Social media marketing is a
game of give and take. As a marketer, it might feel like you’re
constantly giving – great blog content, witty tweets, alerts to breaking
news, special offers, promotions. Indeed, you may even think from time
to time that you are giving your very soul to your keen and hungry
followers on social media.
But, those followers do give back, of
course. They give back every time they click on one of your links, read
your blog, like your Facebook post, or retweet one of your articles. And
this is where the rewarding part of your job comes in – especially when
some of those followers actually go one step further and leave a
comment or even a question after a piece of content that you have
lovingly provided for them.
Yes, when you start to garner some real, meaningful engagement
with your following, then that’s when you really start to take
something away. It might only be that warm, fuzzy feeling inside your
tummy as you realise that what you have just created has been useful for
somebody out there – but, at the end of the day, that’s exactly what
you’re doing this job for.
Special Rewards For Special Followers
You may like this fuzzy feeling. You may really like it in fact (I know I do), and, as such, you might want to try and create it again for yourself. If
your followers are appreciative, engaged and vocally grateful to you
for posting up a blog three times a week, just think how happy you could
make them if you gave your most loyal ones an actual, personalized
reward for their dedication to your ongoing efforts.
Some of your followers, you will no
doubt have noticed, will be far more frequently engaged in your output
than others. Indeed, you might very well have one or two that could be
truly described as ‘brand ambassadors’ out there. These people will in
fact be doing a lot of your work for you – by which I mean that they
will be singing the praises of your products and/or your brand across
all of their social networks.
The truth of the matter is you’re being paid to market your company’s products, but your brand ambassador’s aren’t.
Your followers expect any content that is produced under your company’s
name to be naturally praising and proud of what you’re offering. But,
your brand ambassadors and other followers don’t actually get anything
out of it, and therefore, when all is said and done, these people are trusted more than you are by
the rest of your following, simply because they have complete
disinterest when harking happily about you. There’s nothing in it for
them. They are not invested in you or your products, and so people trust that they’re telling the truth.
3 Great Ways To Reward Your Social Followers
If you’re lucky enough you’ve worked
hard enough to create an engaged and thriving community of social
followers and perhaps even have a brand ambassador or 2, then you will
probably be finding your job much more rewarding than you thought was
possible.
As such, you will want to reward your followers in return, and here are 3 great ways that you can do that.
1. Exclusive Discounts and Coupons
Saying thank you on a tweet is one
thing. Sending a personalised email is another. But, even greater than
that (perhaps unsurprisingly) is the power of money. Giving your social
followers exclusive discounts and coupons when they buy your products is
a great way to generate follower interest – and will bring them coming
back for more and more again and again. The perfect way to reward your
following, and keep those sales and conversions nice and high as well.
2. Help them Give Something Back
Another great move that some companies
make is by helping their followers give something back. People like
giving to charity, but they don’t always have the time or the
organisation to set up something big themselves. So do it for them, and
they can watch the overall figure grow and grow and grow and feel like
they are a part of that.
Another way to do this would be to do something like nononsense.com did a few years ago. No Nonsense are a company that produce hosiery and legwear, and they started a campaign called “Socks for America”,
where the aim was to donate a million pairs of socks to needy children
across the country. Every time someone became a fan of No Nonsense’s
Facebook page, a pair of socks was donated in that person’s name to
someone in need.
3. Invite Your Followers To A Special Event
If you can give a group of your
followers first, exclusive access to something – the launch of a new
product, say – then this will be a great way to generate a buzz on
social media about the event or the launch, as well as making your
followers feel special. Furthermore, it will give them a chance to meet
you in person, and this is invaluable for humanising your business, and
furthering their engagement with you on social media in the future.
How do you reward your loyal
followers on social? Do you perhaps host content creation competitions,
or involve your followers in your advertising and promotion efforts?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Source: http://blog.getresponse.com/3-great-ways-to-reward-your-social-followers.html
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