Consumers engage with tech in multiple ways on a daily basis — and they tend to have high expectations from the companies that deliver these services. Unfortunately, too many tech companies are failing to fulfill customer expectations. Whereas the products themselves are often excellent, tech companies are falling behind on social aspects. The good news is that tech companies can meet their users’ requirements, simply by bearing in mind five key social takeaways.
1. Social Improves Operations
When tech companies use social the right way, they can see benefits to their entire operation. By reaching customers where they already are, you’re able to immediately provide users with the support they are seeking. In addition, social gives you the opportunity to collect data about users for marketing and lead nurturing efforts, set up chatbots to communicate with customers, and provide live customer service from a human for more complex requests.
2. Your Target Audience Wants Original Content
The internet may already be overwhelmed by content, but your audience still wants more. Specifically, users want to see what you have to say. Through your original content, you can guide purchase decisions, shape opinions about your brand, and keep users informed about what’s new at your company or your niche of the tech industry.
Most of the tech companies that are doing well with social media have realized the power of videos. Not only are videos ideal for presenting your products or showing users how to make the most of your service, they’re great for telling stories, providing social proof, informing, and entertaining. In fact, you can deliver a wide variety of different types of messages through video.
Nonetheless, there are certain circumstances when videos are less suitable. Sometimes, it’s more appropriate to use a text post, infographic, or image. To see success, you’ll need to become an expert in what your audience wants in various situations. This will allow you to keep users engaged.
Whatever the type of content, posting on social media is different from creating content for your website: it means finding ways to involve your audience. You could simply ask a question; however, if you want to gain even more engagement, it makes sense to involve your audience directly. For example, you could run a contest where you ask users to submit their own original pieces of content showing the results your product has given them. This improves visibility by generating attention for your business and shows users who are unfamiliar with your brand that others want to engage with you.
3. You Can Create a Community with Social
Content is just the start of how users can engage with your business on social media. With the right strategy, you can create an entire community around your brand.
The first thing to do to see success with this tactic is to choose the right platforms. This means considering both your audience’s demographics and what different platforms can offer you. For instance, you may be able to reach a broad audience on Facebook, but B2B users may prefer to create a group on LinkedIn. If you want to have in-depth conversations with users, Discord could be a better option. You’ll likely want to present on a few platforms, but don’t spread yourself too thin — which leads us to the next point.
You’ll need to be active on social media to create a thriving community. If your solutions are expensive, customers may have many questions before they’re ready to commit to a purchase. If your solution is complex, a community could develop where users give each other advice and share best practices. In either case, this is a great opportunity for you to become involved in the conversation. When a representative from the tech company itself is giving feedback, users have more confidence — after all, you’re the expert.
4. There Is Little Distinction Between the Digital and Physical World
The merging of the physical and digital worlds is occurring in a variety of interactions businesses have with their customers — and this includes social. For instance, adding a social media element to live events can improve interactions with users by creating a more personalized feel. It can also help your business stand out (which is especially important if you’re in a crowded marketplace) and demonstrate that your business is tech savvy in more ways than one. Finally, it’s a great way to stay in contact with new users that you meet at the event to generate leads.
5. AI Is the Future — But Users Need to Trust the Bots
A large amount of automation takes place behind the scenes. When users are aware that you’re using AI, they need to be able to trust that the information they’re receiving is accurate, that AI can effectively solve their problems, and that data usage is transparent.
In terms of social, the biggest use of AI is chatbots. These need to be tailored to your brand and customers. Plus, they must support (rather than frustrate) users. To achieve this, you’ll need to monitor your chatbot interactions and assure users that you are only collecting necessary data — such as to improve future experiences.
As a tech company, many of these social takeaways likely fall outside of your team’s expertise. To ensure you are able to provide an optimal user experience, contract a virtual assistant for IT companies. The virtual assistants from MYVA360 can provide you with support for your social strategy, plus much more. Schedule a consultation to receive a 10-percent discount on our services.
