Using Social Media to Engage your Customers

A lot of small businesses are entering the world of social media to help build their businesses and increase revenue as our economy begins a slow recovery. This is a very exciting time to be joining the online conversation as this is one area where a small business has just as much advantage as a larger one. Our mission here at Tenth Muse Creative is to help small businesses navigate the waters and enter this wonderfully level playing field.

First, let’s be clear: social media is not a one-way conversation where your business attempts to sell via posting links to your website. What your customers (both existing and potential) want is a dialog with your company. What customers want to know is how can you help them solve their problems? You need to start this process by listening to what their problems are! It is long-standing wisdom in business that people don’t buy products or services, they buy solutions to problems. You need to know the problems so you can solve them for your customers. 

So, over the next few blog posts we are going to take a closer look at conversations and how to engage with social media. 

Our formula for engaging customers:

1. Find the right channel. Where is the right place to have a conversation with your customers?
2.  Listen. People will tell you almost anything you want to know, if you would only listen.
3. Look for places to contribute. Can you answer a question? Solve a problem (without selling!)? Take the opportunity to build your reputation as the Answer Person.     
4. Don’t sell. Nothing is a bigger turn off for most people than being sold to. What you want to be is a problem solver, not another advertiser yelling “click me, click me!”

We will cover each of these steps in the formula over the next couple of days; today we want to focus mostly on what it means to engage. When you engage you are having a back and forth dialog, something we used to call relationship building. Find common cause with your customers, find their problems, help them find solutions; celebrate their victories for they are yours as well.

When you engage with your customers in a conversation, you become part of their community and build goodwill. Being a part of the community is what good citizens and businesses do; it engenders not only respect but loyalty as well. 

Engage in Conversations With Your Customers

What business doesn’t want the benefits of respect and loyalty from their customers?  We know yours does!