Building Customer Relationships Archives - Page 2 of 2

February 20, 2014
Social Media Marketing

What does “Like, Know and Trust” look like in Social Media Marketing?

I was sitting at Starbucks with my Iced Venti Caramel Macchiato discussing with a friend the “Like, Know, Trust” discussion and how it works in the realm of social media. He is a visual person and asked me to describe the life cycle of “Like, Know, Trust” in social media engagement. Here was the picture I painted for him …

A brand builds a social profile with the intent of opening up a social conversation with someone outside of a static website. Generally, a website doesn’t have much engagement. You’ve invested in your website, spent time telling your story and sharing information about your company, services and how best to contact you. In ecommerce spaces, you have the purchase opportunity, but in most cases, the only pages to start engagement are centered around a Blog (if it is open for comments), a Help Section (with real time support) or Contact Us. Realistically, the real back and forth conversation isn’t happening on your website and engagement is mostly limited.

So you decide that launching a social media campaign will provide your viewers with more opportunities to engage in platforms where they are present; sometimes daily. Surely this would benefit because you know they aren’t choosing to visit your website daily. You build your profiles, add the links to your newsletters, add links to your email signatures, create prime real estate on your website for your social links and now you are open for business socially. Well, not completely.

Now you need to build your relationship.

The first step in any relationship is the introduction – “Like”, “Follow”, “Circle” ,”Subscribe” in social media terms. In the “Like” phase of your relationship, they are open to learn more about you, your updates start to feed into their notifications or wall much like sending a text or sending a letter to someone you have met. You are open to see what their interests are, how you might be compatible and although they aren’t open to “live life” hanging out with you yet, you are open to learn more.

You are in the “Getting To Know You” stage of your relationship. When your viewer starts to keep up with the things you are sharing in social media, they are becoming more familiar with you, starting to expect certain things you might be sharing, finding value in your mutual interests and they are finding there are things you both have in common during this “Know” phase. Similar to feeling out what might be a potential for opening up that phone call to schedule a visit to talk over coffee to get to “Know” them better in a private message; but aren’t comfortable yet with opening up to you. This stage of your relationship takes time, consistency and you need to show value in what you have to offer your new “follower” for the relationship to build further.

Once you get to the place of “Trust” you will know your relationship has transformed to a new level as your viewer will begin to “Like”, “+”, “Favorite”, “Pin”,”Comment”, “Retweet” or “Share” your post. Your viewer feels comfortable enough to engage either because they have watched others engage in your activity or they are now at a place where the consistency has encouraged them to take the step to share their feelings, perspectives or opinions with something you have posted. In a face to face relationship, this may look like attending an event together, sharing in a recommendation, testimonial, purchase of product, or just simply valuing your information enough to open it up for their network to see and also share as well.

The life cycle of an online relationship is very similar to building trust in real life. If you maintain visibility and connection, you have optimal chances to engage in the relationship further.

How are you building “Like, Know and Trust” for your brand?

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

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September 17, 2013
Social Media Marketing

Building Connections on LinkedIn

When speaking to clients about building connections on LinkedIn, I encourage them to build their network with professionals they know, like and trust … in addition to building a network of connections that they may not have met yet, but might be good potential clients.

Sure, it makes sence to connect to people you know, but it is possible that those people may already be a good referral network for you. Connecting with people who may have similar interests, similar industries, similar groups, etc will enhance your network and launch the potential for more relationships in your extended network.

Being a user of LinkedIn, you are familiar with the tiers … 1st, 2nd, 3rd-degree connections and so forth. 1st-degree connections are directly connected to you. 2nd-degree connections are directly connected to one of your contacts. 3rd-degree connections are connected to your 2nd-degree connections. Additionally you may run across profiles that say “Group” and are only a part of your LinkedIn network because of a mutual group. “Out of Network” simply means that you are not connected in any way.

So, how can you build your network?

(1) Synch your Email Contacts

In your LinkedIn profile, select Network, Add Connections. The system provides many options for connecting your emails. Additionally, by selecting Any Email, you can also Upload your contacts file or Invite contacts by individual email.

NOTE: The first screen is your list of contacts that have an email address in LinkedIn, the second screen shows the list of your contacts email addresses that are not setup on the LinkedIn network. You can simply select all or select contacts individually.

(2) Connect to members of Groups

In your LinkedIn profile, select Interests then Groups. Select the Group you would like to view. In the group, near the top right hand side of the page, you will see a box that says Member; next to this box you will see the quantity of members in the group. Click those words. You will see the full list of members with the people you have 1st-degree connections, then 2nd-degree and so forth. Simply click Connect for the individuals you would like to connect with. Some versions of LinkedIn still have Members listed in the navigation under the group name.

NOTE: You will need to be connected to a group before you can view Members.

(3) Search for people/jobs/companies of interest to you

Search is one of the best tools in LinkedIn. You can search for what ever you might need from People to Jobs to Companies, Groups, keywords, etc. The Search bar is found at the top of LinkedIn no matter what screen you are in. Simply type in your words and click the clue search button.

Build your contact lists, make an introduction and get to know your network of resources. LinkedIn can be one of the best tools for your business growth, communication and networking.

Remember, if it isn’t fun, you are doing it wrong. Happy Networking!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

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April 16, 2013
Relationship Marketing

Utilizing Social Media to enhance Face-to-Face Networking

If you are like me, you have met many people through face-to-face in networking meetings and events. It is a wonderful resource to be able to meet someone, talk about mutual interests, exchange business cards and . . . then what?

Do you intentionally connect again in person to dive deeper; talking about each others specialties?

Do you load their contact information in your contact list or maybe send an email or two talking about the things you do in hopes there is some mutual benefit?

If you have tried this in the past, chances are the relationship quickly ends after your first email or exchange of business cards.

How can you build on that initial meeting and maintain the business relationship?

First off, the initial meeting doesn’t provide enough time to really dive into all of the skills, services and specialties that your connection has to offer. Even in 10 minutes, it is difficult to breakdown a list of the reasons why each of the service offerings can be of benefit to someone. Taking the time to really get to know this person and ideally the best way to refer business to them would require many meetings, discussions and examples of how they have helped other clients in the past.

One of the best ways to get familiar with the additional information that should be shared is a mutual exchange of relationship building through social media. Here are some starter ideas of how to get that conversation in the right direction.

(1) Connect with that person on LinkedIn

a. Connecting on LinkedIn shows your contact that you are interested in continued networking past the business card exchange

b. Depending on how they have their profiles configured, if they have their contact information loaded right into their LinkedIn profile, you export your connections into Outlook (for example) and it will populate there for you.

(2) Send a personal message thanking them for the connection

a. Messages in LinkedIn can be searchable in your Inbox, the same way names / titles / industries / specialties are searchable under People, Company and Group sections of the platform.

b. Include questions they can respond to in your message; such as asking them more about their specialties or some other interest such as personal goals or their favorite book.

(3) Ask if they connect in other social spaces and send them your social links as well.

a. If you are a Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ or LinkedIn Company user, a great way to build followers and pages you are following is by connecting to those you are connected to in your network. Due to space in most cases, the easiest way for those to be shared mutually is through a personal message.

b. Sharing of content in the social profiles provides a great means of communicating your services

Because social media is a great social medium for sharing business experiences, life events, service offerings, relatable story telling and promotions, your new connection will have the opportunity to not only share with you, but will also have the opportunity to learn from your sharing and contribute questions and reciprocal discussions in return.

By taking your business card exchange to a new level utilizing your social media resources, your relationships can continue to grow past the initial meeting and hopefully lead to another face-to-face discussion about other things you are mutually interested in.

It takes commitment, time and care; but then again, any good relationship takes work to maintain. Give it a try and see if you set the trend in your network with relationship building.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

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March 24, 2013
Social Media Marketing

Why choose Social Media?

To understand the question, “Why social media”? You first have to understand America and how Americans decide where to spend their money. The foundation of this country has always been about “the guy next door” or “the mom and pop” businesses. Even if you don’t consider your business one of these, it’s not about your business but about your customer.

Your customer wants to do business with someone they “know”. It has always been that way. Due to the big box stores and advertising prices through the roof, the “little guy” has gotten lost. It’s not that customers prefer these shops, because of advertising; they just know them like they used to know Tim’s Hardware down the street. Most people will tell you that there is something missing. Shopping from Mrs. Large Hardware Chain or Mr. Just As Large Hardware Chain just isn’t the same as when they could walk into Tim’s, get greeted by name, and put their money into the pockets of someone they actually knew.

Even if your potential customers have never known anything other than the big box stores, there is still something buried deep within their DNA that makes them want to spend their money with someone they know. Bottom line is that your customers are looking for you! If they can’t get to know you, they will still spend their money, but it will be with whom ever the media has told them to do business with.

Most business owners will tell you that if they could just sit down with a potential customer and talk to them about their product or service, they would be closing deals hand over fist. With social media you not only allow your potential customers to get to know you, but you get to know them as well. No matter what “widget” you sell, you will sell much more if people have a chance to buy them from “Tom” or “Jill” instead of a website or cold store front.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Jeremy Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and consultant in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them.

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