In life, relationships mean everything. While this is something we all intuitively grasp in regards to our family and friends, should it be any less so when it comes to our relationships with our customers? Of course not. If you’ve calculated that using social media as a means to interact with your customers is a powerful social media strategy then you’re on the right track. Now, let’s break this concept down into two strategic initiatives for interacting with your customers on both a personal and operational level.
Personally Engaging Your Customers
Let’s look at four strategic ways in which social media can be the perfect platform to develop a more personal relationship with your customers.
- Earn their respect: You ask your customers to read and enjoy the content you provide to them. But what types of content might they like? Reaching out to them about their personal preferences engenders respect. Consider using short surveys in return for a form of reward.
- Own up to mistakes: There’s something endearing about admitting when we’re wrong. If your social media presence has made a mistake in some way, be honest with your customers about it. It will only serve to help humanise you in their eyes.
- Share the spotlight: Your customers read your social content, and by doing so, they gain an appreciation for your business or media platform. But what about your customers? Would it hurt to occasionally turn the spotlight on them by soliciting feedback via their testimonials or ideas? Try it, they’ll like it.
- Don’t forget to say thanks: Don’t ever think your customers don’t have other options. There’s lot’s of competition out there and a simple “thank you” to your customers from time to time will keep them coming back for more.
Operationally Engaging Your Customers
Here are six proven ways to enhance your digital marketing efforts on an operational level that will also help to endear your social media platform to its customer base.
- Make customer’s experience personal: Adding a little pizzazz to your content is one way to personalize their experience. When deciding on a tone of voice for your social presence – a conversational tone can make them feel as if you know them and they know you.
- Content needs balance: To ensure a good variety of customers provide a good variety of content. Mix it up. Add photos and video if you haven’t already. Don’t serve them up the same thing day after day.
- Timely responses: Monitor your social media content on a regular basis. Respond to your customers as a matter of priority, not necessity. Treat this as a way to converse with customers on a daily basis.
- Content that is popular: It doesn’t have to be all about business, does it? By occasionally populating your social media with trendy, popular topics you may not be exactly selling through your content, but you’re likely saying to your customers that you care about some of the same trends that they do.
Customers love contests: Social media is a perfect platform for promoting competition or contests which engage customers. Give them something to perk their excitement and their interest. Use the entry form to learn more about them. Prizes work wonders.
Ignore feedback at your own peril: And, yes, that includes negative feedback. If a customer takes the time to share their displeasure with something you’ve done in their eyes, treat it as an opportunity to better understand them and want to stay on your site.
If you’re not already doing so, try one or more of these social media strategy tips. Chances are, your efforts to do so will keep your customers returning and, in the process, positively impact your efforts to build customer relations.