Engaging your audience on social media

People can spot the bullshit. Engaging with the target audience can take time, but if the organization isn’t sincere when it comes to interacting with the public, it can backfire. Thursday night I joined in a Tweet chat and the topic was social engagement. I learned valuable tips from other professionals. The main thing was that people want is a sense of authenticity.

            My favorite tweets of the night came from Darren Rowse (@problogger). The point he made was that people will notice if you’re listen to them. The two-way communication on social brings up the challenge of not only providing information but also format the message to engage your audience.

The key to building an online relationship is provided unique content that is informative and in line with the organization and the audience. If the content isn’t monitored then people won’t feel the authenticity. It might even feel like spam. Which is also another reason not to auto-feed stories to social networks.

Some of my favorite companies on Twitter are the ones that respond to people. Those responses aren’t just regarding issues with the organization. The Taco Bell twitter account knows that its target audience is young adults. They want to create a fun environment. So its twitter account contains not only content pertaining to their product but also retweets of other people tweeting about the company.

Creating pages on several social media websites can help boast your organization. These tips from Conduit provide tips to grow your audience on social media.

• ·      Take notes
• ·      Listen for tone
• ·      Find your own voice
• ·      Look for micro-communities
• ·      Start small
• ·      Move from community management to advocacy
• ·      Reward highly engaged fans and followers
• ·      Maintain trust and transparency
• ·      Surprise your audience.

Like Rowse said it’s not rocket science. It can just take time to learn how to use social networks effectively. If you treat people like people you’ll be able not only engage with them but maintain a long relationship.