How to not fall flat with social media marketing

 
Ok so if you read my social media primer then you have your virtual spokesperson picked out, and you built up your following, …..now what?? This is the moment when most businesses fall flat on their face in the world of social media. Twittering is not just, oh I posted new inventory to my website, and there is a big sale this weekend. Instead of spamming a sales message over and over you have to interact with your customers engage and entertain them. This is where your bio comes in handy, by staying focused on your target market and selecting fun and exciting content that appeals to your audience.

To sell or not to sell ….
Now I know there are some out there who would say NO NO don’t try to SELL anything on Facebook, it’s about being their friend and connecting with your customers! Personally I say that’s a lot of bull, you’re a business not a fan club! The people who followed you obviously knew you were a business and they most likely patron your business. I bet you if we did a poll 99.9% would say they expected to see a sales message of some sort on your Facebook page.

 The trick in my opinion is to take a page from televisions ever so slick product placement. Engage and entertain your customers while you slip in a not so blatant ad here and there. Or you can create Facebook exclusivity to certain discounts and promotions so that your fans feel honored that they were advertised to!

 
I know I’m getting wordy so let move on to the list!

Ten Things you can tweet, blog or facebook about that will engage your customers

- Industry tips and advice - Think about your audience what THEY want to know about. Just because your sell cars doesn’t mean your customers care about hot rods. Probably tips on maintaining a car and getting better gas mileage is relevant though.

- Weigh in on current events – Share your opinion on local news, celebrity gossip, global affairs. Think back to your bio and what topics would appeal to your audience.

- Interact, Ask questions! –Think of questions that your audience would feel passionate about and motivated to voice their opinion on. Stay away from high controversy questions but sparking a good debate is great!

- Be human!  - There is nothing wrong with showing off pictures of an employee’s new baby or wishing someone well who is out sick. In fact it helps you connect with your customers on a human level.

- Be social! – Don’t talk AT your customers talk TO them! Wish them a happy weekend on Fridays! Ask them how they are doing. It doesn’t all have to be business.

- Ask for content – This is a great one, in the new ME social generation, there is nothing people like more then seeing their own face on stuff. Posting customer pictures or their own created content on your website not only gets them to your site, but also their friends. 

- Ask for company input – Invoking customer feedback on certain topics is useful and also makes your customers feel a part of the process and heard.

- Hold a contest – Contests are a great way to create a social media buzz

- Riddle them this – Tweeting a riddle with a link to a creative landing page is a great way to entice your followers to click through. Also include a share this riddle button so they can pass it on to a friend!

- Retweet! – forward fun and interesting tweets  you come across back to your followers

Did you read:
Social Media Marketing Primer (part 1)
Must have social media tools of the trade (part 3)