3 Ways Companies are Getting Customers Involved in Their Social Media Efforts

Social media success demands engagement, and when a company creates its social media marketing campaign, it’s important to get customers involved. A lot of campaigns forget the importance of customer involvement in social media.

Now, more than ever before, people want to have a voice on social media.

Take a look at Instagram, and you’ll see a lot of people promoting their favorite brands for free. Lebron James is a good example. Sure, he’s not a “business,” but he is definitely a brand. Look at this Instagram post from King James. He’s promoting his new sneakers, but he’s also promoting Oreos. Whether or not this is paid, I don’t know, but with over 848,000 likes, you can be sure Oreos got a boost from the post.

Companies that can get their customers involved in their social media efforts will find success. A few ways that companies are trying to get customers involved include:

1. Creating Their Own Hashtag

Create a trend by creating your own hashtag. You can create a hashtag at any time, and it is a great way for companies to promote themselves on Twitter and Instagram especially. Let’s assume that you’re a potential customer of Old Navy, and you want to see what a shirt looks like on other people.

Well, head over to Instagram and search for “#oldnavy.” There are over 100,000 people that have used the hashtag and show off some of the company’s products. You can create your own hashtag and even ask your customers to use the hashtag in their posts. This alone will help build exposure and can lead to higher sales.

2. Promote Customer Stories on Social Media

People love to be the center of attention, and this can be used to help boost your social media efforts. Murseworld has chosen to share their customer’s stories on social media, and this includes posts on the company’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Ethan Spiewakowski, a nurse, has his picture attached to a post that allows the viewer to click for Ethan’s full story.

He shares his story as a male nurse, and the story helps give Ethan a voice, promotes real users using the company’s men’s scrubs, and also is sure to have Ethan elated, sharing his story with friends, family and co-workers.

3. Actively Search Out and Engage with Customers

If you wore your new Nike shoes, and Nike decided to repost your post or comment on your post, chances are you would be elated. A brand that you like has acknowledged you, and they have helped you build some of your own credibility.

Brands can do this by choosing to search out and engage with customers.

This may mean searching through hashtags or responding to a post from a customer wearing or using your product.

When you start to acknowledge your customers, they will start sharing more of your content and products with their friends. Everyone likes to be acknowledged, and this can be mentioning the customer’s comments on your account or responding to a question or problem that they had.