Page 325 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Asking customers to give you

feedback on your content

Customers feel they own a bit of your company when they’re loyal to your prod-
ucts. These fans are typically called ambassadors because they will likely tell their
friends and family about how much they enjoy your product. They become like an
external sales team. They want to have the inside scoop on your company, prod-
ucts, and advertising campaigns, too. The behind-the-scenes assets fuel their
interest in the company. Make sure that your TV, print, and digital advertisements
are available for your fans to view on your website. Allow them to critique the
campaign assets and provide feedback. It serves to build trust, enthusiasm, and
ownership among them. Be prepared to accept both positive and negative com-
ments. While you can’t control the conversation, you can and should help shape it.

Rethinking Your Website

Practicing SMM philosophies on your website isn’t only about approaching cam-
paigns differently and tying them into your website more strategically. You should
rethink your whole website experience to enable more direct social influence to
take place. Redesigning your website with social influence elements can increase
sales and deepen relationships with your core customers. In the following sections,
we give you some recommendations on how to enhance engagement on your
website.

User experience

User experience (UX) has become a competitive advantage. Consumers can shop
around to find the lowest price for most goods. Therefore, differentiation has to be
derived from something other than price. Marketers realize that a great experi-
ence brings people to their site and keeps them there.

Simple design

When companies created their first websites, the tools were not very advanced. It
took a long time and a dedicated team to make things happen. Now, you can easily
plan a website and execute quickly. The focus should be on navigation and the
right content. Everything has to be easy and the design needs to be simple. No one
will wait for websites to load. They also won’t be willing to search around looking
for something. The competition is such that the same answer can probably be
found on your competitor’s website.

CHAPTER 21 Practicing SMM on Your Website 309