The great ‘social’ media.
For many of us we have added all our friends on Facebook, our business contacts on LinkedIn and keep followers regularly up to date with our actions, pictures and funny quotes on Twitter. But what’s the different for businesses and does it actually matter?
Believe it or not, having fans on your Facebook page, likes on your activity updates and retweets of your link is rather important and a good indicator as to the general feeling towards your brand. It is all fine and dandy having them, but how can you make sure they keep coming back? Did they just join your fan page by chance or are they loyal to your brand?
One of the ways to increase loyalty online is to give visitors reasons to come back. Engage with them, make them feel welcome and comfortable in the knowledge that if they leave a comment you will follow it up with a ‘thank you’ or engage into a dialogue with them. There is the famous phrase of, ‘It’s like talking to a brick wall’ and we all know that it’s unfair to expect that.
By building up an emotional connection with customers your brand/business will be differentiated from competitors.
They are called ‘social’ media platforms for a reason!
Allow the company to have a personality, a persona that ties in with the rest of the business and its main objectives. However do ensure that various members of the team are able to keep the sites updated and keep it integrated. Otherwise your loyal fans will notice the difference and might not be loyal anymore!
It is important to note that the ‘personality’ of the brand needs to be cohesive with the whole business and is better suited to certain sectors of business than others. For example Citigroup are unlikely to post an update on Twitter giving their opinion on the latest Katie Price/Jordan scandal, whereas a public relations company might.
Another top tip is to make sure that up to date information is posted when and where it is needed. Main websites should be easy to navigate and updated on a regular basis. There is nothing worse than sites where nothing changes for months or in some cases brands have had inappropriate and brand damaging pictures posted on the site by external spammers.
Customers want to see new content and pictures, something to come back and look for. In terms of navigation, there is no point in having to search through hundreds of subtitles and links to find something that should be on the front page, customers are likely to get bored and go elsewhere. One of the great advantages of online content is it is fast and easy – so make sure yours is.
Customers often find it easier to make repeat purchases so give them what they want and they are likely to stay loyal!
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Company Branding and Company Web Design.
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