For those of you unaware of the acronym, SMAC stands for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud. In my last post, I discussed the importance of SMAC in marketing today and why I think it’s the foundation for business success in 2016. Although together the four areas integrated are a powerful force, alone each has its own significant role to play.
In the next couple of posts, I’ll discuss each area of SMAC and why they’re individually important to SMAC’s impact. Let’s take a look at Social first.
Why social?
You may be wondering why social was included in a list of just four areas that are important for marketing today. Social is one of the areas that most people think they have mastered and is easiest to execute on.
Social is more than just having a presence on Facebook and Twitter. It’s about fostering relationships, building engagement, increasing brand awareness and, essentially, increasing sales.
Social alone can be an extremely powerful tool to accomplish all of that. Let’s take a look at how businesses can utilize social media in ways that will ultimately contribute to the powerful integration of SMAC.
Identifying your target
Having a social media profile for your business is the first step of awareness. You want to be where your customers are, and I can assure you they are on at least one social media platform.
Determining who your audience is will be key in what social platform you use to share content. Define your target audience, and then choose the best networks with which to reach them.
Awareness
You can easily build brand awareness by utilizing social media, but it has to be done right. Just having a social media account does not grant you company awareness.
Make sure to post consistently, provide value and engage with your followers. This will help you extend your social reach and increase brand awareness.
Relationships/retention
Relationships can easily be fostered through social media. What’s so great about social media is how all interactions, for the most part, are public. That transparency in communications will lead to trust in your brand.
Build relationships with your current customers, communicate with them, and it may just be what keeps them coming back for more.
Customer service
Social media has provided almost unlimited ways for businesses to reach, interact and engage with customers. Gone are the days of calling a business or emailing for a prompt response.
The quickest, easiest and most efficient way is to reach out is via social, which many people have apps for on their phones. This can include a customer sending the company a message on Facebook or tagging consumers in a tweet.
Social opt-in
A priority of all marketing campaigns should be to gather data about your consumers. Every time someone “likes” something on Facebook or follows a Twitter account, data is being generated about that person that someone will find beneficial.
Next time you run a contest or offer a coupon, create an opt-in process to grant access. Have users log into one of their social media accounts in order to participate — I recommend Facebook.
Conclusion
I believe social media is the anchor that holds together SMAC. Use it to identify your target audience, hold a consistent presence across your accounts, and engage with your customers, and make social data a priority in your marketing. All of this will feed into the powerhouse that is SMAC.
Data is the fuel that powers your social media strategy. Having the tools to collect data and knowing what to do with that data are crucial to your business. Next month I’ll be discussing the role of analytics in SMAC and how it’s the driver that connects the marketing dots.
How do you use social media to contribute to your SMAC efforts?
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