Digital Engagement: Targeting People, Not Consumers

The value of social media today for a business person cannot be underestimated. It is a crucial component to marketing your business. There are multiple social media channels and more are being created every day. Maintaining your presence is important to allow two-way communication with your customers. Your profile on social media needs to be updated continuously. There are several ways you can boost your profile to allow better customer interaction.

Social media gives you the ability to personify your customer. No longer is the person who uses your product a faceless consumer. At the same time, your customers expect a personal interaction with your business. By putting a human face on your business you increase the possibility of creating more loyal customers. Below are several ways you can enhance your social media interactions.

Before you focus on the personal side of your social media profile, be sure the technical side is correctly optimized. One thing to check is that your profile is accessible to everyone. This means you make sure that all settings for social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are set to public rather than private. The images you choose for your profile need to be in correct size before you upload them so that the picture you want to show is proportional. Images should not be out of focus or blurry because this will create a bad impression with the viewer. If you have a separate website from social media platforms such as Facebook, include share buttons in order for your content to spread easily. These steps will help you make a good impression.

Search engine optimization plays a role in your social media profile. Blogging is a  tool you can use to reach your audience with unique content that interests them. In turn, your customers can engage directly with you through commenting. Take time to communicate with your customer by having a natural back and forth conversation in the comment section. Write compelling blog posts titles that draw people. The title should convey the general context of the content. Including select keywords in your post titles increases the chance of your blog posts being quickly indexed and available on search engines such as Google or Bing. Your blog’s name title and meta description should directly reference your business name. Using the above-mentioned ways will make your blog engaging and searchable.

Your content connects with people who are interested in what you have to say. Adding hashtags to unique content is a way for users to group and share content provided by you. New hashtags are a way to boost visibility for products and services. People who visit your profile and like what they see might want continuous updates about your pending news. Provide an easy way for them to get this information through email sign ups. You increase the number of sign ups when the form is simple to understand and doesn’t demand too much information from the user. When a customer signs up you now have a valuable connection. Do not abuse their trust. Only deliver superior content that they would want to read. Intelligently using your email connection is a good lead source for your business because each recipient has already pre-approved you to sell them. Intersperse news and subtle sale pitch in every email. Prominently display all social network icons or links so that a visitor can find your profile.  Don’t forget to add new icons if you create new profiles on new social media platforms. By talking about what people are interested in you can sell to them in an appropriate personal manner.

As more social networks emerge your business needs to keep a cohesive brand across all of them. Use similar language and visual elements but add minor tweaks to speak with a voice in accord with each network. Your company bio is a good place to boost you social media profile by giving concrete examples of what you do and how will you provide value to a customer. If the customer has a negative experience with your business quickly address the complaints one on one if possible. Using their social media name is a way to forge a more personal connection. On the other hand, encourage satisfied customers to share their enjoyment on customer review sites. For every negative review, you should have many more positive reviews to balance out the perception of your business. Whether you like it or not people are talking about you online, so jump in and try to steer the conversation in a positive direction.

Social media interaction is vital to your business brand. You can now know your customer on a first name basis and they can know you. People who use social media expect to be treated differently than in the past when companies would just broadcast their message. Now you must engage in a conversation. Keep in mind the above topics as you work towards a more productive exchange with your customers.