No, I’m not encouraging you to try and romance your customers!!
But, I have been thinking lately about how using social media for your business is a lot like online dating…
Essentially, you’re trying to make your ideal people fall in love with you.
So, if we take what we’ve learnt from the dating world and apply it to our business relationships, what can we learn about winning hearts and avoiding break-ups?
Be authentic
Being human is far more attractive and engaging than shouting about how brilliant you are and over-selling your assets. Authenticity is what increases trust and engagement.
No-one is impressed by the giant fish you caught…
Show quality
Are you using good quality photos or unique, eye-catching graphics?
If you’re not, you’ll be giving off some dodgy, unprofessional vibes (if you’re getting noticed at all).
Add value
Adding value to your audience means giving them something they want.
We all have a wish list – what are your ideal customers hoping to find in you?
Depending on your type of business, they might follow you to be entertained, to have their queries answered, to receive free tips, or something else.
The key thing here is to give them a reason to keep following you.
Align yourself
In the dating world, when we’ve moved from swiping right to meeting in the real world, our understanding of who you really are is formed, in part, by the other people in your life.
Are you kind to your mum? Do we like your friends? How do you help and treat others?
For businesses, you should find opportunities to tag other respected people, businesses, and organisations in your social media posts.
Not only does this increase your reach, it also aligns you with others to give your followers a better impression of your place in the market, what you're all about and the things that matter to you.
But, obviously, align yourself wisely… don’t be an Andrew! Yep, I went there…
Build relationships
Good social media management isn’t just about posting content.
Building long-lasting relationships requires effort on both sides, so return any engagement you get on your posts, respond in good time to any messages you receive, and add engagement to others’ posts.
Don’t ghost your potential customers or referral partners…
Don’t propose on the first date
Popping the question on a first date would be highly unlikely to lead to a wedding, right?
Yet, so many businesses use social media to go straight for the sale, and then wonder why they’re stood up!
If you’ve ever done any social media advertising, you may have noticed that there are lots of different advert objectives to choose from.
There’s a reason for that!
Ideally you should use a variety of objectives that are relevant to the stage of each person’s relationship with you.
In a real relationship, the natural order of things would usually be to start with a first date (build awareness) and introduce them to your friends and family (grow followers) before you pop the question (capture lead data) and start a family or grow together (increase sales).
So, there you have it – you simply need to think about your customers and prospects as relationship partners. And be a good partner!
Comentarios