Today, just about every brand has a social media presence, usually Facebook& Twitter. Most are boring, bland and self-fulfilling and built with advertising in mind. You have to ask yourself why would anyone want to subscribe, follow or have that feed coming up on their screen on a daily basis? It’s more important than ever to be interesting, entertaining, and most importantly real. Society has become pretty good at sniffing out fake personas and company images; we tend to shun these and reward the authentic. Here are some ways to kick start that
Be Transparent
Transparency is VERY sexy for brands. People want to talk to & listen to REAL people behind real brands – Not Big Bad Corporate Logos. Social Mediatransparency can mean a lot of different things to many different people. But to my social media firm & myself it means letting your personality shine, engaging with people, being cute or funny, and sometimes putting it out there. People love fun, exciting and real and are far more likely to tune in and even engage with you if you are. If you like something as a brand or as a whole and it’s not political or really controversial then put it out there. If someone tweets your brand something funny, don’t be afraid to retweet it or share it. People also appreciate humility, admitting mistakes or saying you can do something better goes a long way towards being authentic as well. Always remember you’re real people behind the company & username and people will appreciate that.
Engage, Engage, Engage
There is nothing more important than letting your audience know you’re listening. How do you do that, by engaging with them! There isn’t a bigger turn off for me right now than shooting a tweet or a Facebook post over to a brand and getting zero response. It essentially says hey we don’t care. Yet on the other hand when it elicits a response it makes you feel warm and fuzzy about that brand. A simple thank you, or an answer about a product or service can go a really long way. Providing customer service via social media is a must today but that’s a whole other post which I’ll get around to at some point J. Bottom line you Must engage with people if you want to build a fan base and brand champions.
Get to know your audience
So you have Friends, Likes or Followers but what does it all really mean if you’re disconnected from them? No matter who you are a Celeb, Joe Schmo, or a Fortune 500, take some time to get to know your audience. Ask them what they think about topics, or decisions you’re going to make. Show them their opinion matters. Provide feedback and replies to their engagement with you, show them you’re listening. Lastly pick a few each day or week to actually get to know. Find out where they live, what they do for a living, and how they’re doing. It’s an amazing way to create brand champions and fans. They will genuinely appreciate you.
Be Interesting
As I’ve stated many times before Social Media is just that a form of media just like TV, Movies, Magazines, etc. If it’s not entertaining, informational or intriguing nobody is going to stay tuned in. You need to create and share quality content if you want people to follow you, engage with you which in turn grows your branding and exposure. If you’re an expert at something share tips, ideas and info on that topic in an interesting and fun way. If you’re funny then be funny, if you’re a brainiac stun us with fascinating concepts or info, challenge people. If you have a good grasp on things, then inspire & motivate people loves and appreciate that. Boils down to be interesting or they will not only change the channel but they’ll never talk about you either.
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Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain".
The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1
Written by Bruce MacDonald, a 30 year veteran of the Agri-food industry, in "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain", Bruce applies his background and expertise in Agri-foods and social media to the latest trends, tools and methodologies needed to craft a successful on-line campaign. While the book focuses on the Agri-food market specifically, I believe that many of the points Bruce makes are equally applicable to most other industries.
