Business owners are always looking to create a stronger bond with their customers and prospects – particularly through the use of social media and online platforms.

It’s important that you understand where and how your customers and prospective customers spend their time online.

An optimal social media strategy requires knowing:

1. What each channel does best
2. Which demographics each attracts
3. How those demographics align with the majority of your current and prospective customers
4. How audience behaviors change on each platform.

Social media posts are an excellent way to interact with customers in real time. Twitter provides a platform for announcing news or sharing brief thoughts on a topic that’s trending. Facebook posts can offer snippets—teasers—that drive traffic to full posts on a website’s blog.

 

Use the same content but best presented on each channel.

Understanding the function and audience of each platform helps you get the most from your time and effort.

The goal shouldn’t be to simply amass followers. Instead, measure the engagement of your followers as an indicator of interest, connections, relationships, and loyalty. The more engaged people are, the more likely they are to see the content you create as a resource rather than a sales tool.

Relate to your customers’ and prospects’ needs, offer them relevant value exchanges, more information, white papers, demos, entertainment, etc.

For a closer look at how to leverage the internet and your online presence to own the customer experience, download the full white paper here.