By Madeline Balicoco
When you dive into creating online relationships, the landscape is so vast, wide and infinitesimal, it can be difficult to decide where to begin. At Olive, engaging in authentic conversations, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, is a key component in strengthening and growing our clients’ social media communities. Every day, we dedicate time to really listen to our clients’ followers, answer their questions, engage in conversations and even meet new people — which is absolutely critical. How do we do it? It’s actually very simple.
Know who your brand is. Before you start growing and strengthening your audience, it’s important to clearly define how you want to present your organization and who you want to connect with. All of your conversations should be based on your brand’s values, personality and voice. Whether it’s online or offline, it’s almost impossible to create genuine relationships if people don’t understand who you are.
Understand who your audience is. Equally important is understanding who you want to reach. These should be individuals who also align with your brand’s values, personality and interests. By connecting with the right people, you’ll begin to create meaningful conversations and relationships.
Listen very carefully. Being a good listener is essential. Pay close attention when you read posts or listen to videos. Statuses, captions and images are the equivalent of your customers talking. Although they may not be talking directly to you, it’s an opportunity for you to start a conversation! However, you can only do this successfully if you really listen.
Comment because you mean it. Words are powerful. They can brighten up someone’s day by answering their questions, offering encouragement or even asking them a question. When you’re responding to people, you should be commenting because you genuinely mean it. It’s easy for people to dismiss a couple emojis or a generic compliment, so really showcase that you were listening. Bring up something positive and specific so they’ll know that you were paying close attention.
When you reach the right people and interact with them genuinely, that’s when you’ll see results — specifically, more retention, more growth and more interactions. Are you ready to make that happen? Start a conversation with us at info@olivecreativestrategies.com!