The days of just setting up a Facebook fan page, Twitter account, or Google+ business page without engaging with your consumers are coming to an end. Consumers want more. Think about it: you're human and so are your consumers. Do yourself a favor and throw away the business speak. You should cater them as you would in person rather than talking down to them.
According to a study released by J.D. Power and Associates, "Among highly-satisfied consumers (satisfaction scores of 951 and higher on a 1,000-point scale), 87 percent indicate that the online social interaction with the company "positively impacted" their likelihood to purchase from that company."
You are hurting your business if think engaging with consumers is a waste of time. It should be priority. Here are few ways you can start humanizing your company.
1. Create a social culture.
Encourage your employees to share on social networks before, during, and after work. If an employee constantly tweets how awesome his or her job is, the more that company becomes intriguing to their followers. Employees start to become brand influencers. As the employee's following starts to grow, so will your business. It's also important to create a social media responsibility policy in order to establish rules. Don't end being on the news as a result of a social prank that went bad or negative comments from an employee about a client.
2. Focus on the consumers
It's easy to get caught up in your work that you would rather reply to a customer's post later. The next thing you know your elbow deep in work and days have passed without an answer. Now the consumer must seek alternative ways to get an answer. You made that person upset and wasted his or her time. How likely will that consumer seek your service again over a brand that did the opposite?
3. Build Relationships
Relationships are the building blocks of establishing a community. Build a social community where everyone feels part of the company. It's imperative to establish relationships with consumers. They will help build your brand.
You have to remember real people are behind those Twitter handles and Facebook post. Engage with consumers and give them a reason to fall in love with your brand everyday. The more engaging and transparent your business becomes, the more consumers will look for you. Connect and be social.
Note: J.D. Power and Associates released a study that measured consumers experience in engaging with companies via social media. It included more than 100 US brands from various industries. View the report here.
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