There is a reason that Social Media mentions the word social. It’s about sharing, networking, and appreciating others. All those things we learned about in grade school. How to play nice.
It amazes me to see people hurt their personal brand by coming across as if they don’t care about other people. Twitter isn’t about how many people follow you, or how many people you don’t follow. In fact, if there is one place that you don’t want to come across as a snob — I’d say that would be Twitter! So for goodness sake (literally) you simply must respond to people who communicate with you. Whether that person is a customer, stranger or colleague.
Give a little – it doesn’t hurt!
The people you connect with here are left with the after-taste flavor of your brand. Make it sweet! Even if you do happen to be highly successful and a question someone asks you seems too trivial to be bothered with, that one person can have a very viral effect on your brand. Part of online reputation management is to be proactive, and that means listening and responding.
So Thought #1 for Engaging on Twitter: Listen and Respond.
Thought #2: Lend a hand. Someone who only has a few followers may still have something of value to say. Give them some consideration. Help them out, even, with an RT or a supportive comment. Why not make a friend today? Think back to times in your life when you felt new or insecure. The person who reached out to you is probably someone who gained your loyalty – am I right? One loyal newbie can be a pretty powerful ally, because people aren’t new forever. And you never know what connections someone has either — so even if you can’t be nice for the sake of being nice, consider the ramifications.
Thought #3: Stop selling already. Talking about yourself and your services all. the. time. might be fine on say… your website. But in a social media environment it really isn’t all about you. It’s about connections. In order to truly connect with people you need to interact with them. Otherwise you’ll either be unfollowed, or simply ignored like banner ads. Nobody wants to be sold to. What people want is to feel a connection. When you feel a connection to a product, it’s not being sold to you — instead its something you organically desire to possess. That feeling of connection is the fabric of brand loyalty.
As a fellow Twitterer – what advice do you have on successfully networking using Social Media?
