I hear it so many times, "We need to be doing social media!" Whether it's because your competitors are or because your marketing manager told you to, you've come to the realization that social media needs to be a part of your strategy. And while this is good, and I applaud you for embracing this need, you shouldn't be "doing" social media - you should "BE" social online.
You see, doing social media is simply using social media. It's using it as a tool. It's having active accounts, sharing posts, and tracking analytics. All great, important aspects of a social media strategy. But if you aren't being social, your strategy will fall flat on its face.
Being social means interacting with your audience.
Being social goes beyond using social media as a tool and using it as a means to connect with your customers.
No one wants to have a one sided conversation. We want dialogue and interaction with the other person. There has to be a give and take. So here are some ways that you can be social through your social media accounts.
Ask Questions
Ask your audience questions and find out what they're interested in. Find out what problems they have that you can help them resolve. You need to be actively reaching out to your fans and your customers to find ways to support them! Doing this shows your audience that you are invested in helping them.
Respond
Do not leave people hanging! If they ask you a question, answer it. If they reply to your question, address their response. If they share your content, thank them. In order to keep the conversation going, you need to be present.
Be Timely
Beyond just responding, you need to respond in a timely manner. Recent studies indicate that most consumers expect a response on social media within 30-60 minutes of their original post! Even though we can't always adhere to that timeline, it's important to be able to respond as quickly as possible.
Stay Current
Whether it's seasonal posts, trending topics, or current events, mixing up your scheduled posts with current and time-sensitive posts keeps you engaging socially with your audience in a relevant manner.
Entertain
Social media isn't marketing and sales all day everyday. In fact, this should be a minimal component of your content. People want to interact with others who are funny, smart, entertaining... so be that way online! Find fun anecdotes, cute images, trivia facts, and other means to entertain your audience.
These are all ways that you can increase your social presence and engage with your audience online. Just remember that your social media personality and presence is a direct reflection of your brand and offline presence. You wouldn't want to walk into a store and be ignored, so don't ignore the people that enter your online platforms.
So, I ask you to step back and look at your social media strategy and your social media accounts. Are you simply doing social, or are you actually being social?
Another good post, Jenn.
I’ve encountered companies who, for whatever reason, are scared to death of social media and the impacts it can have on their business. Some of these companies very begrudgingly have started to adopt social media practices, but aren’t really realizing the full value of social media as, to your point, are being more “one-sided” versus being “social”. Coupled with the fact that they don’t see the value, they’re not really putting a lot of effort into it, which is a wasted opportunity.
Thanks Jarrod! So happy you liked the post 🙂
And, yes, there are too many companies “doing” social media only because they feel they’re supposed to be doing it. But when not properly invested in and executed, it is a wasted opportunity. And, in fact, can even hurt the company’s reputation. And this is why we hear so many polls and studies where companies say social media doesn’t work.
Hi Jenn – another great posting with great tips to help us newbies learn what we should be doing in the Social Media realm instead of continuing to do what some of us are doing!
When I read this article, it made me wonder, therefore ask, about you and your business, specifically.
It it obvious to me from your writings that you are very knowledgeable in Social Media, and that you are available to help people make sense of their own SM approach. But, what does this mean insofar as your own business goals?
Are you interested in developing a client base that will enable you to provide SM consulting to them, or to help them develop their own SM strategy, or to help them implement and maintain a SM program, or are you a writer of content that you provide under contract to them, or a broker of the above services, or just what do you want to do?
I would like to help you achieve your business goals, since you are helping to educate me with your work.
How can I, and others of your followers, help you, Jenn?
Thanks Dave! You are so kind to ask, and to want to help 🙂
I write my blog because my main goal is to educate people. I sincerely and wholeheartedly believe in the power of social media for business marketing and I honestly want to see more businesses find success with this medium.
My business goals are to be a full time social media trainer. I would love to work with companies to help them develop social media strategies and properly execute them. I am an inherent “teacher” (or so I’ve been told many a time) so the idea of working with companies and teams to educate them on processes and strategies to effectively use social media marketing is my dream. So, yes, I am interested in developing clients where I can work as a consultant, essentially, to train them and help them implement what I preach.
You’re completely right, personal relationship with fans is extremely important to achieve any success on social media. People won’t participate or like your updates just because you’ve scheduled them to be posted three times a day, or so. It is important to connect with the fans and to start communicating with them, so that you can say “I’m being social”. Consequently, this will huge benefits on your business as social media is one of the best medium to promote a business online. Thank you Jenn for sharing your thoughts on this topic.
Thank you so much for comments! I’m so happy to hear that this is also your perspective on social media marketing. The more people that adopt this behavior, the more we’ll see success with social media marketing 🙂
Jenn,
I have no idea why people have so much difficulty simply talking! It’s a basic human skill. I do think that time constraints enter in. My big question: is it better to spend a bit more time on some deep meaningful socialization, even if you don’t hit maybe the number of comments you would like. Or is it better to keep those comments coming whether the insights you’re sharing happen to be meaningful and insightful or not? I’m wondering if you could leave your thoughts in the comment section on BizSugar, because I’d really like to get this conversation out there.
Hi Heather! Thanks for such a great question.
I would like to first ask this question: Would you rather have an exlusive audience of loyal, dedicated, repeat, and high-value-sales customers or would you rather have a ton of traffic through your doors but with small amounts in sales and mostly browsing your products? I realize this is slightly over simplified but it gets the to the point.
When it comes to social media, I believe you should be focusing on creating the loyal community. Where even if you only have a couple customers every day, they each spend more money, tell more people about your store, and want to be a part of your community.
Do you want to work really hard to get a ton of likes in hopes that they each give you one like and then you start over the next day trying to collect more fans and likes? Or do you want to work really hard at creating stimulating and engaging posts to develop a community? The reality is that we usually fall somewhere in the middle with a little of both. We have some fans who came once never to return again, and that’s ok. It’s the nature of social media. But if you nuture and grow your audience and fan base with respect, appreciation, and commitment, even those random likes may convert into high-quality, dedicated fans.
No matter how you run your strategy, I think it’s of paramount importance to have deep meaningful socialization. People want to genuinely feel a part of something and creating content that invites them in and welcomes them is a great way to do this. Engaging with them, answering questions, asking questions, providing help – these are all great ways to really connect with your audience. But sometimes people just want a funny meme on a Friday afternoon. It’s up to you to determine your audience and their needs and share your posts accordingly.
Being interactive online for me is key. Just spewing posts without responding to comments means nothing. I especially like your suggestion to be entertaining. While you still want your posts to complement the “tone” of your business, being “all business all the time” will probably not keep your audience interested. Mixing it up is the way to go!
Thanks Kim! You do a great job of being interactive and really “being” social online. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and the recommendation to be entertaining.
Jenn,
It is very hard to be social when you are on so many sites for so many clients. Please email me with suggestions. Thanks.
Ann
Hi Ann, I understand how difficult it can be to constantly engage with audiences when you are managing multiple pages for multiple clients. However, it can be done and I know many social media companies and professionals who do it successfully. My honest opinion is that if you can’t properly engage and “be” social on ALL of the pages for ALL of your clients, then you have taken on more than you should have. If your clients are paying you to do a job which you cannot fulfill, you need to reconsider your situation and the number of clients you have and how much you charge each client.
Absolutely LOVE this article. Will be posting across all of our platforms! There is a HUGE difference between doing social and being social. It’s the difference between talking AT someone in the same room or talking TO someone. To BE social, you need to upload your offline personality!
Thanks Jennifer. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post and appreciate you sharing it! You hit the nail on the head with the need to upload your offline personality. I love that 🙂
Jenn, Social media can be frustrating. It doesn’t come with a quide book, The rules are different for each social site. The market mix is different for most sites and it’s just so time consuming. Yeah I know, all the bad stuff.
I have had a shift in my thinking and it’s a direct result of all the marketing crap that get’s sent to me via my social networks. It’s all about them, follow someone on twitter they invite you to their website…really, that’s being social? I decided that if I want to become known, followed, visited, and shared I have to start doing that FIRST with others. I don’t ask for anything, I now realize that the best compliment I can give is to help others spread their message first.
Great post, I even shared it on my Scoop.it page, here the link; http://www.scoop.it/t/small-business-marketing-and-sales
Thanks for sharing it Steve! Social media can be hard and it can be frustrating. And that’s why I am always trying to find ways to help business owners better understand how to use it correctly and efficiently. Like you said, we have to change our thinking! It’s not “media”, it’s not “marketing”. It’s a conversation.
Would you ever walk into a networking party or event, shake a stranger’s hand and immediately tell them they should check out your latest product release page on your website. Hell no! (At least I hope not!) You would stop, talk a little about the weather, find out what they do for a living, what they wish they did for a living, etc. Then, after a bunch of conversation when you realize they would actually care about your latest product release, you might suggest they check out your website while giving them insight and background as to why it would benefit them. THIS IS BEING SOCIAL!
This is the opposite of the example you mentioned, that we see all too often, where the moment you follow someone on Twitter, they’re shoving their website or Facebook page down your throat.
Steve, I think you’ve got a great plan in not asking for anything and sharing and helping others first. This is what it means to be social. It might take a little longer to reach your goals, but the rewards are always worth it in the long run.