Last month we discussed the importance of knowing what your competitors doing online and how this can help your business. This month we will tell you how this can help you to build your Social Media strategy but first things first: let’s answer if your business should be on Social Media?
Do you want any of the following benefits?
- Drive targeted traffic to your website and boost your SEO
- Connect with you customers and industry leaders – build a day-to-day relationship with your audience and get noticed
- Reach audience (and potential customers) you didn’t know even existed!
- Build a positive brand image and brand loyalty by reacting quickly to any negative feedback and responding quickly
- And most importantly: If your competition is getting social, you should too!
Social Media is part of modern business so if your company isn’t already active on social networking sites, now is the time to start.
When doing your online competitive analysis Social Media analysis should always be included.
Do not worry if you find out that your limited social media activities place is in your weaknesses. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be using all Social Media. You can use this to your advantage. Many businesses feel quite adrift in the sea of Social Media. They don’t know what accounts they should be setting up: should it be one or all Social Media?
First of all, you should be checking if your audience is there. Simple research on Twitter (or other type of Social Media) will answer this question and if your target audience (your customers and prospects) are present, then you should be there too!
Are your competitors on Social Media?
Always remember to include your competitors’ Social Media activities in your analysis:
- What Social Media platforms do they use? Which are their core platforms?
- How often do they post and what type of posts (personal posts vs. automated or retweets/ shares)
- Is their content tailored to each channel?
- What is their engagement with their audience – how fast do they respond to comments, questions etc.
When you answer these questions about your competition, remember that you should be doing the bare minimum on your core platforms (where your audience is) and analyse what content your audience responds to the most!
If you feel completely lost and need help building your Social Media strategy, here, at Momentum, we can help you do your online competitive analysis and plan your Social Media. Contact us for more information!