1. Cut down on direct marketing content:OK now, be truthful, how many of us are using the services of our social media communities and tweeting testimonials? How many of us remember to contribute in other ways? So many of us post a constant stream of direct marketing messages, ‘we do this…we can offer that’, with little thought, and so, little hope of success. Contributions to the community are essential, unless we want to look like we’re only out for ourselves. Of course, our ultimate aim is to obtain more business leads. We all need to make money. However, the trust and credibility required to create these leads comes from building relationships. Once people trust we know what we’re talking about, trying out our services and recommending us to others, won’t be things we need to request!
2. Contribute content people will want to read:
The occasional direct marketing message is fine of course, but it shouldn’t dominate our social media presence. We need to engage with our communities. Send out articles, tips, information our communities will want to read. Our communities may be similar businesses, potential clients, suppliers, people we’ve met at networking events, friends or family, but above all they should be relevant to our business. So, follow a strategy to build a like-minded group of people, businesses, potential customers and potential suppliers. Send out quality content which links back to your website or Facebook page etc. Contribute interesting, useful or even just amusing articles from other people, related to what you’re doing. Be generous; retweet other people’s content and perhaps one day they’ll return the favour. Don’t worry so much about your competition, just do it better than them and you’ll be fine. That’s what competition means!
3. Engage with the community:
So come on, let’s get the ball rolling; ask the community questions, get a conversation going. It’s a fantastic resource and so many people are not using it to its full potential. Next time you need a printer, plumber or website designer, for example, search your social media communities, see who’s out there and if anyone’s speaking about them, or if they’ve had any good feedback. If you have a good experience after using a service, consider sending out a testimonial to add to the community, so others can find it when they’re looking for similar services.
If we all do this, within a few months we’ll have thriving communities, offering a wealth of useful information whilst increasing our business leads at the same time. So, who’s with me? Let’s get this party started!
