And social commerce is all about building relationships. Social media gives a business or brand the ability for creating social conversations. The goal is to turn communication into interactive social conversations. So you need very good conversation skills.
Social networking is not about farming followers; it’s a way of cultivating relationships.
Anyone eager to create an online presence can take static or one-way communication and turn it into the vibrant, dynamic and energetic conversation. Ones that trust and relationships are built from.
Social media opens the door to deeper, more meaningful conversations; allowing businesses to share meaningful, relevant messages consumers seek and all in real-time.
Before we get to these great ideas to create or improve social conversations, let’s first review some frequent misconceptions about social media. Social media is NOT:
About being on Facebook. Or Twitter. Those are platforms and not the end state. The end state is about customer engagement.
About being a big brand. When creating social conversations, the size of the business doesn’t matter.
About being the first mover in adopting new technology. That has value, but is it what you want your customers to talk about? We think not.
To create meaningful social conversations, you must first open the lines of communication. Below are 15 ideas for creating social media conversations that captivate and inspire your online community!
Good conversation skills.
Become coordinated
Get your social media coordinated! This will take a mix of strategy, planning and the right tools to execute.
Maximize your social media marketing strategy by leveraging each social channel as well as your blog.
For example: If you post to your blog, coordinate your efforts to publish it across the web. From Google+, Facebook and Twitter, use social media to help spread your message.
Tools to help automate your efforts:
Buffer– Far and away one of my favorite tools, Buffer is a smarter way to schedule the great content you find. Fill up your Buffer at one time in the day and Buffer posts automagically
IFTTT– Connect two applications (Pinterest and Twitter for example – see the recipe here) and then determine how you will automate that task based on specific parameters.
WP to Twitter— Send a Tweet from your blog or website
me — Auto Tweet new blog posts
Social Media Pack – Twitter Module— Sends a Tweet when you post something new
Then keep track of how many times someone shared, tweeted or buzzed your content with Markerly.
Customer retention
It is less costly to keep existing customers than finding new ones. So focus conversations on current customers. They are not all alike either, so watch for your priorities.
Always capitalize
A smart social media marketer creates opportunity through meaningful conversation.
They also know how and when to capitalize on that opportunity. They are quick to act and don’t spend an inordinate amount of time agonizing over the decision.
They are clear, precise and swift to evolve and push beyond any self-imposed boundaries. They keep their eyes and mind open and are willing to let go of any fear holding them back.
They know that the sooner they engage, the quicker they will feel connected to their community.
Think stories
Think about the stories that you were told as children. They are etched into our subconscious. Use pictures and videos to tell your stories in creative new ways. Ways that will be remembered and talked about. Stories are sticky.
Be curious
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ~ Walt Disney
Curiosity in marketing is no different than it is in life. Curiosity keeps us fresh, inventive and open to new and unique ideas.
Never stop learning, adapting and re-energizing your strategy.
Whether your current marketing efforts are flourishing or failing, curiosity is a quality you must maintain.
Creating social conversations … think service
Always put your priority on your service, not your products.
Every successful brand has a specific culture. One that relates to the brand’s personality. And yes, of course, a brand has a distinctive personality. Decide what personality you want for your brand and build your culture around it.
Conversation skills … stay connected
Connecting in a real and authentic way is key to social media success no matter the size of your company. This makes it imperative for you to spend time conversing with your fans, followers, and friends every day.
Responding, commenting and engaging proves you’re a real human being, not a systematic robot.
It also creates trust, and trust is the foundation of a healthy and beneficial relationship.
There is no better way to reach those you are wishing to stay in front of than getting (and staying) socially connected.
Conversation skills … keep it simple
It is difficult to be heard above all the noise in the marketplace. So grab attention and hold it with simple messages.
What do you want customers to remember?
Plan your conversation topics on the interests of your most important customers. It’s not about you and rarely about your business. Will your conversations be remarkable enough to be talked about? That is your goal.
Stay current
Remaining relevant requires that you stay up-to-date on the latest trends within your industry.
RSS feeds, bookmarking sites and apps such as Feedly will allow for quick browsing and sharing.
Know what is impacting your industry and then share how it affects your fans and followers. It keeps you in-the-know and ahead of both negative and positive changes.
Share important, timely and beneficial information to build credibility and thought leadership.
Monetary value or conversation value?
Here is the question. Who are your most valuable customers? The ones that spend the most? Or the ones that create the newest customers for you? It turns out that both are needed. Target both.
Random acts of kindness
Nothing works better than a simple surprise act of kindness. Do something that will make a difference and be talked about.
Relationships are key
Social media is all about building and exploring customer relationships. Continually look for new ways to engage. Remember engagement is a two-way street.
Happy customers
It turns out that the happiest customers drive retention and conversations. Are you committed to making your customers happy?
Offline conversations
Remember that 80-90 % of conversations happen offline. So pay attention to customer conversations in the store.
Manage expectations
Do more than customers expect … but don’t go overboard.
Everything business is conversations
Create interesting topics that are conversation worthy. Plan ahead and stay up on interesting and current topics in the media.
Facilitate
Use techniques that permit customer collaboration. Ask for their explicit opinions and recommendations. Set up simple polls and opinion surveys on topics of customer interest.
Pilot projects
Try new ideas as pilot projects on a small scale often. What works build out in scale.
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to create interesting conversation.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy in each of these steps to improving customer conversations?
Do you have a lesson about making customer conversations better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
Mike Schoultz likes to write about the topics that lead to small business success. He also likes to share his many business experiences. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Good company culture? I have had my share. In fact, in over 40 years of business management and leadership experience, I’ve seen more great company cultures than bad ones. And lots of experience studying leadership traits scattered all over the map.
Company culture.
The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and thoughtful gesture.
Ken Langone
It’s important to realize that just because someone holds a position of leadership, doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Put another way; not all leaders are created equal. The problem many organizations are suffering from is a recognition problem – they can’t seem to recognize the impact leadership has on the culture of the business.
Related: 7 Surprising Things to Know About the Zillow Business Model
In today’s article, I’ll address how keymistakes can destroy company culture by pointing out leadership traits that represent culture killers.
Company culture ideas
Company culture.
Here are my top eleven of those culture killers drawn from my years of experience:
Pompous and arrogant
Perhaps the worst trait I’ve personally observed that quickly devours culture is ego. We all have an ego, but the ego I’m talking about is the ‘super-ego’ that dominates. I’ve found if a leader is really good at what they do, they won’t have to tellothers about it.
Hiding or misrepresenting business strategy and results
If a leader doesn’t understand the concept of “service above self” they will not engender the trust, confidence, and loyalty of those they lead. Any leader is only as good as his or her team’s desire to be led by them. Real leaders take the blame and give the credit – not the other way around.
Great company culture.
Company culture … lacks empathy
Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO, the global innovation, and design firm, describes empathy as making an effort to “see the world through the eyes of others, understand the world through their experiences, and feel the world through their emotions.”
Bad leaders don’t have this ability because they don’t care. Extraordinarily bad leaders address problems in the open public. They don’t coach; they make things personal and like to pass on the blame to specific employees and teams. The worst culture killer in my book.
Company culture … leaders who can’t see it
Da Vinci once said: There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when shown, and those that do not see.
For those leaders in the second and especially third groups, easily lose the confidence of those they are trying to lead. Their lack of vision cannot inspire teams, motivate performance, or create sustainablevalue.
A leader’s job is to align the organization and its culture around a clear and achievable vision. This cannot occur when the blind lead the blind.
Intimidator
Occasionally you will find a leader who believes in the stick much more than the carrot. This leadership style intimidates and bullies employees, often threatening them if work is not completed satisfactorily.
Employees of a poor leader might be publicly berated for mistakes and subject to criticism of their personality traits. Working in such an environment decreases staff morale, increases turnover, and causes stress. And it destroys a culture very rapidly.
Bad leaders are often negative people who have no idea how to motivate others. They share their negative opinions about the company or a department-wide project, rather than emphasizing the positive aspects of a situation.
Unable to consider anyone’s viewpoint but their own, poor leaders don’t respond well to complaints or suggestions. And they love to put their own ‘spin’ on issues.
Little use of praise
People need specific positive feedback on their job performance frequently (every week or so). Without it, their fire goes out quickly and their positive impact on culture. A culture thrives under managers who know employees perform better when they receive praise.
Not communicating business strategy
Is your business strategy clearly articulated, written out, and shared with everyone in the company? If you can’t trust employees with it, then you clearly have the wrong employees.
Non-listener
A bad leader often seems to listen but never hears. They rarely are willing to work to understand the needs and desires of others. Culture doesn’t long survive with these practices.
No humility
Bad leaders are energized by being right. They rarely acknowledge the effort or success of the team. When they do, it is usually cover in a big ‘spin.’ They very rarely admit to their weaknesses or mistakes they have made and are never humble. They are people that most employees avoid at all costs. Not conducive to a good culture is it?
Related post: 10 Lessons for Successful Entrepreneurs You Need to Know
Limited delegation
The worse leaders never accept that employees are individuals who thrive best when allowed to choose their approach to risk and happiness. They don’t ever allow them imperfection and failure without chastisement.
Key takeaways
From my experience, great leaders rarely if ever exhibit any of these ‘deep dark’ negative traits. Good leaders occasionally will exhibit one of these negative traits, but not in a significant way.
The very worst of the bad leaders exhibit many of these traits. I have only seen one very senior leader exhibit a majority of these bad traits (in fact all of them at times).
The moral of this story is company culture has a great influence on leadership development. If these traits are possessed by your current leadership team or your emerging leaders, you will be in for a rocky road ahead.
Which of these bad traits stand out to you? Do you have any other signs of ineffective leaders worthy of mention? Leave a comment and share your insights with others…
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creativeideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREEquote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Are you devoting enough energy innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics that relate to improving the performance of business. Go to Amazon to obtain a copy of his latest book, Exploring New Age Marketing. It focuses on using the best examples to teach new age marketing … lots to learn. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
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