Is your message heard, or part of the noise?
You don’t need cymbals clashing to get your message out there.
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Is it really ‘you’ people meet?
I was always advised to show you care, share what you know and learn from anyone else doing the same. Whether online or offline, over millions of years the human species has developed how to engage and develop relationships and the job is not and never will be done.
Here are a few questions to consider when thinking about engaging and developing relationships, it’s not about technology but people and how they engage with ‘you’.
Whenever and wherever you’re active what is the perception of you?
We all know what we do and how we do it, but do you know why you do it?
People don’t buy what you do but why you do it, so why you doing it?
Do you do business with people who believe what you believe?
How do you develop and create engaging loyal long term relationships?
How do you connect and interact?
What works, what doesn’t work when you connect and interact with people?
Whether having a coffee, croissant or cocktail. Who has inspired and influenced you?
Being authentic, genuine and informative should create trust and loyalty in answer to many of these questions. If you have to think before being yourself then something isn’t right.
Please feel free to add to these questions with your own thoughts below.
Offline social media……..
With social media being so popular are their logos and posters in bars, stores, club and other public places where you spend time? I was in a Starbucks recently and absolutely no sign that they had any presence on Facebook yet we are all aware when we are online of how connected they are to their customers.
Why aren’t brands connecting offline and online, its an easy thing to do knowing virtually all the customers have some contact with Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and You Tube through any given 24 hour period. All it needs is a logo or banner to signify and stimulate the connection in the customers mind.
Most people can connect, follow or like there and then on one of many hand held devices or via laptop. I find it intriguing why on and off line seem so far apart in many businesses plans. Unlike Nordstrom in USA who have actively encouraged staff to casually make people aware of their Twitter profiles. This post on Web Ink Now shows how logical, simple and personal it can be, as well as truly effective:
http://www.webinknow.com/2011/03/nordstrom-does-twitter-right.html
Another reason for this post is to request your help too, if you’re out and about and do see a logo, icon, banner however creative or not. Could you think of us and post it on our facebook wall? We want to get an idea and flavour of what people are doing around the world, or not doing.
http://www.facebook.com/design58
Thanks.
Just using facebook for personal contact?
I hear business people saying they use Linked In and Twitter for business, then Facebook for personal contact with friends and family. Is this really what they are doing or have they bypassed why Facebook is being used effectively to connect, network and share information by approximately 600 million people.
So you’re on Facebook just for personal contact with friends and family [no problem]you have all your privacy settings adjusted so only they can see what you do. What happens then when a friend posts a video by their favorite band, do you click ‘Like’ or add a ‘Comment’? I would say the answer to that is yes, but not all the time. Why not all the time, the same reason you don’t join in every conversation you hear from leaving the house, entering the office, buying a coffee and so on. The conversations you join depend on whether you have anything to say or on who is talking.
As we build up friends that we know and trust every now and then they will suggest to a ‘Facebook Page’ that they think you may ‘Like’. When you click through often there is more interesting insights into a celebrity, band, artist, organisation, charity, brand, business, service provider, friend who you are aware of and can now talk to. It would be a surprise if you click ‘Ignore’ rather than ‘Confirm’ all the time, why because there is content you like on these pages as someone has thought specifically about you when sharing their ‘Likes’. This personal approach is no mre than someone suggesting you buy and try a soap powder they use; once upon a time this could have been a conversation over a garden wall. All that’s changes is where the conversation happens.
Whether you talk about B2B or B2C I will suggest thinking about ‘People 2 People’, we buy from people not businesses and we buy from people who believe in what they are doing. As we go forward the online personal networks people have are becoming more valuable every day, through sharing information on platforms like Facebook businesses are able to connect with their customers, clients and communities.
By using Facebook personally it would be hard not to share information with your friends and family who also have friends and family and all of us like to share what we enjoy. So are you really just using Facebook as a glorified email/message provider or to connect, share and learn more from the people you are connected with?
Using Twitter….
This post was originally added to a Linked In discussion, where someone simply asked for a little advice on using twitter effectively.
As with any network online or offline there needs to be a strategy and schedule to make the time used most effective. As with Linked In and Facebook and other social media online platforms there is a definite importance in being able to target your connected community and target audience through various search methods. This can then cut down time wasted just throwing out blanket messages by giving the ability to reach those who have an interest in your products and services.
To help define your targeting use Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts for daily or real-time email alerts when your specific keyword is mentioned. Aligned with this you should also use http://www.hootesuite.com http://www.tweetdeck.com to again get real time updates on keyword searches. Twitter Search http://search.twitter.com does what it says effectively where http://tweetreach.com can show how tweets and #tags are being followed. Those are some applications for making Twitter effective there are and will be more made constantly, best to keep it sustainable and effective within your schedule..
Never sell or constantly direct people back to your website with discounts, deals and offers. By being informative a twitter profile can be a resource rather than an interrupting source of spam marketing. Being informative and knowledgeable about your industry area will build trust and loyalty from followers who will then share your name within their networks.
Be personable and real not corporate and grey, Twitter provides a fantastic opportunity to communicate rather than promote. Understanding your network, audience, clients, and customers is vital and this is a perfect platform to do this. Helping a business provide what this following actually need rather than what is assumed to be needed this is a result of direct contact. Through this direct contact a business should be flexible to change and develop in line with the relevant needs.
Engaging with a network, community or target audience is the base of any social networking on or offline to build relationships that are long term not simply focused on a short term financial gain. Many people get annoyed with certain Twitter users being overactive it is quite simple to unfollow. It’s even easier to get into conversations on Twitter with real people in real time this builds relationships and the connectivity required to develop the trust and loyalty suggested above.
Never automate responses to adding followers this is the same as the faceless request on Linked In an automated thanks is corporate and grey and lacks personality. A personal Direct Message shows care and thought for the person at the other end. Also automated Tweets may save time but they also mean you aren’t there to answer in real time too, it’s a decision you have to make but don’t feel by not being there you are missing out.
Develop a schedule that provides time in chunks throughout a day when you are there doing specific things. These can change depending on time to include posting information, listening to followers, retweeting, replying and searching for specific followers. This can be done in 10 or 20 minutes chunks evenly through a day. Through experience you will find when is the best time to do these specific activities on Twitter depending on your followers and their online activity.
All these suggestions are the basics of any communication using effective technology to connect and talk with people. Although these people are part of a business they provide real contact for a customer or client. People don’t buy what you do but why you do it, when engaging and showing empathy you gain trust. It’s far easier to be genuine and authentic than fraudulent.
I have made contacts and clients through Twitter for myself and my clients. It may happen immediately but more likely it will take time to develop these relationships, be patient.
