Socially Connecting With Your Consumers

Social Media Marketing is everywhere. No matter what business you're in, somebody somewhere within the organization itself, is telling you that customers by the thousands are just waiting for you on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like. If you don't already know, let me be the one to tell you that it's just not that easy.

Going about it the right way takes the kind of time and patience any other relationship needs to develop properly.

Respecting your customer online requires you to strike a delicate balance. You want your customers' business AND you want them to know how much you appreciate them. Bombarding your customer with marketing on Facebook and Twitter is the quickest way to loose them. In some my seminars, I've related consumer relationships via Social Media to first dates.

For example, if you pick up another person you're attracted to for dinner as a "first date," and as soon as that person gets in your car, you move directly for "third-base" or a "home-run" right there in front of their house - I guarantee you it's going to be a short date and never get the chance to become a very good relationship!

Put yourself in your customers shoes and imagine how you would like to be approached by someone you purchase goods and/or services from online.

Timing is everything. When we build a valuable relationship with our target audience, they go from a one-time customer to a person that repurchases your products, gives feedback on what you do with the products and services you sell and likely share their experiences with their peers. And rest-assured... they'll "sound-off" when something goes wrong.

Consider your customers' day. In the morning - around 6AM our customers get up and prepare for the day. Maybe they catch a few minutes of the news, have breakfast, then head out to work. On their way, perhaps get the kids off to school and then clock into their job. Around noon-time they head out to lunch, then return and finish up the work day. At 5PM they head home - groceries, dinner, kids, couch, computer then bed.

Studies show that the average lifetime of a post is approximately 3 hours. But what's really seen with these posts, is that the higher the engagement level is, the longer the post survives. Keep in mind that your Facebook posts are a way to supply your customers with the information they need or a way to have them to interact with your product. Remember, you post to build a relationships, not just to bull horn your message to the masses.

Thanks to our smartphones, we stay connected when we are on the go. They enable us to consume the information we want. However - because of this, we don't really need to have a deep interaction with a brand or our peers. There's just not enough time. This means the way we interact changes; instead of taking our time to comment on posts, most likely we just 'like' the post - thus, the lifetime and reach of the post grows. And that's a good thing!

In contrast, when sitting behind our PC's we make an emotional decision to respond and react if the content we see is relevant and compelling. So, in essence, this is the point when we change from a spectator to a participant.

With respect to my client base, the bulk of my commercial social marketing work these days is centered around community management. As a rule of thumb, I find the greatest response I can expect comes from generating a maximum of 3 posts a day on their personal pages and three posts a week on their fan pages. The necessity here that your message must be both, appealing and compelling. This is where most "do it yourselfer's" fall short.

And that's what separates the amateurs from the professionals.

I see a huge correlation between the "like-ability" of a brand, the relevant interaction levels and the amount of posts. The most obvious pitfall encountered by the amateur, is that most customers get annoyed if you are spamming their wall with commercial posts. Your consumer is not only just following you, they are most likely following several other brands as well. Facebook is a social platform that is now increasingly edging towards an advertising medium. That doesn't set well for some Facebooker's. The keyword here is SOCIAL. People are there relaxing. I pose this question frequently to my clients - before making any post, ask yourself "If I were at a bar or out to dinner out with my friends, how interested would I be if someone just approached me and started trying to sell me some widgets.