Don’t Be a Wallflower, Engage in B2B Social Media Marketing
In B2B Social Media Marketing the power of engagement cannot be understated as a means of strengthening relationships and trust in your brand. Brand engagement is also a daunting task. The social media phenomenon can now significantly impact a business’ reputation, sales, and even survival.
Higher engagement levels can also often mean stronger relationships within your community. Building these relationships through a clear and proactive engagement strategy can help your business see results. Though it may take a while for you to really notice the ROI, remember it takes a while to build trust within all relationships. Trust and respect aren’t earned overnight, they are earned through continued communication and social interactions. Social media marketing for business is just that, putting the social into your business, because remember people do business with people. If you are not talking and engaging you and your business will go unnoticed like a wallflower.
Likewise, if you’re not listening and engaging in a candid manner, you run the risk of having a message that doesn’t resonate, or worse, creates a backlash, calling into question not just what you’re trying to say via social media, but across all outbound communication channels. For a brand, that’s bad news. Given the speed of social media, your message can go from trusted to falling out of favor in the blink of an eye, and it could all hinge on what you say next. That’s a lot of pressure. Enter social media marketing anxiety. I know sometimes in real world social situations it is easier sometimes to face a little social anxiety with a little “liquid courage,“ I do not advise this technique when conversing online, especially when representing your business. See also “Friends don’t let friends drink and Facebook.”
I think about social media marketing and engagement a little like online dating . Both enable the consumer to narrow down options quickly by doing a little research, and it can seem less confrontational to reach out from the safety and comfort of your own desk, behind your computer where no one can see you, making it is easy to hide the “bad” and highlight the “good.” I’ve even heard rumors of those that flat out lie. Well in business, like online dating, when courting your prospects the lies WlLL eventually be revealed. So be smart. Tell the truth. Don’t come on too strong, too fast. Use common sense and build a relationship of trust over time. Try not to always be in sales mode, be in human mode. The sales will come.
The trick though, Wallflower, is to start engaging with your customers or potential customers. Start slowly, simply by liking an article or a comment. Align yourself and your brand with the voices of those already speaking your language. These first steps “off the wall” will let the others at the party know you have arrived to boogie. Now get down with your bad self!
