Social media is the great equalizer in business – big and small can use it to promote, sell, and build their company. It’s that perfect wave that you ride out to deeper waters – where the whales are. Whether you’re ready for the deep end or not is a different story. But I digress.
That big wave is happening less and less often as the social media audience toughens its skin against promotional ads and solicitation. So how do you build your social media audience given these facts? How do you compete with the Quick-draw McGraw’s (those that react super-fast)?
Turns out there are four clear components of building that social media audience you’ve always dreamed of:
- Post Daily: Regular contact forces you to dig deeper into your content (you can’t keep posting article snippets or people will get bored). Always try to post something fresh for your audience – they’ll come to expect and wait for that new content. It puts your name and brand in front of the consumer/client on a regular basis and helps to build familiarity and trust. Tip: Remember that just because you have followers doesn’t mean they pay attention to what you post – Facebook, as an example, offers some creative (paid) ways to reach out to your followers and bring them back to your content. But make sure you are giving them something to return to.
- Use a Call to Action: Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. If you want them to share something with their friends, ask them to share it. If you want them to follow you, ask them to follow, If you want them to click something, ask them to click it. Believe it or not, those that ask for it usually get it. And writing those calls to action aren’t as difficult as you think. Don’t forget to ask nicely. Tip: Reciprocation can go a long way.
- Interact: (I can’t stand the word “engage” any longer so I’m using “interact”) Social media is just that – social. It was designed to encourage and support conversation and sharing. Utilize that feature! Talk to a few individuals every day. Get product feedback, start a group that shares User Generated Content, reply to comments, answer questions as well as ask them, ask your followers for ideas/suggestions, participate in a Twitter Chat. Consider the element of interaction in your marketing ideas.
- Participate in the #ideachallenge: Continual effort is absolutely key in successfully building an audience of social media. However, sometimes it can become a daunting task with so many options of platform, task, and tool. We’ve made this part ridiculously easy for you with the ideachallenge. It’s a weekly challenge that exposes you to innovative (and tried and true) ways to increase your population of fanville. Hone your skills, learn from others, make connections, and build your social media audience. Are you up to the challenge?
*The ideachallenge starts next week – ‘Like” our Facebook page as we’ll be posting a new challenge there each week.
These four elements, when combined, offer unstoppable power in audience building. A quick last minute reminder is to have a clear target and objective with each audience (audience can be different in each channel). It can help focus the content selection and tone of your social media efforts.
