WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM DIGITAL MEDIA?
What is your goal? Do you want more sales on your website? If so, your social media should point people there. Do you want more covers at your restaurant? Yes? You should be paying for advertising on Yelp. Do you want more interaction with people? Ask questions. Do you want to create a stronger brand or product loyalty? Make your users the star. Do you want a job or a date? Create a compelling profile.
It’s not rocket science—it’s a social science, and as with every science, you have to research and experiment, make adjustments and do it again.
Beginning with your end goal in mind is the key to being successful in business and in your digital media representation. You will be ahead of your competitors quickly if you know what you want before you begin posting to your Facebook page, Tweeting, publishing on your blog or sharing on Instagram.
At Korst & Company, we have a protocol:
Do lots of audience research on your customers and their friends. Who are they? Where are they online? Facebook? Instagram? Pinterest? Are they searching for you? Do they share it with their friends?
Get your web design right. We mean to make it pretty, usable and search engine friendly.
Create compelling content that addresses their needs, solves their problems or inspires them while telling your story. Experiment with different types of content.
Pay to promote your company/cause/product. Paid advertising on social works to increase your reach and helps new customers find you.
Collect and study your analytics. Website analytics (through a service like Google Analytics) and social analytics (through each social media channel, like Facebook Insights or a service like Korst.co). This will tell you what works and what doesn’t, and how to adjust your content to your demographic.
Rinse and repeat. But do so with your end goal always in mind.
At Korst.co, analytics are used every day to drive digital media accounts to goal attainment. We dive in deep to discover the reasons behind the numbers. It’s nice that you gain followers, but why are they following you? What prompted them to click the like button? Why did they share that post? To whom should you give a shout-out? What time of day should you post your content? Who is the ringleader in this circle of Facebook friends? Do you have an undiscovered audience? Is your website SEO correct or are you missing something? Are there alliances to be created? Where are your weaknesses?
We answer questions like these and more – all from reading and studying web and social analytics and keeping our client’s business goal front and center in our minds.
Goals are important. Sometimes you have to think hard about exactly what you want, but once you know, go for it! If you are not striving to meet those goals every day, in real life or in the digital realm with every post, blog or share, then you are just shouting at the rain, and that’s not very scientific.