How to Organize and Segment Your Existing Social Media Audience

This blogpost is extracted by Charing Kam from our new eBook, How To Segment And Nurture Your Social Media Followers.

Now that you’ve built your following and you’ve created your social database by targeting social influencers, what do you do with these contacts? Why, segment, of course! 84% of B2B marketers use segment marketing in their email campaigns. However, 37% of these marketers say a lack of user data is a major obstacle to effective segment targeting.

That’s where the value of a unified marketing database comes into play. Use that data to segment your messaging effectively, and to the right people — those who are already interacting with you and/or represent your persona.

Segment Social Contacts Based On Activity

Wouldn’t it be great to make your email communication to active social media users and evangelists different from a typical message to your audience? You can go through your email contacts and spend hours referencing all social media accounts to see which email contacts are also interacting with your brand. Or you could just use marketing software (like HubSpot) that enables you to create a dynamic list of leads who have engaged with you on social media recently. In this way, you’re messaging specific people who have interacted with your brand and are more receptive to you.

Of course, segmentation doesn’t stop here. There are other options to target the right people from your contacts database based on their social media activity. Let’s look at some examples of what that might look like in practice.

1) Take Advantage Of Users With Big Networks

If you have a large announcement approaching, try sending an email before the launch to a select group of social influencers. You can set-up an email that will be sent to Twitter users with a follower account above a certain number. Acknowledge the fact that you’re reaching out to these users because of their large networks and that you’re looking for their help to spread a message. You’ll make the person feel empowered. And by including social sharing links, you’ll start generating buzz around your new announcement with people who can actually help spread the word!

2) Share Offers That Can Be Redeemed On That Network

If you’re hosting a Twitter chat or contest or any form of an event on Twitter, reach out to the folks who are already clicking on your tweets and give them the exclusive heads up about the chat or contest. Twitterers might feel left out when they see that their favorite brand just gave away some cool swag on Twitter, yet they didn’t know about it. Set up an email to be sent to users who have clicked on your tweets more than a certain number times (say, three times), and let them know you appreciate the fact that they engage with you on Twitter and wanted to reward them with a heads up on your upcoming contest or chat.

3) Request Feedback On Your Social Strategy

The great thing about social media is that it has opened up a tremendous feedback mechanism and you now have the opportunity to take advantage of it. Want to collect thoughts about your marketing content? Great. Ask the people who consume it. If you noticed that someone recently clicked on one of your social posts, you should be able to dive into the details of what content they saw. What did they think of it? Did they notice any opportunity for improvement? It’ll make them realize that you’re a real person and not just a social brand. They’ll feel appreciated and respected when they get the chance to provide you with feedback — and they might have some awesome suggestions!

This is an excerpt from our latest e-book, How To Segment And Nurture Your Social Media Followers.

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