Why Should I Follow You?

Every day I see a commercial, hear a radio spot, or visit a web site that asks me to “follow us on Twitter”, or “like our page” (read: Become a Fan). But they almost never tell me why I should do so. These days, its hard to ignore social media, and many businesses have jumped into this new realm to some degree. But in the vast majority of cases that I’ve seen, these businesses lack any cohesive strategy.

Being a social media marketing professional, I can’t help but explore these companies’ various social networking profiles, because all too often their various networks have minimal updates, and almost never do they have anything that would compel me to follow/like them.

To all you companies out there that are just starting out in the social media world, or those that are already out there, but haven’t seen much success, consider first creating a reason for a person to visit and interact on your networks in the first place. And its not “because they like my company/brand/product”

Communities don’t simply form around your brand/product just because you created one, just like people won’t buy your product just because you are selling it. While its easy to tell you to engage your audience online, its not as easy to show you how. There are many tactics that can be used to entice users, but to be honest, it totally depends on your product or service.

One common tactic is to offer exclusive content, or insider access to individuals on your social networks.  While special promotions or contests may serve well to create a burst of interaction on your networks, just like an e-blast will create a spike in your website’s traffic, they aren’t sustainable. Once your special deal or insider offer expires (or gets buried by the rest of the noise on these networks), engagement will fall off, so it is important to find the right balance/frequency of these. Another tactic is to use your social networks for customer relationships/support purposes. It may not get you a ton of followers, but it can be a valuable tool both from a customer retention perspective and an internal cost saving measure.

Ultimately, The path you take with social media must be one of value to the user. Monitor other businesses and their success stories, but don’t simply copy them.  Map out exactly what problem is solved by being on these social networks, or what specifically you intend to achieve with them. A flexible, well thought out social media strategy will be the one that wins.