Using Social Media to Build Relationships with Customers

Building relationships with customers is the name of the game when it comes to creating a thriving business. When you develop meaningful connections with your clients, you stand a better chance of prospering from their repeat business and the word-of-mouth referrals this creates. Social media is very quickly becoming an indispensable tool for building relationships with customers. It is especially valuable for small businesses because of its accessibility and affordability. Below are four ways you can employ social media to help build relationships with your customers, which in turn, can drive sales.

Locate your audience. There are many social network options out there. This variety presents consumers with an opportunity to create bonds with companies using methods that are the most comfortable for them. As a result, it is the responsibility of businesses to seek out consumers in these settings. From Facebook and Twitter to Flickr and Instagram, explore the platforms that match the lifestyles for which your brand is best suited. Focus your content on networks that have the highest concentration of your customers and individuals that might be the most inclined to respond positively to your brand.

Avoid censoring. A large part of building trust with your customers is letting them be comfortable when commenting about your business on social media. To this end, your customers need to feel they can be honest. Apart from posts that contain spam or offensive comments, try not to filter your fans. Instead, let the discussions run their natural course. The loyalty this will instill will help you build a strong core of social media followers. Also, it is important that you join the discussion and comment regularly. This will demonstrate your company’s commitment to engage with your followers.

Augment your traditional marketing. Instead of completely focusing on social media and abandoning your traditional marketing efforts, use social media to fortify those efforts. A great way to accomplish this is to use social media to promote events and contests and give your fans opportunities to comment about these happenings.

Share your customers’ stories. Another great way to build stronger relationships with your customers is by encouraging them to convey their experiences with your product or service. In addition, when you comment on and share those stories with others or copy posts with high levels of engagement, you will have the chance to further cement the connection you currently possess with your fans.

Consider posting photos and videos often because they tend to get people’s attention better than just plain text. Also, take a look at your competition’s social media activities to see if they’re doing something you haven’t thought of. Finally, when it comes to social media, consistency is the key. So, keep at it!

For recommendations of our favorite tools for managing and measuring social media, click here. If you’re interested in developing a stronger connection with your customers, Weise can help! You can get in touch with us here or leave a comment below!