Social Media Influence  

As dollars continue to shift away from traditional media, social is anticipated to receive the highest increases in expenditures, according to Ad perceptions (eMarketer), with 47% of marketers and agencies expecting to increase social investments this year. As brands increasingly leverage social channels, here are a few suggested practices to drive social influence more effectively.

Create Conversations Over Content

In order to create conversations over content, as a content publisher you need to be able to hear what is being said. Marketing today is a technology based discipline, and it must be understood and used properly to reach and engage your audiences. Inspiring consumers to have conversations about their experiences with your products is essential to help drive additional purchase decisions. Social listening technology is vital to understand the content of existing brand advocacy, which will allow you to partner with your customers to provide fresh and relevant content based on that information.

Source Influence From People Who Love Your Brand

There is segment of consumer influencers in a wide variety of technologies and products, who, based on their readership are engaged by brands to help with overall brand or product development. Before considering that path, you should use your confirmed existing customer base from customer lists and segment those by product preference, and then create reward programs to acknowledge an interaction with your brand and products. You can allow response to content over various social networks and combined with your listening platform build new and enthusiastic word of mouth company and product awareness at the street level.

It is an Absolute to Think Long-Term

The principles that apply to any content marketing program, the main one being that it takes time to develop and nurture an audience is the same for any social media plan. The typical marketing metrics like impressions and CTRs are not applicable to these strategies. Plan on a long term strategic plan whose central component is a consistent presence.

Recognize and Reward Your Influencers

Brands of all types, from the smallest to the largest often take their customers for granted. If you engage customers in a social media campaign make sure that you have reward programs in place to provide recognition and thanks for their loyalty. If you fail to provide this recognition, they will take their loyalty elsewhere.

Social Influence is Here to Stay

It is a human trait to share experiences and if you have any doubts that this is not true: Facebook. Facebook proves that humans want their friends to know what they are having for dinner and then some. This word of mouth is where things get bought, word of mouth is the absolute best advertising for any product, period. As a result, there is a technology platform designed to accomplish every type of social media strategy, there is. Every marketer needs to know how to apply the appropriate technology to a particular social media strategy that is being used to get their consumers involved in co-creating content that will expand their business and keep their customer’s loyal.