The buzz around Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn has just about every company considering social media as part of their marketing budget.
Think carefully though because consumers are very specific on what they are looking for with social connections to businesses. Brian Solis, in his blog post “Social Media’s Impending Flood of Customer Unlikes and Unfollows” points us to an interesting study by ExactTarget. Results indicate consumers interact socially with companies to receive discounts and make purchases.
Companies who can offer a weekly discount or add perceived value to the social connection can retain customers and clients in social media connections. But companies who want to place a social media presence with no activity will soon find themselves “unfollowed” and leave their customers with a negative experience.
So when considering social media, make a 6 month plan and be sure to publish items of value for your clients on a regular basis. Not sure what items they really want? Take a poll, social media users are used to expressing their opinions. Just be ready to deliver that in a timely manner.