So many businesses don’t see the success they expect with social media because they think of it purely as a broadcast tool. When talking to businesses about the training they’d like to do with me on social media, many focus on saying the right things, getting opportunities through what they are posting and building PR and brand awareness through their updates.
But, achieving aims through social media is much more likely if you think of the platforms more as engagement tools. This means, rather than just posting your own updates, you are responding to the updates of others and building conversation.
Why is this important?
- The people you want to pay attention to your updates are probably following tens, hundreds or thousands of other users! Getting your updates to stand out can be difficult. So, they are far more likely to notice you if you have a 1:1 conversation with them!
- Broadcasting can often just be business broadcasts and sales messages. There is little to incite action! You can build a sales conversation much easier through 1:1 interaction!
- The law of reciprocity – if you help and guide others, you will receive them same back! So, give advice where asked or point people in the right direction!
- People are more likely to follow you back if they look through your profile and see that you interact regularly on social media rather than just posting your own updates.
- We are far more likely to make a sale with someone we’ve had a conversation with. So, have more conversations with your potential customers!
- You build trust through conversation. Updates alone will not build enough trust to encourage people to do business with you.
- Your personality is much more likely to come through in conversation than updates. People will get to know you and your business, again making them more likely to want to do business with you.
- You can find out a lot about your target market in the conversations you have with them. So, have more conversations!
- Having conversations regularly with the same people will make it much easier to take the next step, such as a face-to-face meeting.
- It shows you care! We’d all much rather buy from brands that care, than those focused on nothing more than profit!
So, get interacting today! Yes, those updates you are posting are important. But, it’s far more important for you to pay attention to the updates of those that matter to your business!
