Did you ever befriend the kid in school who kept following you around the playground saying “be my friend”? What about if/when he came round your house after school to do it? No, didn’t think so… so why are you entering your customers/prospects homes and doing the business equivalent? *reader drops coffee realising the £/$80 spent on “the social media training” was wasted*
Erm…no?
Never fear, the beauty of social media is that it’s not going away and it’s controlled by humans (*reader drops coffee again shocked that social media isn’t just a bunch of data*). Humans are forgiving. So you still have a chance to win them over. Here’s 3 examples you might want to try…
- CARE. Yep, actually care about each individual you are reaching and/or hoping to reach through social media. If you care about them and solving their problems etc you will act as a human. You will provide them with the knowledge, information, attention or guidance to solve their problem and help them achieve their goals. If you continue to do this without asking (or begging) for anything in return they will love you! And yes, sure enough, when the say comes that they need your product/service you can bet you’ll be front and centre in their mind and buying decision.
*On that note, if you’re not willing to genuinely care, find someone who does, or alternatively shut up completely – your customers and business will thank you for this*
- LISTEN. So you’re in the business of needing sales to survive, right? So you wouldn’t want to waste your time with people that are never going to buy or promote your stuff? Cool, then stop asking anyone from any country to “like” your page and listen. Listen to local conversations, industry conversations, competitor conversations etc etc, and find the people that are relavent to your knowledge and business. These are the people whom you CARE about and can help, and these are the people you want to join your social media community…but to find them you have to stop begging and start listening…constantly.
- CREATE and SERVE. Does your Facebook page already have a small following? Are these people your customers or targets? THEN SERVE THEM! Stop neglecting them in search of shinier figures. CREATE content and facilitate conversations that solve their problems, entertain them etc etc. No one goes to a social group that is empty or quiet, they join the thriving one that everyone is positively shouting about. In this case “build it and they will come” works… build a community and others will join…without the need to ask them to.
Don’t be that guy…er…business
Customers don’t want to spammed anymore (not that they ever did). If they sign up for something today, they are signing up for a long term experience. Your obligation is to provide one. Stop begging and forgetting, and concentrate on building a reputation as an awesome customer experience provider…the love, not likes, will soon come flooding in.
So there you have it. Shut up begging for likes everyday and do something positive! What are you going to do tomorrow with that extra 30 minutes that you will have saved from not begging? Post it in the comments below, it might be something we can all try.
P.S. the same message applies for begging for Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections etc etc.