By: Amber Bullis
I have some good news. We talk a lot on our blog about ways marketing can make your business grow and achieve results (after all, it’s what we know and do).
This time, though, I’m going to give your marketing team a break. Kinda. I’m here to tell you three internal departments that should be involved in monitoring your social media. Of course, marketing is one, but there are two other departments that need to get involved. You’re not alone on this one.
First, let’s quick talk about why social media monitoring is important.
Sometimes we forget that all those little profile avatars whizzing through our social media newsfeeds are actually humans, and potential customers. It’s easy to forget that social media is meant to be just that— social. The reason why monitoring is so important is because it puts the “social” back in social media. Publishing on social media without listening means you’re just screaming through a megaphone without consideration for others. You have to be sensitive to what people actually want (or don’t want!) from you, or else you might head in a direction that your target audience actually doesn’t enjoy.
According to charts published on Search Engine Watch, 70% of surveyed Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to on Twitter. And of those users, 53% want that response in less than an hour. In fact, the percentage of people who expect a response within the hour increases to 72% when they’re issuing a complaint. Pleading ignorance because you’re not on your social media accounts regularly simply won’t work anymore.
The bottom line is that monitoring matters, and it matters for more than just social media managers.
1.) Marketing
There’s a reason why marketing teams have historically owned a company’s social media accounts. This team needs to think about that company’s overall image. The tone, colors, fonts, and relationships might be pre-determined with the help of PR professionals, branding experts, designers, and writers on your marketing team. Beyond image, the marketing team needs to think about increasing website visits and generating more leads and customers on a daily basis. Bringing in a new audience on social media each month helps companies build the top of the sales funnel and hit key numbers throughout the entire funnel.
However, social media doesn’t just belong to marketing anymore.
2.) Sales
According to research from Social Centered Selling, 72.6% of salespeople who incorporated social media into their process outperformed their colleagues. In addition, socially savvy reps beat their quotas 23% more often. We call this “social selling.” Social selling is the process of researching, connecting, and interacting with prospects and customers in meaningful ways on social media networks—we’ve found that Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are particularly popular for education, but others certainly fit the bill. Instead of a hard closing tactic, social selling more closely resembles lead-nurturing. Therefore, social selling isn’t for reps seeking quick wins or a silver bullet. Salespeople have to be willing to put in the time and effort to engage with their target buyers on an ongoing basis, and even then, as is the case with any sales tactic, there’s no guarantee that their efforts will pay off.
3.) Company and Industry Thought Leaders
The days when the founders, CEOs, and leaders of edtech companies could hide behind the boardroom doors are gone. There is a growing expectation in education that leaders of companies should be active participants in the conversations happening in education. In fact, a new study released by BRANDfog suggests that social CEOs can strengthen brands, build trust in products and services, demonstrate brand values, and communicate accountability—all by simply being on a social network. Top social CEOs not only use social media as yet another platform for communication, but also leverage social networks like Twitter as an unfiltered news source. Being able to see and hear the conversation happening in real time is invaluable.
Getting these three departments on board to monitor your social media will craft stronger, more relevant marketing campaigns, close more deals, improve your products or services, and foster happier customers.
This is just the tip of the social media monitoring iceberg. Luckily, we’ve put everything we know in an ebook: Social Media Monitoring in Education: From Cluttered to Effective in 10-minutes a Day. It’s yours for free. Happy monitoring!
Thanks for sharing!
