Whenever speaking at a seminar I harp on my audience to use social media to create dialogue with their connections.  The entire point of social media is to foster two-way conversation between users.  If you try to use social media to simply push out your message you will immediately be ignored or worse, ridiculed.

So how do you create dialogue with you consumers?  Here are five quick steps:

1. Be human: The entire point of social networking is to network.  If you think your company’s logo will connect with consumers, you are wrong.  Find someone within your company to be the voice of your company.  Though this may seem odd, it is no different than selecting a sales rep to speak on behalf of your company.

2. Find your compelling reasons: I have two sales experts as clients and they constantly harp on the fact that companies need six to eight compelling reasons why customers should do business with them.  Many times this will be referred to as “finding the pain” but it can also be opportunities that your product or service brings to the table.  Either way, write down the top eight reasons why customers should do business with you and use these as your starting point for social media and marketing.

3. Ask, don’t tell: The last thing you want to do now that you have those reasons is use social media to tell your customers.  Instead, turn those reasons into questions.  There is a saying that if you tell someone something it is a lie, if you get someone to tell you the same thing, it is the truth.  Lets pretend you sell insurance that will likely save me 15% a year compared to my current provider.  Some sample questions could be: “Would you switch insurance providers if it could save you 15% a year?”  “Where does your current insurance provide rank in their premiums?”  “What would you do with your extra money if you were able to spend 15% less on insurance this year.”

4. Expand on discussion: As you start discussions you will find topics that resonate with a wide variety of people.  Capitalize on this and keep the discussion going.  Ask expounding or similar questions to get more people interested.

5. Share information: Constantly asking questions is a great start to sparking conversation but it is not the only answer.  Find information that your customers will find information and share it with them.  This information can be directly related to your industry or something else that the majority of your consumers may enjoy.  If you are a business coach that caters to Fortune 500 CEOs then sharing a business book review is a great idea but an article on the best golf courses in your area might also be a good idea for social media and marketing.

Switch away from using social media to sell and start sparking conversation with the above steps.  You will quickly see the difference affect your bottom line.

Editor’s Note: Kyle Blades is a regular speaker and writer on the topic of social media and marketing.  He is the president of the firm Rebel that runs social media campaigns for a large variety of businesses.  For more information on Kyle’s theories, please visit: timeforarebel.com/blog

Additional Reference:

The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

Share with Friends or Bookmark for Later: