Marketing used to be centered around the four P’s . They’ve been taught across various marketing and business schools: Product, Price, Place & Promotion. Slowly and gradually as the world has evolved and with the uprising of the digital channels in the recent years, these have become almost obsolete and have been replaced by the four C’s of the social media: Connecting, conversing, collaborating and creating.
The recent boom of smart phones has had a great impact on how marketing is being done now. The marketers have the power to show their product or service to the users right on their mobile screens. The internet and the web, as a whole, have become a hub for company reviews, product purchases aka ecommerce, restaurant reviews etc. How companies engage with their customers online is now more relevant than ever before. Customers like to interact with the company before they make a purchase to judge how the customer service is.
Creating a social media marketing strategy for your business can be an overwhelming experience. Whether you are a large organization or a start-up, using the social media channels to reach out to your potential customers and share your work/content is a must-do technique in the modern digital world. Without having well maintained social media accounts, you may seem untrustworthy to your potential customers.
Here are the four C’s that of social media that will help make your website a conversion hub:
Connecting
Engagement is the part of creating a connection with your customer base. Another thing to consider here is that with the evolving social media age, connecting with your clients through social media has also become a norm. To understand engagement completely, the business can look into what channels are best for social media connecting and conversation.
With the right analytical tools, you can figure out whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest that is the best solution for your business. There are several social media outlets but the focus should be towards a few of them instead of all of them.
According to a study, every follower that you gain on Instagram engages 58 times more than the fans that you acquire on Facebook. With 93% of the marketers using Facebook as their primary marketing platform, the market has become very saturated for businesses.
On the contrary, only 36% of the marketers use Instagram to market their products. If Instagram is the right fit for your business, you should definitely consider connecting with your customers through the platform. Making a long lasting impression on your valuable customers is very important for any business and Instagram can be a great way to make that impression.
Conversing
Conversation drives everything on social media. If you are putting your customers at the top of your priority list, it is important to understand their behavior and the type of content they like. This can only be done by engaging in conversation with them. A thorough social media marketing analysis would provide you with the insights on how the customers are responding to your content.
The conversation has to be two-way across social media. There are many brands that have successfully been able to capture the customer attention through their conversations. There are several tweets on the internet from the brands that have gone viral. Not only does it add meaning to the customer, but it also manages to enhance customer loyalty.
A risky but fun conversation technique, for example, is applied by Wendy’s, where they engage in hilarious conversations with the customers. This earns them hundreds of thousands of social signals and makes the content go ‘viral’.
If you’re engaging in conversation with your customers on social media, why does it have to be dry? Wendy’s keeps it ‘LIT’ and engages the millennials well. The friendly ‘banter’ done by the brand encourages more customers to engage with them.
Source: Wendy’s Twitter Account
You have to engage your community with great content but the better the conversation, the more loyalty it inspires. The conversations have to be transparent, helpful, truthful, caring and accepting. Not to forget, it’ll be great if they are out of the box, too. Businesses should understand how emotional psychology comes into play.
Collaborating
Collaboration is what the savvy brands are totally into in the current market scenario. Take a look at AirBnb for example, they are taking user generated content and using it across their social media. The photos are often accompanied by the customer story. This is currently the finest form of collaboration on social media.
Source: airbnb instagram
There’s a lot of hard work to be put into this before you get into community building and start having in-depth conversations. Airbnb is one of the leading brands that collaborates regularly with its customers through various channels. Even their blogs and city guides include user generated content and reviews.)
Social media collaboration is on a rise and people are constantly looking up to influencers and social media activists to form opinions and make purchases. Collaborations portray that the brand listens to what you have to say and then respond accordingly. It shows that you care about your customers.
Arclights cinema chose an interesting way to collaborate with its audience by showing the movies that they would like to see. This level of collective engagement and collaboration makes the fans and followers across social media feel more appreciated and special. Giving them the freedom to vote and choose the movies that they would like to see.
source: acrlight cinemas facebook
Creating
Sharing and using valuable content for your audience is an adhesive for your fans and followers on social media. According to a research done by UBM Technology Group, 59% of the technology professionals use social media to stay updated on the recent developments and news around the globe. They effectively use social media to learn about new products and services. 45% use social media to learn about new companies and brands.
While creating content for your audience, keep in mind the trends of the market and capitalize on what is popular at the current moment. Creating regular engaging content for your audience might glue them to your social media outlets and engage them in positive conversations. You can use these digital marketing tip for small businesses to gain access to an audience that may otherwise be unaware of the existence for your enterprise.
Wrapping It Up
The 4 C’s of social media marketing have become essential in managing and expanding your online presence. In today’s world, these elements are not preferable to use, they have become rather essential to use. Share your thoughts in the comments below about the best practices that you deploy for the 4 C’s discussed above.
