Social networks and new media sites have become great marketing and customer relation tools.
Who could have ever imagined that 140 characters could immediately fix a travel mishap with an airline… Or that a college friend would become a “fan” of your service on Facebook and lead you to a handful of new customers?
Now that social media marketing strategies have become the norm – not the exception – how do you continue to set yourself apart? The answer can lie in the attention that is paid to details and minor tweaks.
These details aren’t about the conversations that you’ve having on Twitter or Facebook. Rather, they are the many hidden opportunities within your social network and new media pages that you can take to further connect your brand, company or product. These opportunities can be simple upgrades to your browser or a one-click application install in your social network.
Take Twiter, for example. The message that you send to your constituents can be delivered beyond your tweets, @replies and direct messages. By taking advantage of customization options, you can distinguish you brand from the millions of other Twitter pages and avoid drowning in web noise:
- Use your background to create a custom page that integrates your brand, and follows company style guides
- Integrate an avatar (profile icon) that is consistent with your other new media account avatars, whether it’s on Facebook, YouTube or other sites
- Install applications such as Clickable Now and make sure that any images or links connect to your homepage, Facebook fan page, etc.
Check out how we’ve implemented these sample steps into our @INCULINK page!
Similar opportunities exist for Facebook, YouTube, blogs and other new media resources on the web.
So next time you’re on a social media site, think: What else can this page do for me beyond what it was originally meant to do?
Go beyond thinking out of the box for the use of a product. We suggest you take an introspective look at how you would have designed Twitter had it been your original idea. Or what functionality you would have added to the Facebook fan page if you could do it your own way…
If you’ve imagined up an idea for new media applications, the solutions are probably already there. At the very least, you may just find a community that is tackling a similar issue, and the solution will be just around the corner.
For more, see our previous posts: