PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media 101: What you need to know The most important thing you need to know about social media is that you need to be on it.
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n our recent survey, you told us that you wanted to know more about social media, so FYI spoke to two social media experts – Wanita Fourie from the Online Business Academy and Simon Cope, senior tutor from the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University.
What do businesses need to know about social media? Fourie: Without a doubt, social media and digital marketing has changed the way people do business. I see social media as a combination of a few functions traditionally used in business. It is a combination of sales, marketing, customer service and training. Cope: It’s more than just uploading photos of yourself. It’s a powerful tool to be able to relate and get to know your customers. Using social media will help you pick up any trends or changes that your customers may be aware of. Social media is also a fantastic medium for getting to know your customers in a non-confrontational way. Particularly effective is using social media to post questions and competitions which help engage with customers and stakeholders.
Why should businesses be using social media? Fourie: Although every business should have a decent website, you also need to use social media to complement this website and increase engagement. Social media plays a huge role in the online world. It helps your business to be seen on a regular basis, if you are active. You can measure your customer engagement and, if done correctly, you can measure your sales through online advertising. Social Media is also cheaper than print, TV or radio advertising and can be very focused right down to the smallest details. Cope: It’s very cost effective, many platforms are free and if you want to advertise, it’s not too 24 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ
expensive. It also offers targeted advertising, allowing you to narrow down your customer base. If you don’t want to pay, you can use Facebook to slowly build up your customer base. People are used to social media, which will spread a lot faster than having a website alone.
Which channels should your business be on? Fourie: This depends on your product or service and where your audience or ‘tribe’ is hanging out. Knowing your audience will help you to target the right channel for your product or service. For example, 18-25 year olds have decreased on Facebook but increased on Instagram and 45-55 year olds have increased on Facebook but have yet to embrace Instagram. Also think about your product or service – if it is a craft or hands on service e.g. plumbing, organising, selling a physical product, then Pinterest and YouTube would be fantastic channels. Cope: In my opinion definitely LinkedIn and Facebook for a start. LinkedIn is a good way to interact, business-to-business and is a good way to find contacts. Facebook is also good to increase engagement with stakeholders in a very easy and effective way. If your business has a visual display, try using YouTube to upload videos highlighting your skill or unique business edge. You can also upload this to your website as a header, which is more effective than text alone.
Tips from the experts • You don’t have to start big. Start with one social media channel and be consistent. • Start with a social media strategy. • Get help if you can’t cope. • Learn as much as you can, even if you are going to outsource it. • Be aware of what you are posting online; keep in mind your customer base. In particular, keep away from posting things that may be controversial, particularly with things like politics, religion, or money depending what your business is. • Go look at what the ‘big boys’ are doing overseas, for example Frucor or Lipton.This will give you ideas from larger organisations that have targeted social media plans. You may want to borrow the style and questions they are using and adapt them to your own business.