How to use social media to form customer relationships

This is 2017 – no longer are customer relationships formed by one-to-one, in-person communications and personal letters. Yet despite the potential of social media as a tool for relationships, few businesses understand how this marketing medium can be made personable – and even fewer have a concrete plan in place for forming and nurturing customer relationships via the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If this sounds like your business, then here’s how you can turn it around…

Make your social presence human with a distinctive voice

Creating a distinctive brand voice allows your social media audience to feel that they ‘know’ your company – it also makes your messages far more memorable. When putting together some ideas for your tone of voice and brand personality, consider both how you wish to be seen as a company and who your audience are. Where you’re targeting a youthful audience and pitching an edgy, innovative product, it makes sense that your voice will be equally as youthful, and potentially more controversial than it would be if you were to be selling to the over 50’s.

Tell your story

People don’t buy from companies, they buy from people – it’s critical that your audience get to see the human faces behind the brand. Post updates about your team – the new members, those who are retiring and the achievements of individual members.

Warm those hearts

Your social posts should be a mix of 80/20 – 80% content that’s useful or valuable to your audience, and 20% promotional. This balance is a well-known equation in the marketing world, however amongst these posts you should also introduce updates that focus purely on spreading a little joy – so thank your followers when you hit a certain figure, send seasonal greetings and consider promoting a singular good cause that’s close to your own heart (this latter point should also warrant a donation – you could even partner with the charity to help promote their events and fundraising efforts).

Use time-saving tools wisely

No one likes to feel as though they’re being played – not least your customer base who may begin to notice that you post the exact same forms of content, on the same days, at the same times. Whilst tools such as Hootsuite, Every post and Buffer have their place, they must be handled with care – so change up your content strategy and times of posting; you also need to regularly check in and respond to every reply and message in a timely manner.

Take customer service via social media seriously

Consumers today expect customer service via social media – they use it not only to positively interact with brands, but also (and arguably in higher numbers) to complain. Consider this as key to managing customer relations – and read our blog on how to use social media as a customer service platform.

Make Me Local, Kent help businesses harness the power of social platforms for the growth of profitable customer bases. Let’s talk about the potential of social media for your customer relations – call us on 0800 772 0022 or send a message to hello@makemelocal.com and we’ll be right back in touch.