Social media is a powerful tool for businesses and can help improve customer retention but how well is your company performing?

Building relationships with your customers via social media and turning these relationships into sales is the name of the game but is your company up there with the best? Simply having a presence on every social media platform isn’t enough.

Choosing the Right Platform

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Flickr, the list is endless. If you want to increase your online presence, it is beneficial that you build a strong community on one social media platform rather than simply have a profile on each one. The first step to excellent customer engagement is choosing the best platform for you. This will depend on a number of factors including your niche and your target audience. In order to ensure success on your chosen platform, you need to pick two or three of the most popular platforms and decide where your target audience is likely to congregate.

Should I Be On Facebook?

Understanding the features that come with each different platform can help you to decide which one is the best for you. Facebook is one of the most popular platforms available and by having a presence on Facebook you are integrating your business into something that your customers use each day. You have the opportunity to engage them with conversations, images, videos and text. Facebook marketing also provides a unique offers feature that allows you to share deals exclusively with your Facebook fans.

Do I Need a Twitter Account?

Twitter is a powerful social engagement tool for businesses and allows companies to get involved in communities as well as set up their own. Twitter chats are also a popular way of building a community of followers that are interested in your products and services.

What About Pinterest?

Pinterest is the new kid on the social media block but it is giving some of the most popular sites a run for their money. Whether or not you can run a Pinterest account will depend on your resources but if are already sharing visually pleasing images via Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest can be another string to your bow.

Share Fan Centred Updates

Whether you are updating your Facebook status or posting a Tweet, make sure it includes a call to action. Asking questions or posting useful tweets that provide information will always encourage interaction. Simply posting and tweeting about your products will not have the same effect.  You need to have to powerful social signals to give to Google.

Interaction is Key

Sending out status updates is one aspect of social media but it is wise to remember that it is a two way street. If you want to build a strong community, you must listen to your fans and followers. Monitor mentions and reply to followers and fans who have taken the time to interact with your account.