer injured locally, it is inadvisable to promote your swim-gear shop with a “#surfersparadise” trend. • A im to check/reply to tweets at least twice a day (start and end of day), as users expect prompt responses. Google+ (est 2011, 363m active users5, 12% of UK internet users1) - like Facebook, but Google’s version. While it has fewer users, signing up may assist your Google search result rankings! Instagram (owned by FB, 300m active users5, 8% of UK internet users1) - a photograph and short video sharing platform, as well as posting your own photos and videos you can like and comment on other peoples. Pinterest (2011, 70m active users5, 9% of UK use this and 80% are female1) – a scrap-booking type website, the user can collate images from across the internet into stylised albums. It is often used for planning events, weddings, decorating ideas etc. LinkedIn (est 2003, 347m users5, 9% of UK internet users1) – a social media platform for business and is ideal for “business to business” or researching potential staff. Your profile is your CV/work history and has business articles. Trip Advisor – sharing reviews on places visited, now links with Facebook to prioritise your friend’s (or friends of friends) reviews of a venue or attraction. Includes restuarants, accomodation and attractions. YouTube – hosting, sharing and commenting on videos.
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Finally.... It is easy to keep up-to-date using the many mobile applications, but don’t make the mistake of one Red Cross employee when they accidently posted a joke about getting drunk at the staff party to the main Red Cross account rather than her own personal one!
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