Remember that person when you were a kid that took the time to listen to you? Made you cookies after school? Used a little tough love when you didn’t clean your room?
Remember the person that invested their time to teach you new things? Honored that certain wisdom only a 5-year old can possess? Held tight through your adolescence? Mentored you on your career path?
So far I’ve only asked questions, but bear with me because here’s the pivotal question.
Do you do the same for your social media fans?
The truth about social media is that it’s not about numbers, it’s about people. It’s tempting to brag that you have 5,000 followers on Twitter, but what does that matter if they don’t value what you share or interact with you? If you had 500 followers on Twitter and you established true connections with 25 of them, you are a far more successful social media networker and connector than that other guy.
Your fans don’t value or interact with you until you value them first. Value means taking action in some way: retweeting a tweet they sent, commenting on a post on Facebook, repinning a pin you find inspiring, sharing their blog post with credit to them, or simply saying thank you. Value can mean liking a colleague’s fan page or following them on Twitter.
Sometimes value could mean that you do not delete a negative comment, but instead do your best to acknowledge that person and fix the problem if you can. The value here is that you may create a fan for life because you took the time with them, but even if that doesn’t happen, everybody else was watching your reaction. An honest and authentic attempt to deal with negativity wins respect.
Pay attention to the care and feeding of your social media fans. Develop true connections. Strive to be a real person in a virtual world. You never know what these connections will bring to you.
Connect with me on any of the platforms listed below and then reach out and say something!
Melody on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram