Saturday, January 18, 2014

Top 3 Social Media Strategies for SME – GEC Business Review

by Jess Lee

At GE Consult, one of the commonly asked questions by SME clients is: "How do you know which social media channel works best for us?" With so many different options available, it can be downright overwhelming for SME owners although we see quite a number of success stories in Malaysia. 

After all, by understanding how the most successful great brands in the World use social media can offer us great insights, guiding us to strengthen and grow our own businesses. Here are top 3 social media strategies that you can consider and implement, probably with just little budget.

Strategy #1
Find Where Your Customers Spend Their Time and Go Deep

Do you know where your customers and prospects spend time online? Marketers have long relied on market research to determine where to spend their advertising dollars on television, radio and print advertisements.

Here’s a quick reference to help:
  • Facebook: tends to be an older audience with all kinds of interests. Great for word-of-mouth promotion for your brand.  Both visual and videos work well.
  • Twitter: great for searching and finding people talking about your industry. It’s about the conversations going on and being part of those conversations.
  • Google+: tends to be where deep conversations are happening about a very specific topic.
  • Pinterest: primarily (but not all) female Gen-X audience. Great if your business is visual.
  • Instagram: younger, ages around 18 to 30, and more cutting edge. Works great if your business is visually based.
  • Vine: create content in a 6-second video format. You can then share it on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Strategy #2
Create Content that People Want to Talk About

Many SME businesses only use social media to sell their products, so that it becomes their virtual soapbox, yelling out messages that they want to talk about. A better communication strategy is to create great content, then engage in the conversations going on around you.  Give people a reason to talk about you.

Strategy #3
Listen to Your Customers through Social Media

The most successful brands use social media to listen to what their customers are saying about them, and their competitors. AirAsia is a great example of a big brand that uses social media to listen to their customers. They monitor Facebook and Twitter, and have people who respond to travelers who are commenting them about issues they’re encountering.

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