Is your business achieving the engagement and results you’d expect from Social Media?

As a social media company we talk in front of hundreds and thousands of business owners each year telling them about the benefits of social media and what businesses can expect to gain from social media

The reality for most businesses is they don’t achieve the success they desire from social media and that often is down to what we call the return on effort

Most companies don’t understand that social media is serious marketing channel and needs to be invested in as such

For a business to win big on social media they need to “treat others as you wish to be treated” on Social Media

Another way to put it is like Brian Fanzo says “Thinking Like A Fan”

What you put out there on Social Media, you will receive back into your life

Here are 6 ways to improve your social media by thinking like a fan

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO IMPROVE ENGAGEMENT (REPLIES / COMMENTS)
The most depressing aspect of social media is apathy

That point where you post something out there you feel is incredibly important and then radio silence – there is simply no response despite thousands of followers

We have 12,000+ followers and it happens to us at times, so don’t feel disheartened if you have a smaller audience than us

However – the easiest way to increase engagement is to give out a lot of what you want back – you need to engage with others

Outbound broadcast posts on Social are a part of social – but they are not “job done” on social

If you are not getting replies, mentions and comments on Social Media the quickest fix is to look at your own interactions with other accounts

Are you interacting with others? (Think local businesses, community accounts, existing customers, potential customers, industry peers)

If you’re not interacting with others, why should you expect others to spend the time engaging with your content

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO IMPROVE ENGAGEMENT (RETWEETS / SHARES)
Are you telling stories or are you posting adverts?

There is a huge difference in the 2 and when you think like a fan you understand this

Think back to traditional marketing and newspapers – you mention stories you’ve read in the local newspapers to friends and family members. When was the last time you mentioned to an advert you’d seen in the local newspaper to friends and family.

When it comes to TV adverts, the adverts that people talk about are stories rather than hard sells – think John Lewis, Coca Cola et all

Take a look down your own facebook, twitter and LinkedIn timeline and look at the type of content you share personally and you’ll start to understand what makes your content shareable

It’s content that makes people feel, tells a narrative and puts humans at the fore

Think how you can introduce this type of storytelling into your business narrative

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO GROW YOUR AUDIENCE
Your audience size matters

Following someone on twitter or connecting with someone on LinkedIn says you’re interested in what that person is doing

You have to do everything above in terms of engagement and quality content, but the follow is the 1st point of reference for many people

Growing your audience for most small businesses involved taking an active interest in what others are doing and following the activity

Unless you’re a super-brand or a high profile celeb – you simply can’t grow a social media audience by being aloof and not respecting your audience

If you don’t go and follow your target market or potential customers – you’re simply expecting customers to come and find you

But it’s not a job for customers to find you – it’s your job to let customers know you exist

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE
At least once in your life you’ve asked a query or made a complaint to a company on social media

Metrolink and the supermarkets are probably on your list

Think about how they responded made you feel.

Did they respond? How quickly did the respond? How empathetic were they? Did they keep or lose your business for good?

How those companies acted should inspire you to offer better customer service or they should show you the way how not to do customer service

Always put yourself in the customers shoes when thinking of social media and customer service

I know local businesses who have lost thousands of pounds worth of business from myself, simply because they didn’t respond on social media

Can you afford to lose thousand of £s worth of sales for your business?

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO INCREASE REFERRALS
Thousands of pounds worth of business is being passed via social media every single day

Think of Social Media as the worlds most successful BNI Chapter without the sleep depriving meeting time

If you’ve ever been to a BNI meeting you’ll have heard the phrase “givers gain”

It’s the act of once you’ve gone through the Meet Like Know Trust process – the simple act of referring work to others means that work comes back to you

Helping others is very rarely a one way act

So to increase the amount of people that recommend you on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – make sure you’re actively recommending others over social media when people ask for recommendations

It takes 2 seconds of your time and it’s time well spent

THINKING LIKE A FAN … TO INCREASE SALES
The vast majority of people want to shop local and keep the spend in their local communities

People are more likely to support others they see shopping and spending local

We’ve always stated that Shop Local isn’t just sharing an image on social media of “Shop Local” or putting out a motivational chalkboard to encourage people to shop local

Shop local is actually putting hands in pockets and spending local whether that be shops, eateries, bars and professional services firms

When you spend with a local firm they become part of your salesforce and tell others about you

When you post a picture of you spending locally with another business – the business will often share with their audience

Don’t just be that business that drives in, opens doors, complains about lack of sales from local people, but who has never been seen spending locally

NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to about Social Media Marketing for YOUR business so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your business

We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting to you

Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services

Or

Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 500+ LinkedIn testimonials and is Ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.