By connecting with your customers through social media you can help your website earn higher rankings and improve awareness of your brand. As we wrote recently, Google will see links created through these kinds of social sites as natural links that are not being manipulated simply to improve rankings. Most importantly, by making the most of social media Calgary, you will actively engage users and build trust with existing customers and potential new ones.
Seek out conversations
With so many popular social media outlets, it’s a challenge to know where it would be best to spend your time. No one has time to develop a presence on them all over night. Most social networks make it quite easy to search for any mentions of your brand or company name, and that’s certainly useful, but what you should really do is seek out discussions that interest you and join them. If you are a newcomer, people might be suspicious of you at first, but by really contributing, people will begin to recognize the value you bring. By focusing your efforts where your customers are already talking, you can start small and build from there. It’s always better to have one or two well-developed and focused presences than five or ten cursory ones.
Stick to it
Really engaging in social media Calgary takes time and consistency. Joining is easy, keeping up and staying involved is the real challenge. Start new conversations where you see a need. Reply to every message you receive. Let the other members of the community know you are responsive by making your presence felt daily. When businesses start to get snowed under and give up, their customers notice and go elsewhere, or—even worse—begin to ignore that brand. Of course this won’t be a problem for you because you started out small and focused your efforts where your customers already were, right? It may feel like the time you are committing to social media is not producing results quickly enough, but be patient. Give people time to develop a sense of trust in what you have to offer.
Engage with people
Yes, you joined that social network to draw attention to your business, but to be effective you have to engage with people, not just advertise. Learn about the other members of your community. Ask questions about their interests. Remember, you are building relationships that will make it easier for you to speak to their needs. Like any relationship, it’s not just about you. Building trust involves listening, too. By showing yourself to be a good listener, people will be more likely to pay attention and really value what you have to say when you talk.
Encourage input and feedback
Customers enjoy feeling like their opinion matters. After all, you care about what they want and need, so why wouldn’t you ask them? A simple Facebook poll or a quick question on Twitter can help you learn a lot of useful information. This kind of social information gathering can help develop new ideas, solve problems or lead you down a path you never considered before. Involving customers in the growth of your business makes them feel like they have a stake in your success.
Create enthusiasm for your brand
Actively seek out ways to get your customers to talk about your company. By offering incentives like contests or coupons through your social media presence, you can reward the loyalty of people who have paid attention to your social presence and help you gain new followers at the same time. Pace yourself though. Your goal is to create enthusiasm, not become known as the contest guy. Never let incentives overpower your message.
Engaging effectively in social media Calgary is about creating community; it doesn’t mean joining every site out there and constantly promoting your business. By focusing your efforts and staying consistent, you can become a recognized and valued member of important online communities, which will create an enthusiastic pool of potential customers for your business.
