Forget What You’ve Heard… Social Media is About Building Relationships

Marissa Mele - February 24, 2014

It’s easy to get caught up in all the hoopla surrounding social media marketing. Things like monitoring the changes in Facebook’s EdgeRank or Pinterest’s ever-changing contest rules can be overwhelming. But social media isn’t about rules, trends or even posts. It’s about people.

As such, any social media marketing strategy that doesn’t put your customers first misses the point.

No matter what your business, it wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for your customers. This is why, when you’re creating marketing messages or deciding on a strategy, put yourself in your customers’ shoes – why should they follow and interact with you? What are you offering?

Too many organizations put their content, their ideas, and their agenda first. Instead, consider how you can start engaging with your audience in a more holistic way.

Start by introducing yourself and remember to leave out any sales pitches, instead just post content that connects with your audience. The next step is to engage with your followers. People love sharing their opinions, insights and information if they feel like the person on the receiving end actually cares about their answers. Show that you care by responding to their comments, and keep the conversation going by asking follow-up questions. Once they are comfortable with you, you can start to tell them about your business and even ask them for their advice.

Once your followers are familiar with you and your business, they will be much more open to reading and receiving your promotional materials since they are now your “friend.”

When you take a personal approach, you will see how easy social media can be. Just remember the K.I.S.S. acronym, Keep It Simple Stupid. Anytime you are writing a post on your company’s social profile, ask yourself, “would I like this?” When you respond to a customer complaint on Twitter, ask yourself, “what would I think about this reply, if I were the customer?” When you write your response to a client inquiry, ask yourself, “would I think the company cared about me if I read this?” Let your answers be your guide. If you don’t have a positive reaction to the post, then why should your customers? Put the human-side back in your business and I guarantee you are going to see more meaningful engagements on your social profiles and more money in your pocket.