Social Media Marketing: Listen to Your Customers

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) is the biggest thing since the Beatles. I’m sure you also know the role it can have in branding your company while being a cost controlled media for advertising. Social media allows businesses to interact with their customers like they never could before. This allows the company to get immediate feedback from customers, potential customers, clients, and prospective clients. This power should not go unnoticed, it gives us the opportunity that none of the business’ before us had, brand personalization through social media.

With Facebook and Twitter you can track what people are saying about your product. You have to take this feedback seriously. If a client or consumer is happy with your product, happy enough to share it on social media, it is important to communicate that you appreciate their feedback. The same goes for any negative review or comments, you can build back up any trust you lost by showing empathy and owning the mistake by using direct dialogue with your customers. This gives your page that human touch that a customer desires; you can tailor your marketing efforts through effective dialogue. Building a genuine relationship with your fans, followers, etc is the first step in building brand loyalty.

The idea is to build super fans. Give fans power, give them the peace of mind that their voice is being heard. A customer is much more likely to interact with a company’s social networks if they feel that their voice is being heard. If the public feels that your company doesn’t listen to the individual, just marketing research of the masses, you could be missing out on a golden opportunity. You need to nurture this insecurity by making the customer feel valued. In marketing, building a relationship is just like building a relationship in real life. Would you keep texting someone if they never texted back or even read your message? Building your brand image is the first step to sustaining the level of success you strive for. Brand image is a medium in which your company can build brand loyalty, this is all based around building a relationship with those that use and talk about your product. Be smart; listen to your customers, without them you are nothing.

Did I miss anything? What else should a business think about when interacting on social media?

Check out this info graphic from Moontoast that better describes the anatomy of a fan!

Written By Ryan Farrell