Although content is supremely important on social media, it’s not enough to just post your content and walk away. Social media is also about connection and engagement, and that’s the only way you can foster the relationships you want to build and gain the trust of your audience. There are many ways to engage with your audiences but usually commenting on posts or participating in conversations is a good starting point.
Minimize the Time You Spend Promoting
Even though the practice of social selling is becoming increasingly popular among salespeople and marketers, the actual process of using social networks to drive growth is much different from what most people are used to. Rather than using social as an active promotional platform, it’s best to use it as a tool for engagement and communication. In fact, it’s recommended that businesses keep their promotional content to 20%, while the lion’s share of content should be dedicated to meeting the needs of your audience.
Create a system for tracking customer comments, questions, and complaints on social media.
Questions and positive comments are easy to handle. Negative appreciations and complaints on the other hand need to be managed with extra care. They usually indicate a dysfunction that needs to be addressed. Don't engage with unsatisfied customers on a social media. On the contrary try to resume the conversation either email but preferably by phone in order to find a solution. Once the situation is settled you may reply to the comment and indicate that the case is now solved.
Share Curated Links
While using social media for marketing is a great way to leverage your own unique, original content to gain followers, fans, and devotees, it’s also an opportunity to link to outside articles as well. If other sources provide great, valuable information you think your target audience will enjoy, don’t be shy about linking to them. Curating and linking to outside sources improves trust and reliability, and you may even get some links in return.
Things don't always go swimmingly for brands on social media. It's best to have a playbook in place so your employees know how to handle a snafu. Check out our guide to social media crisis management to see examples of the worst social media disasters, plus tips on how they should have been handled.