Everyone believes that building a social media following is the path to success. Every company is running the strategy of developing a social media network, whether it’s on LinkedIn or YouTube, getting that count ticker to increase is a competitive field. However, even if it’s beneficial, it’s something people get lost in. They forget that the best “social networks” are those where you actually have an edge, reach, and influence. The greater your influence, the stronger your defense.
The Red Ocean of Social Media
Red oceans are saturated markets. Not to be offensive, but if you’re looking to buy one of those pre-built Shopify stores to drop ship from, you’re investing into a red ocean… Social media audience building is very similar – it’s challenging as everyone is pushing to capture the same exact audience. It’s key to have a following on social media, but don’t get lost in trying to do so. Instead, your business can try to consider the network hierarchy and then allocate resources to them. Here are some of them listed from least impactful to the most.
- Viewers: They see and they consume your content. They’re passive members of your network that do nothing but look and like – sporadically…
- Subscribers: While they take it a step further by subscribing to follow you because they want more of your content, it doesn’t mean they’re there to stay.
- Fans: Now this is where the fun begins. Think of your fans as the most engaged subscribers. They’re usually the first to watch, listen to, or read anything you put out. Their enthusiasm alone can drive organic growth and spread the word.
- Partners: Partners will help promote, connect, and push your brand to more fans and potential customers. While they aren’t necessarily the same as subscribers or fans, building partnerships is still important as it’ll boost your reach and credibility. Think of them as just another audience you’ll be getting out to.
- Customers: Money, money, and more money. The ultimate goal is to turn viewers, subscribers, fans, and partners into customers. This is the most important aspect of your network because they’ve already paid up. They trust your brand enough to put their hard earned money into your products, services, or offers making them the best.
The Power of Lifecycle and Customer Marketing
With your newly given notes above, it becomes clear why lifecycle and customer marketing channels are becoming increasingly important. More than just spamming the social media feeds. It’s impressive to have a massive following. Some people have as many followers as some countries have citizens, however, they don’t nurture the relationships with each follower to make it count and turn them into loyal customers.
Lifecycle Marketing: What is lifecycle marketing? Well, it’s the process of understanding and managing different stages of the customer’s journey with your brand. It focuses on engaging customers at the top, middle, and bottom of their journey (or the left and right since the buyer journey isn’t always a straight sales funnel) ensuring they get the right message at the right time.
Customer Marketing: On the flip side of the coin, customer marketing is all about engaging those that are already existing customers. Upselling would be the most common phrase here as well as cross-selling and pushing for repeat purchases. This process also involves turning those customers into advocates who can help bring in new business through word-of-mouth referrals.
Takeaways
Woohoo, you’ve made the end of yet another Be Uniic rant. Just kidding! While building a social media following that is massive is a worthwhile push, we all have to remember that the most valuable network isn’t in the numbers, but it’s in the fact that we’ve made an audience with influence. By focusing on lifestyle and customer marketing, and leveraging partnerships, companies can build a sustainable growth engine of network building.
