Online marketing is a different animal. If you’re not getting the feedback and interaction you want from all the time you’re spending chatting it up, don’t be discouraged! The online crowd can be a tough audience, and the most important thing you can do to get their attention is work within your own network to develop interactions.
Our customers tell us using social media feels like they’re shouting into a dark hallway. My friends, that technique doesn’t work, wasn’t ever meant to work, and will never work. Networking online, which is how you should be viewing your social media experiences, is really much easier as a tier 2 approach.
What do I mean by that?
Every day in business, you’re meeting people and carrying on conversations with those you already know. When you begin to carry on those conversations in Twitter and on Facebook, you’re encouraging engagement from people who already know about you. That communication is vital to your marketing efforts now, and you need to make the most of it.
If you think that’s a silly way to do things, consider this:
Their business needs online attention, too.
What a great way to endorse each other and grow your network of online followers!
Serving your communities means so many things. Giving people information they need or request on your website is only one way you can help them. Being a responsible business person they can count on is another. Yet another savvy protocol you should be doing is helping them get noticed by joining your networks online.
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn give you many opportunities to share your encouraging messages with your customers and other businesses. When you request that contact data from others you know face-to-face, or talk with on the phone, you can start to develop ways to communicate and share online in a most effective way. Just make sure you share their posts, mention and respond to them, leading by example.
You won’t feel like you’re shouting in a dark hallway anymore.
What are you doing to encourage online conversations? Tell us about it here, and start following each other!
What are you waiting for? Start building your network today! Need help? If you’re in the Dallas area, start by visiting me Monday, July 30 at 6:30 pm right here in Richardson. We’ll get you started and help you understand real ways to use the tools in your marketing toolbox. Sign up here to learn more! (Bring your business cards, a pen and a notebook, it’s gonna be GOOD.)
