3 Tips For Developing A Corporate Social Media Strategy That Is Worth Every Cent

July 15, 2014 - 4 minutes read - Social Media, Social Media Marketing

Fortune 500 companies have been surprisingly eager to make use of social media networks, according to a 2014 report by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. They found that 79% of big brands were on Twitter, 80% on Facebook, and 45% on YouTube. Over a third of corporations added a Google+ account and corporate blog, and 7% adopted pages on Pinterest, Instagram and Foursquare. Yet, as any successful brand knows, it’s not enough to simply create a presence. One has to regularly update and maintain these accounts and have a strategic focus moving forward. Mod Girl Marketing helps large corporations discover an effective online marketing strategy that aligns all social networks, blogs and online ads with one cohesive strategy.

Here are three tips to get you thinking about re-tooling your corporate social media plan:

Image Source: MarketingProfs 

1. Target your markets.

Corporations used to create one company Twitter account or one dedicated Facebook page to talk to all their customers. Yet, that strategy didn’t last long. You can’t expect to be everything to everyone. Instead, you want to focus on several specific niches within your business and build follower lists for them. Burger King launched their 2008 “Whopper Virgins” campaign with dedicated social network pages. Wal-Mart uses different Twitter handles, such as @WalmartHealthy, @WalmartGiving and @WalmartAction to reach out to specific audiences. Dell has 44 separate accounts to cover different departments. According to Brand Watch, the number of corporations running multiple Twitter accounts has increased from 7% to 63% in the last few years alone.

2. Put your dollars where they count.

As Forbes so astutely put it: “Audiences are simply not paying attention to banner social media advertising. And these ads are not having direct impact on sales.” Viewers are de-sensitized and turned off by ads, the magazine states, and click-through rates are a pitiful 0.01%. Furthermore, 4 out of 5 Facebook users say they have never made a purchase based on a Facebook ad. Instead, corporations must focus on investing in good storytellers who can weave a narrative that sells. Videos should be cinematic in nature because that’s what audiences expect. Make use of analytical social media tools like Raven Tools to determine what is or isn’t working in your current social media strategy.

3. Tap agency expertise.

How does a major corporation create a gut-busting, memorable, and often viral Superbowl ad? According to Mashable, these strokes of genius do not occur by chance, nor do they happen overnight. Fiat, Ford, and Coke Zero all relied on outside experts to pitch a pool of creative ideas and then picked the best one. Not only can an agency help you come up with fresh ideas that captivate audiences, but agencies can also offer additional services you may not have time for — such as real-time data monitoring, so you can tweak your campaigns at the last minute to make them more profitable.

For 26 more corporate social media tips, check out this great post by Social Media Examiner. 

For help with your corporate social media strategy or accounts, contact Mod Girl Marketing. We offer everything from consulting sessions, to outsourced content creation, to fully automated social media management.

Tags: corporate social media, corporate social media strategy, corporate social networking, Facebook, social media for corporations, social media strategy, Twitter