Twitter has established itself as a new platform for brands to engage with consumers, but getting a social media strategy right is crucial. Simon Robinson, Senior Director Marketing & Alliances EMEA, Responsys looks at building customer relationships through tweets…
The growing popularity of social media has created a new channel of engagement for marketers that unfortunately many have ignored. Recent research by Responsys reveals that under half (46%) of the top 50 online retailers include a social media component in their emails to customers.
This is surprising since social networks, such as Twitter, are where a brand’s most loyal fans are, providing an ideal opportunity for businesses to engage customers in real-time. In order to gain a competitive edge, marketers need to embrace the ubiquity of social media and incorporate sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook into their existing multi-channel strategies.
By following a company or tweeting a piece of news relating to a brand, customers are effectively giving marketers permission to get in touch and engage them in conversation.
Marketers can respond by using features such as ‘join our network’ or ‘share with your network’ and tweeting short bursts of digestible information that can be accessed by customers on the move. Marketers can analyse the sentiment of posted tweets, and monitor hash-tags or links that drive traffic back to the brand’s site – providing useful information that allows marketers to get to know their customers better and see the content they are engaging with and their contacts.
So that brands can continue to utilise social media websites, such as Twitter, and turn them into high-impact channels that form part of a multi-channel marketing approach, brands need to use the information they collect to engage customers in a meaningful dialogue.
Rather than just tweeting news information from their feeds, organisations should respond to customer requests and questions in real-time to help develop relationships with those engaging with the brand across Twitter. Ultimately, this will increase brand engagement, boost a company’s social media following and drive traffic to other key channels including web, email and mobile.
There is no denying the impact that social media tools are having on the way we communicate both at a business and a personal level. From micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, to professional networks like LinkedIn and, and networking website Facebook, social media is now as big a part of our daily lives as drinking a cup of coffee or taking the tube to work.
As a result, now is the time for marketing teams to evaluate how they can integrate social media into their marketing campaigns to drive engagement and, ultimately, business profit.
By Simon Robinson
Senior Director Marketing & Alliances EMEA
Responsys
www.responsys.com