Contrary to popular belief, social media is not solely for young people or in fact ordinary people going about their business.

Social media has become an invaluable channel for companies to communicate with their customers and is a vital part of a business communication strategy.
Whether it is you or your employee updating the company’s social channels it is important to recognise how to develop a successful social strategy that will keep your customers engaged and encourage them to stick with you.

With competition heating up between the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram its hard deciding what area to focus on – but once you understand and get involved with your audience, they will tell you exactly where you need to go and what they want see.

As a junior account executive, social media has become second nature to me. Understanding the big six – Who, What, Where, When, Why, How – has helped our team, here at MK, develop social media plan to suit our clients in terms of achieving results and driving consumer activity.

So what do you need to do? It’s simple really:
1. Listen – identify and listen to conversations related to your organisation.
2. Understand – who your audience is, what are their social media platforms of choice, what tools are best to communicate with them
3. Plan – make sure your strategy reflects your business objectives and effectively plan your communication to suit your audience
4. Engage in conversation – create a strong dialogue with stakeholders and key influencers to build your brand online
5. Ensure your brand is consistent – keep your tone of voice consistent to help your audience engage with you
6. Outline content approval process from the start – ensure you and your client know what the approval procedures are. For example, proactive content must be approved but reactive content does not need approval
7. Correct errors openly and in a timely manner – admit to errors and openly put them right! In terms or crisis, deal with it as soon as possible

Underestimating the value of social media and what it can do for your business is an opportunity not to be missed! It is a simple and effective tool to communicate your key messages with your desired audience – so if you haven’t already, get signed up, start exploring and remember – social media is not just for the young.