What is social media about?
Customer interaction, showing your human side and getting your thoughts out there for all to see.
Did you notice that I used the word “your” in that sentence?
If you get someone else to deal with your social media how can the comments be your thoughts and how can you react quickly to your followers and fans?
Social media = relationships
At the risk of repeating myself, social media is about building relationships with people. It’s not a direct sales channel.
The only way you can build those relationships is by interacting with people. That means you need to be there, monitoring your social media channels so you can respond in an appropriate and timely manner.
If you outsource, it’s a but like going out on a date but sending someone else in your place because you’d rather stay in and watch the latest episode of Downton Abbey.
You probably think it’s going to take up way too much of your time, but it doesn’t have to.
Allocate certain times of the day to check in to see what’s happening. If you’re out and about, use the many smartphone apps out there to stay in touch.
I must be on there all the time
OK, yes, you do need to tweet and update your status regularly, but not the extent that you have to be chained to your social media channels constantly.
If you blog, make sure you set up an automatic feed that shows when a new blog is published to widen your readership and to make sure there is always something happening on your feed.
Other than that, put something out when you have something to say.
As for interaction, dip in and out when you get chance to respond to tweets or comment on those posted by others that you find interesting – start a conversation.
As I mentioned earlier, social media is all about relationship building and if you’re not the one doing the talking, how can you be building strong relationships?
When you do it yourself you’ll be seen as:
- Open
- A company that wants to help
- Responsive and knowledgeable
- Someone people will want to do business with
Let your personality shine through; let them see the real you.