SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT IS IT AND WHY USE IT?

SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT IS IT AND WHY USE IT?

Social media has become essential for a good marketing strategy. However, to use them effectively, it is necessary to fully understand their nature and their uses. So what exactly is social media? Why should you use them? Definition of social media and good practices.

What exactly is social media?

Social media makes it possible to establish a dialogue with one's community, and therefore a concrete relationship;

Social media makes it possible to develop social interactions ("like", "retweet", "sharing" ...) revealing a commitment on the part of a community and leading to virality;

Social media allows you to communicate with your community at any time, even when you are on the move. In the age of smartphones and tablets, your target is constantly connected and therefore always likely to receive information.

Need help communicating well on social media? Take advantage of our online coaching offer!

online digital marketing coaching - 60 minutes social networks

Social media, social networks, is it the same or not?

There is a certain subtlety between the two and many people, even knowledgeable, continue to confuse the two concepts.Social networks are indeed only part of social media: Facebook is social media, just like this blog or any forum.She, always him, publishes each year a very complete panorama of existing social media :

what is social media 2019

The main social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram  (in the center of the graph).Social sharing media: they are used to share any type of content, in public or on its network (photo and video, music, etc.).Social networking media: they are used to create and develop a network. Linkedin and Viadeo allow for example to create a professional network. They are therefore very useful in the context of a B to B activity.There is a platform Fiverr from where you can hire professional experts. 

Social media chat (messaging): they allow discussion, instant or not, between their members. The best known of them is undoubtedly Skype . Forums are also discussion media.

Publishing social media: they are used to publish original content, articles, reports, tests ... these are essentially blogging platforms (WordPress, Blogspot, etc.).

Collaborative social media: social media like Slack allows you to collaborate remotely. They are particularly widely used in project management.

The (fundamental!) Concept of community on social media

Since the beginning of this article, I talk to you about community but what is it ultimately?

The community must be at the center of your social media strategy. Indeed, it is it that you must please, it is it that will allow you to achieve your objectives (more visits to your website, more sales ...).

The more engaged your community, the more likely you will be able to achieve your goals and therefore at a satisfactory conversion rate.

Defining a community on social media

Concretely, a community is a set of people developing social interactions, exchanges and discussions around the same area of ​​interest, a character or a brand, on all social media .

Thus, my personal community includes subscribers to my twitter account , my Linkedin contacts , my Pinterest , Instagram subscribers , my Facebook contacts, etc.

To properly handle the concept of community on social media and benefit from its full potential, it is essential to assimilate the 90/9/1% rule.

90% of your community listens to you (sometimes barely…), 9% intervene in conversations and 1% get involved (the famous social interactions!)

There are 9 types of engagement on social media:

The mass: all social media users, almost everyone

The inactive: they like your page, subscribe to your Twitter account or your Youtube channel but never, or very rarely come to it

Passives: they simply take note of your publications which appear in their news feeds

Clickers: they click on your posts to find out more

The sharers: they share your publications

Commentators: they comment on your publications

Contributors: they create content around your brand, your image

The animators: they participate in the animation of your community, intervene with other members to provide them with information

Ambassadors: they work on social media for your brand. They defend you, argue in your favor in the event of negative comments. Ambassadors are the spokespersons of a brand.

Why use social media?

What is social media for?

I can't count the number of times I get asked this question when I start training on social media.

The question today should no longer be “ What is social media for? ”But rather“ How to use social media well? ”

Social media is a must. A marketing strategy that does not integrate social media these days is clearly not optimal.

Wondering what social media is for?

Here are 7 reasons why you should integrate social media into your communication strategy:

Social media can increase your visibility and notoriety.

Social media can improve your SEO: the more links a site has to its pages, the better it will be referenced (see article on popularity and SEO ). Social networks therefore represent the opportunity to distribute and distribute links to the pages of your website and thus optimize their positioning in search engines.

Social media allows you to acquire more traffic.

Social media allows you to find new customers and partners.

Social media allows you to manage customer relationships in real time.

Social media helps manage your e-reputation (your online reputation).

Social media allows you to constantly monitor your market in real time.

But what is social media for?

We have seen the definition of social media, the benefits of social media and the benefits of social media.

And you're still wondering what social media is for?

Or rather, wondering if social media is really relevant to your business?

If you still doubt it, it is doubtful that you have tried things on social media and that you have not seen any return on investment.

I am wrong ?

I do not think so.

Why ? Because I meet companies like you every day who tried their luck on social media but who gave up for lack of results.

And when I dig, I always see the same reasons.

4 key points to communicate well on social media

It is not enough to know, in theory, the definition of social media and their benefits to generate return on investment.

To communicate well on social media, it is essential to follow some good practices.

1. Know your target

To understand what social media is for and what it can do for you, it's important to understand who your target audience is.

We are talking about Persona Marketing.

The idea here is to understand what your target audience is doing on social media. What social media does she use? What are its uses?

You need to know the expectations and needs of your target to communicate well on social media.

2. Work on a documented strategy

Here we will get straight to the point.

To generate return on investment with social media, it is imperative to work on a documented social media strategy.

Got a social media strategy but it's in your head?

You have no strategy.

Here, I strongly recommend that you read our guide:

The 8 fundamentals for good communication on social media

3. Use the right social media

What are social media you ask me for?

Every social media has its use but not all social media suits you.

I meet too many companies that invest in all social media saying that they will have more chances of winning customers.

Serious error.

These companies learn at their own expense and they are the ones who are then convinced that social media is useless.

To communicate well on social media, it is important to select them well.

How? 'Or' What ? Depending on your target.

The key is to not have your eyes bigger than your stomach and limit yourself to a number of social media that you can manage effectively according to your financial, human, time and skills.

Which social media to choose in B2B?

4. We need to work on an editorial calendar

As we saw in our definition of social media, their vocation is to share content with high added value.

To communicate effectively on social media, it is essential to share content adapted to your target on a regular basis.

The content you share on social media must add value to your target.

Hence the importance of working on your Personas, once again.

To effectively share content on social media, it is essential to work on an editorial calendar.

The editorial calendar will let you know very precisely what you will have to publish day by day on social media.

Convenient to avoid wasting time with white sheet syndrome. Believe me.

Conclusion

Social media is therefore essential in the age of digital communication.

However, it is important to take the time to design a complete social media strategy in order to use it wisely and thus achieve the objectives that you set yourself beforehand.

Without a strategy, the resources that you will mobilize in managing your social media will be wasted and may even have a negative impact on your brand (eg bad buzz ...).

As you can see, social media has an exceptional striking force but should be handled with tweezers…