Social media enables direct contact and participation into the conversations had by your customers, prospects, influencers and more. Engaging in social can solidify relationships and establish a more direct connection with your brand.
There are many ways to engage in social media. In fact, we can name 100. Check out this not-so-short list of examples that can be applied to your social media strategy for engagement success.
Much like our 100 uses of social media monitoring list, we’ve divided this into 10 categories to help organize it by areas of interest.
Customer Service
1. Respond to customer questions 2. Respond to customer complaints 3. Share links to FAQs 4. Share customer success stories 5. Ask for customer testimonials 6. Share case studies with prospects 7. Respond to customer compliments 8. Respond to customer feedback 9. Ask questions to prospects 10. Crowdsource content from customers
Learn more about customer service
Content Sharing
11. Tweet links to your content 12. Share content with your Google+ circles 13. Create visual content to pin on Pinterest 14. Bookmark content and share it in your email signature 15. Link to others’ content in your blog posts 16. Create and share videos from events and conferences 17. Create events with Foursquare 18. Post behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram 19. Post company event pictures on Flickr 20. Share content that highlights industry trends
Learn more about content sharing
Thought Leadership
21. Lead a Google+ hangout 22. Engage in a Twitter chat 23. Share content from industry leaders 24. Like and follow other brands and people in your industry 25. Do a weekly podcast 26. Lead a webinar 27. Post your presentations on Slideshare 28. Guest post on notable industry blogs 29. Comment on industry leaders’ blog posts 30. Create and monitor a forum
Learn more about thought leadership
Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness
31. Create a Facebook poll 32. Offer discounts and promotions 33. Ask for feedback on campaigns 34. Request user generated content 35. Create a Foursquare campaign 36. Create a hashtag around your campaign 37. Use Facebook as your campaign landing page 38. Premiere your TV spots on YouTube 39. Let users vote for their favorite ads 40. Update your campaign based on user feedback
Learn more about advertising and marketing effectiveness
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
41. Include key phrases in your Tweets 42. Link to your blog from Facebook 43. Ask followers to link to your website 44. Use keywords on your LinkedIn company page 45. Include keywords in your blog post headlines and body 46. Tag and name your images 47. Categorize and tag your blog with key phrases 48. Share ebooks using key phrases 49. Upload videos to YouTube (2nd largest search engine) 50. Encourage sharing with the G+ button on your web pages
Crisis Communications
51. Develop a 3R plan: roles, responsibilities, and prepared responses 52. Tweet updates as they arise 53. Respond quickly to posts 54. Create a Facebook group around the issue 55. Build a command center 56. Use Twitter DMs for private conversations 57. Write about the story and publish on Slideshare 58. Create a video response 59. Interview customers after the fact 60. Share press releases on social channels
Learn more about crisis communications
Influencer Outreach
61. Introduce yourself to influencers on Twitter 62. Plan Tweetups at conferences 63. Interview them on your blog 64. Ask them for a guest blog post 65. Plan a webinar around them 66. Post their presentations to Slideshare 67. Create a video interview 68. Create a podcast interview 69. Create a badge for them 70. Link to their content
Learn more about influencer outreach
Product Development
71. Have social media influencers test your product 72. Survey customers on your site 73. Share a limited time offer 74. Announce products on your blog 75. Create a Facebook poll 76. Create a compelling Facebook app 77. Blog about product updates 78. Crowdsource ideas 79. Create a forum 80. Join an existing forum
Learn more about product development
Lead Generation
81. Link back to your landing page for conversion 82. Blog about helpful information 83. Promote a strong call to action 84. Use Help a Reporter Out to offer information 85. Answer all questions 86. Share peer referrals 87. Promote offers 88. Optimize site and blog for mobile viewers 89. Start a LinkedIn group 90. Create visuals for Pinterest
Learn more about lead generation
Competitive Intelligence
91. Look at competitors’ Facebook fan count 92. Look at their followers on Twitter 93. See if they have a Pinterest page 94. Try out their Facebook apps 95. Learn where they’re posting 96. Learn how often they’re posting 97. Read their blog 98. Know which of their posts are successful 99. Watch their YouTube videos 100. View their Slideshare presentations
Learn more about competitive intelligence
This doesn’t cover everything (believe it or not), and some categories didn’t make the cut so feel free to add more in the comments below. And thanks to Jeff Cohen for helping me with this extensive list.
