Most companies are pretty decent at self-promotion. Using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to get their message out is a no brainer. Some companies are even good at content creation. Most are also decent at content curation. Finding “stuff” to post that’s interesting is relatively easy. Stopping to have conversations with people seems to be super difficult.
The Missing Link
The conversational aspect of social media is the part that is often missing from social media efforts. Companies are great at posting informative content, definitely good at posting promotions, but often don’t take the time to have any conversations. Conversations are what create a personal link between you and a potential customer. Conversations make your company human. People buy from people, not from some brand in the sky.
Listening
Having a conversation means there are at least two participants. You can’t have a conversation if you’re the only one speaking all the time. Devote some time to listening to what other people are saying. People will be more likely to respond to you if you spend some time listening to what they have to say. Just like a conversation at a coffee shop or networking event (offline).
Responding
Some companies are lucky enough to have people actually respond to them without much effort, but then they fail to actually acknowledge those responses. How would you feel if you said something to someone and they completely ignored you? Would you stick around to see what else they had to say? Would you buy something from them? Probably not. The same goes for responding on social media. If someone posts on your Facebook page, comments on your blog, or sends you a reply on Twitter, you better respond if you want that person to listen to what you have to say going forward.
Want to Listen, Want to Buy
People don’t typically buy things because they have money. Money is the means to buy things. There has to be some reason for people to buy something. The same holds for listening to what a company says on social media. No one has to listen to what you say. They listen because they want to. Having conversations with your audience encourages them to want to listen.
Find Time to Listen & Converse
If you’re pressed for time with social media (or in general), carve out time for listening and conversations. Connecting directly to people on a person-to-person basis will give you more bang for your buck than any other tactic online. (psst, that’s the true power of social media)
What do you think?
(photo by pedrosimoes7, on Flickr)