9 Social media marketing techniques that your IT company is missing out on
Social media is one of, if not the, biggest platforms for marketing. However, IT companies can sometimes miss out on a few strategies that can help take them to the next level.
While likes and shares are important, they are not the be all and end all of a brand. Social media marketing requires certain skill sets and this article will describe some of the most effective strategies that your business may not be utilizing.
There is plenty to discuss, so here are 9 social media marketing techniques that your IT company is missing out on.
First and foremost, it’s important that your IT company has created a profile on the most relevant platforms. The aim of each profile is to reach your target audience.
Therefore, your IT social media marketing team must create a buyer persona before choosing the platform. Find out where they hang out online.
For example, it’s unlikely that you’ll be needing a Pinterest account to share pictures of your awesome software services.
Just because you’re an IT company doesn’t mean you can’t leverage your creative side. Customers love imagery, infographics, videos and podcasts rather than just regular blog posts and press releases.
As Digital Authority Partners quite rightly put it, the marketplace is as fierce as ever so this is a great method to set your IT business apart from the competition.
Sure it’s great to post valuable how-to guides but if that’s all your social profiles contain, you may fail to catch the eye.
While your IT business may be using content marketing, there will be some that are not using it to its full potential.
High-quality content must be linked to a social media posting schedule. Getting the content in front of an interested audience will attract the right customers at the right times. For example, if you’re targeting business in the US, social media posts must be sent during peak US browsing times – otherwise, no one will see it.
Plus, this strategy involves no paid advertising. All that’s needed is valuable content that can be shared through the various platforms.
Ensure that the posts contain relevant and searched-for hashtags so your target audience can find it easier.
If your IT business is creating great content, the efforts are going to waste if you’re not using the right social tools to measure its impact across each platform.
85% of B2B marketing uses social media analytics. If your IT business is not in this 85%, you are missing out on valuable insights.
Social tools will give your IT company insights into how your content performs and make it easier to repurpose it. For example, this works well in particular for old content that still gains traffic. Update it for current applications/standards/systems/etc and promote it.
You will also see what content your audience responds to the best through your social media efforts.
Chatbots are great because they can help to resolve a customer’s problem quickly and in real-time. They can also be integrated with social media platforms so visitors can feel comfortable using them. For example, there are plenty of chatbots that can integrate with Facebook Messenger.
They are also great at creating a personalized experience for your customers. If you are running any paid ads, consider swapping the link to your IT-focussed landing page with a link to the Messenger window with your chatbot.
This will help you to break traditional customer views that all you’re trying to do is sell and the customers you do bring over become loyal to the brand.
One of the best ways to promote your brand is by utilizing those that already love it. You can use both your existing customers and members of your own team to make this strategy work.
For existing customers, ask them to share their thoughts on a review site like TrustPilot and then share their words through your social channels.
For team members, they must know the goals of the campaign so set guidelines specific to your brand.
Cross-channel campaigns are excellent at boosting customer engagement. While this technique is common across a lot of industries, IT companies are still not using this social media marketing strategy.
To create an effective cross-channel campaign, you must create a compelling story about your brand. Share this with your followers and ensure that you couple it with a relevant hashtag to the industry.
Additionally, make sure any campaign you work on is properly set up to track the ROI for. In an age of data insights driving marketing campaigns, you have no excuse if don’t set up a proper analytics strategy for everything you do. According to ComboApp, for example, many executives are now turning to data-driven marketing to see the ROI for their efforts. Data-driven marketing is a methodology.
According to ComboApp, this is what you should know about data-driven marketing:
Data-driven marketing refers to the methodology of extracting actionable insights tied to consumer behavior from large data sets in order to predict consumer behavior in relation to new products, marketing positioning and users’ likelihood of interacting with a brand.
With the increase in popularity of Big Data, and the technological advancements that allow for massive amounts of information to be collected, organized and analyzed, data-driven marketing is emerging as the next generation strategy to effectively create personalized and relevant consumer experiences.
In the age of digital insights, it would be foolish not to leverage the power of data analytics to make sure your marketing campaign is working as expected and that you see a positive return on investment for your campaigns.
People share resources via a URL on social bookmarking websites rather than the content itself. As an IT company, you can use this technique to rank high for your product or service and generate a ton of organic traffic.
To make this work though, you need excellent content and require the bookmarking site to endorse your brand, which is likely cost money. However, if your brand becomes a hit with your audience, expect to see your viewing and selling numbers rise quickly.
Not many IT companies are using this social strategy, so go beyond the norm and make your brand stand out from the competition.
Finally, your IT company must have a budget set aside for social media marketing. It’s vital to the success of the entire campaign.
With all the above strategies in place, the budget can be leveraged to become the most cost-effective way to interact with your customers and drive more sales. Social media gives you the ability to connect on a more personal level with your customers.
These 9 social media marketing techniques will ensure your IT company does not miss out on any traffic, business and sales it shouldn’t. Stand out from the competition and leverage social media to grow and become a market leader. Conservely, you can also partner up with an agency who can help you sort your marketing plan for 2019. Check out this list of companies with a great track record at helping IT companies stand out of the crowd.