Since its inception, social media has been a useful business tool. It’s a fast, accessible way to reach a vast number of customers. It’s also a fantastic way to spread news about a new product, or share your company’s goals and mission. If you can take advantage of the algorithms, social will be invaluable in creating a dialogue around your product.
But Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms are more than just a way to talk to your customers. These platforms can also be used for social listening, concept development, and gap analysis among others. Here are four ways you can use social media to accomplish just that.
1. Pick the correct channel
With research, you’ll discover that certain social media platforms are used by certain demographic groups. If you want to reach mothers between the ages of 35 and 50, Pinterest may be a platform you don’t want to skip. If your product is more likely to be used by teens, take a gander at Snapchat.
Here are some other useful social demographics statistics below.
Facebook users are more likely to be college-educated and urban dwellers
72% of teenagers actively use Instagram; only 10% of those over 65 use it
Twitter’s user base exists primarily outside of the U.S.
YouTube is the most used social platform (used by 73% of all U.S. adults)
U.S. adults between the ages of 25 and 49 use LinkedIn more than other age groups
Find the social platform for your customer base, and you will find your ideal customer.
2. Learn about your customers with social media analytics
How do customers find your brand, and where do they come from?
Leveraging social media analytics software like Awario (for social listening), you can figure out how customers find your competitors. Use that data to learn who they are, how they want to be reached, and what they respond to – this can even lead to more in-depth customer or market segmentation that your insights team can use to leverage customer needs and desires.
3. Use social media as an online focus group
Remember that you aren’t just interacting with customers, but collecting information about their preferences and habits. Think of social as an opportunity to probe (and enact empathy) like you might in an online focus group or qualitative research. Social is merely a hybrid setting for these tried and trued methodologies.
When a customer complains, use it as an opportunity to build your brand. Allow yourself to learn something about your company, or the public’s perception of your company, that you may not already know. Perhaps there is a key aspect to your product that isn’t meeting customer needs. They know your product, and they can point out features or product-adjacent service items you may have overlooked.
Summing Up Social Media Strategies
Utilizing social media can be a make or break tool for your business. Looking at social media from multiple angles can be the key to unlocking creative, successful strategies your brand wouldn’t think of otherwise.
Finally, use social media as more than just a way to share your product. After all, it isn’t just a place for a company to be heard – it’s a place to listen.
