Authenticity: The Most Important Ingredient in the Social Media Recipe

Regular stories illustrate just how far off base big companies that claim to be experts on marketing are when it comes to their social media strategy. Traditional marketing techniques might have made it easy to be slick, making claims of being the newest, best, or highest value. Not so in the land of social media!

 

This is unknown territory for so many companies that believe they simply have to have a Facebook fan page, a blog, and a Twitter account and then can say whatever they want. Wrong! Social media is about interaction and, in order to engage and inspire the audience out there, you have to win their trust. And, that starts with authentic messages. Otherwise, the result of social media efforts will be lost credibility and a high level of scrutiny that will be difficult to recover from.

  

Building Trust through Authentic Messaging and Actions
Here are some ways to be authentic in all your social media messages:

• Attempt to solve customer issues without resorting to language where they quickly realize all you are doing is trying to sell them your product or service.
• Be quick to respond and offer answers to questions that appear on your social media channels from customers. It shows care and concern for their needs. Be sure to make your answers as relevant as possible rather than sympathy gestures.
• If a problem arises from a use of your product or service and a customer complains via social media, don’t ignore and hope it disappears – it’s social media so it’s there forever. Instead, respond immediately and make a proactive effort to resolve the problem. You may then find that the customer uses the same social media channels to tell everyone else how helpful and attentive you were when it came to solving their problem.
• Ask questions of your audience to find out what they are interested in and what they are thinking about. Listening goes a long way toward creating an authentic experience for customers.
• Be sure to regularly thank your audience for their trust and business. While it sounds simple, most companies do not spend time actually saying, “thank you.” It makes an incredible difference in the mind of customers who often feel they are taken advantage, manipulated, or simply unappreciated.
• Keep the messages and dialogue going. If you disappear and then come back only to disappear again, customers are not sure of just how much you are really involved or concerned in what they want or what you are doing to secure their loyalty.

 

Reaching Out for Expert Social Media Advice

Sometimes it helps to bring in a partner who understands how to leverage social media in an effective and genuine way to help you take a more engaging approach with customers. What do you find the most challenging about trying to be authentic with your customers through these channels? Let us know as we would like to share your experience with others.