Social Media Where Global Strangers Become Your Neighbor When building a social media presence for your company, relationships and trust are key.
By Sandi Krakowski Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One of the biggest mistakes small business owners (and major corporations) make on social media is forgetting how to have a relationship with people. When I consult with clients, the first thing they want to talk about is their ROI, their analytics, their cost per click on ads and more. While these are all very important key factors to a successful social-media marketing campaign, a core foundation is so often -- and I'll say too often -- being ignored.
What makes great direct-response copywriting work? Knowing what to say and who to say it to. If you have a great offer but pathetic copy, you lose. Have great copy but the wrong offer for an audience and you lose again. This is the same thing that holds true on social media. So how do we change where we are at to where we need to be with our marketing plans?
Think community.
Related: The Art and Science of Getting Content Shared on Social Media
Your Facebook and Twitter business pages need to be where millions of people gather to engage with you, have relationship with you and then, where they buy. Earning trust is a key factor here, not your cost per click.
Loving our customers and earning trust is something that the modern social-media-driven marketer must learn. When you're creating content, scheduling ads and rolling out your next campaign, if all you focus on is your product you're missing the boat.
Here's some proof for how this will work! We sent out 14.5 thousand messages through my Facebook and Social Media channels and more than 1.1 BILLION interactions occurred. Check it out: 3.3 million people talked BACK in some way or fashion. It's not a coincidence that this is also when we saw a 3,500% increase in our sales.
Related: 6 Reasons Social Media Is Your Secret Weapon in Customer Service
Think back to the old days when you went shopping at a local merchant and they not only knew all about you, they knew what you needed, when you needed it and made it their aim to provide it with excellent service. This is "loving our customers" and it's the business model of our generation.
What about the small business that is ahead of the customer, helping them, encouraging them, making their product and service not only affordable but usable? This is what we need to see in the social media realm.
Create your InstaGram campaigns! Create great content and take the time to roll out your product with great copy, photos and more. But when all is said and done if you forget relationship, talking back to people, asking questions, listening and tuning into your clients needs? Your competitors will race ahead of you! It's only a matter of time.
The one with the most hope and encouragement has the most influence. Add that to your next marketing campaign and you'll be amazed at the results!
